Internal AMD Memo Encourages Rapid Company-Wide Vista Adoption

Today, Intel's Paul Otellini said that they aren't moving to Windows Vista until SP1. ZDNet's Larry Dignan has the details:

Speaking at the Bank of America Technology conference in San Francisco, Otellini was asked about his take on Vista and whether it could drive demand. For corporations, Otellini said Vista upgrades will be slow. "I know of no organization doing an upgrade before SP1," said Otellini. "Intel isn't upgrading either (until SP1)." Otellini, however, noted corporate uptake won't hurt Microsoft because most enterprises have commercial licenses that are "all you can drink."

Oh, but wait a second, so lemme get this straight. Intel has taken the same position on Vista as the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Transportation? Since when did the world's largest processor manufacturer decide to take the same upgrade cycle as the Federal Government? Holy crap man, my Grandma's on a quicker upgrade cycle than the government is!

Personally, I think that's completely irresponsible. Intel is the worlds largest processor company. How can they optimize their experience for Vista if they're not going through the same pains we are? It's no wonder Intel STILL doesn't have Viiv drivers for x64, and why we're still waiting for other Vista drivers from their teams. Why is Viiv taking so long? Half the Viiv technology is built in .NET, which we already know runs on x64? They're setting a terrible example for the industry.

Intel said they "know of no other company doing an upgrade before SP1", which means they probably don't know their competition very well. As you're about to see, AMD is acutely aware of theirs. I've obtained an internal AMD memo from a source inside the company on this very topic. It's from Chief Marketing Officer Henri Richard (he's the #2 guy, BTW) which paints a completely different tone. I thought about only posting excerpts, but it's important to see the overall tone and context vs. Intel, so I'm publishing the whole thing.

INTERNAL MEMORANDUM Date: January 4, 2007

To: All AMDers

From: Henri Richard, Executive Vice President, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer

Subject: Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity My Fellow AMDers,

We are at the start of 2007 and already a momentous change is underway. The global IT industry is preparing for one of the most dramatic technological shifts in its history: The launch of Microsoft Windows Vista™. This powerful and innovative new operating system will arrive in just a few weeks and will bring with it a new computing revolution that will forever alter the way people and organizations around the world think about, use and interact with PCs. Make no mistake, Windows Vista represents one of the most important technology milestones of this decade and the benefits it offers will reverberate for years to come. The global business community – including AMD – is already moving swiftly to adopt Windows Vista because of the many advanced security, performance, productivity and user experience features it offers. Analysis compiled by several financial institutions and industry analyst firms shows that enterprise customers are planning to deploy Windows Vista across their organizations far more quickly than they did Windows XP. The same holds true in varying degrees for small business users and, of course, consumers, who will lead the charge. Windows Vista also promises to redefine mobile computing and is expected to become the OS of choice for the vast majority of mobile business users in the next 12-18 months. By all accounts, Windows Vista is poised to become the most widely used and most rapidly adopted operating system in Microsoft’s history. When Windows Vista launches on January 30th, AMD will immediately occupy some of the most valuable real-estate on the technology landscape and we must act swiftly and smartly to ensure we reap our rightful reward. No other company in our industry – not even our most aggressive competitors – can offer the complete, customer-centric Windows Vista experience, as intended by Microsoft, the way the new AMD can. We are a global leader in both discrete and integrated graphics, we offer a full range of powerful and power-efficient x86 microprocessors, and we provide advanced chipsets that support the majority of x86 and PC graphics processors available today, regardless of manufacturer or brand. Unlike our competitors, AMD is not constrained by any limitations when it comes to offering the ultimate Windows Vista experience. We have no agenda or internal mandate to push one technology over another at the expense of customer value or to the detriment of Windows Vista’s potential. The fact is, AMD is the quintessential Windows Vista partner simply because no other IT company's mission and product offering aligns so thoroughly with Microsoft's vision. The more successful Windows Vista is, the more successful AMD can be, pure and simple. The only way we can fail is if we choose to let this opportunity slip away. So I am calling on all AMD employees to recognize and embrace everything Windows Vista represents and make it part of our DNA, to understand that we hold the keys to the kingdom in ways no one else does. [Emphasis mine] We can become the semiconductor platform of choice for every company in Microsoft’s ecosystem that touches Windows Vista in any way. And the first expression of this vision will be unveiled at CES next week with the launch of our “Better By Design” campaign. Let’s start 2007 at a new pace that will leave our competition behind. Now is the time. Let’s make the most of it.

I mean, it's a position that is light-years apart from Intel. My source tells me that AMD had a groups of Microsoft consultants come in and advise them about a rollout plan that would make the most sense to them, and they're in the middle of executing that plan. Vista is being deployed at AMD from the top-down, with about 100 users ( most of the AMD executives, plus others) using it right now, with many others coming online soon. He said that those people have been running Vista & Office 2007 since September, and that "satisfaction has been high while reported issues have been very low".

Maybe Intel was too busy joining in on the Steve Jobs Circle Jerk to realize that Vista is a game that Intel should be on top of, and that thousands of people tested the hell out of it. Just one more reason that I think AMD will be gaining some pretty significant ground over the next few years.

[via Neowin]