There’s a new sign Windows 7 is off to a strong start: Web surfers have started moving to the operating system much more quickly than they did its troubled predecessor, Windows Vista.

A new research report says Windows 7 on Saturday surpassed 4 percent of all devices visiting Web sites that day, a little over two weeks after the commercial launch of the product. It took Windows Vista, in contrast, about seven months to pass 4 percent after it was introduced to businesses in November 2006, according to the report from Net Applications, a firm that tracks online usage.

The report doesn’t measure traditional sales market share for computers, counting instead the types of operating systems and other software used by people visiting a network of more than 40,000 Web sites around the globe.

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I’ve had a couple days now with Windows 7 and it is certainly an improvement over both Vista and XP, requiring slightly less resources than either (significantly less than Vista), booting faster, and offering superior usability. Yeah, but why does it cost so much? I know why.

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Microsoft’s (MSFT) big launch of the new Windows 7 operating system on Friday in Beijing was much like its launches around the world: a huge, boisterous demonstration of new features such as being able to share music across multiple computers in one home. With one big difference: the emphasis that executives put on the benefits of “genuine” Windows 7 over pirated versions, showing that piracy remains a huge concern in China, the world’s second largest market for personal computers.

“It’s very important to make sure that people are understanding the benefits of running genuine Windows over pirated copies,” Microsoft Vice President of Windows Platform Strategy Mike Nash told an audience of mostly Chinese reporters. “I look at all of you as great witnesses to explain that to all of China.”

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Cash-strapped consumers have been slow to buy personal computers in the recession. But with the launch of Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT) new Windows 7 operating system Thursday, PC makers are aiming to reverse that trend–and then some.

Companies are expecting that Windows 7’s improved features over earlier Microsoft operating systems, including Vista and XP, will lure more consumers into stores. And they are betting that heightened demand will allow them to stanch recent price declines in the market.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Dell Inc. (DELL), Toshiba America Inc. and Acer Inc., among others, are releasing a flood of high-end laptops with slim cases and glossy designs, and new one-piece touch-screen desktops, that they hope consumers will be willing to pay a premium for.

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There is absolutely nothing coincidental about Apple (APPL) launching new products today. The big product launch is Apple’s first preemptive marketing strike against Microsoft (MSFT), Windows 7 and the entire PC industry. It’s a bold move exploiting a position of strength against an industry weakened by low-margin, low-priced netbooks.

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Comments by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) yesterday apparently have triggered worries on the Street that the PC manufacturers, in their zealous optimism about the prospects for Microsoft Windows 7 (MSFT), may have built too many PCs.

As I noted last night, AMD said on its post-earnings conference call with the Street that it expects a less-than-seasonal sequential increase in Q4 revenues, due in part to the “the big build we’ve seen of PCs in anticipation of the Win 7 launch.”

That has triggered concerns that the PC industry has built too much inventory–and that it could result in both reduced component consumption in Q4 and beyond, and lower pricing for memory, which has benefited in recent weeks from higher NAND and DRAM prices.

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Ultra-low prices on portable computers are nothing new, and in fact have increasingly become the norm since the debut of netbooks–small and light ultraportables that are virtually defined by their low cost. However, there are some strong reasons to believe that Microsoft’s (MSFT) upcoming Windows 7 operating system, in addition to new types of Linux-based portables, could help drive profit margins for hardware manufacturers to surprising new bottoms.

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One of the tech sector’s great hopes is that sometime in 2010, there will be a major PC refresh cycle, driven in part by by the arrival of Microsoft Windows 7, new Intel (INTC) processors but even more by the general perception that the installed base of PCs is rapidly aging. The conventional wisdom is that the average PC is about five years old.

But what if that’s wrong? Microsoft (MSFT) has been stressing that Windows 7 actually has lower hardware requirements than Vista, the bulky piece of code it replaces. Given still-tight corporate IT budgets, the much discussed refresh cycle could be delayed, which would be bad news for anyone anticipating a major pick-up in PC demand next year.

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Microsoft (MSFT) Chief Executive Steve Ballmer emphasized Windows 7’s cost benefits Tuesday, saying businesses can expect to save $90 to $160 per computer annually with the soon-to-launch operating system.

His speech was directed to corporate customers, and he avoided the dancing and iPhone demolition that have made his prior appearances viral hits on YouTube and the blogosphere. He was most fired up discussing security on Windows 7, saying he wanted to “romance” its features more than an earlier demo did.

Windows 7, which goes on sale next month, will achieve the estimated cost savings because it won’t cost as much to support, Mr. Ballmer said. Its most popular new feature is the user experience, he said, though he personally is a fan of its wireless networking capabilities.

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Here is the latest comic from our Joy of Tech friends at Geek Culture, Nitrozac and Snaggy. Joy of Tech appears three times a week in the Voices section of this site. (Click on the image to see a bigger version.)

As soon as Microsoft (MSFT) releases the final bits of a new Windows release to manufacturing–and often before–many users’ thoughts turn to what’s next.

Windows 7 and its server complement, Windows Server 2008 R2, were released to manufacturing in late July. By late August, Microsoft’s Windows client unit already was turning the crank on Windows 8 client and server.

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Microsoft (MSFT) has revealed that, for a $1000 PC, it has always charged the OEM about $50, or five percent, for Windows.

At the Jefferies Annual Technology Conference, Charles Songhurst, general manager of Corporate Strategy at Microsoft, answered a rather long onslaught of questions about where Redmond is heading. At one point, Songhurst started talking about how investors were asking Microsoft what its standpoint was on the “skewing PC price point” (i.e. “the netbook effect”). Songhurst explained that it was more interesting to look at “the growth merchandise volume of all PCs sold” despite the “emergence of a lot more segmented SKUs.” In other words, he believes that although the price range for the PC is widening, the market is still growing, and that’s all that matters to Microsoft.

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There’s nothing like trashing the competition. And that’s exactly what the Free Software Foundation plans to do on Wednesday, staging a demonstration in Boston where it will encourage businesses to throw away Microsoft Windows in favor of free alternatives.

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Intel (INTC) shares this afternoon are getting a lift from an upgrade by JMP Securities analyst Alex Gauna from “Market Perform” to “Market Outperform,” with a $24 price target.

Following on a much-stronger-than-expected Q2 report last week, Intel, Gauna says, should continue to gain from better-than-expected results of its customers’ sales of notebook computers and server computers. Servers are benefitting form a shift to “cloud computing,” where more data processing is done via networks on a central computer, while notebooks may get a lift from Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows 7, when it comes out on October 22.

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I’ve got to say: in my opinion, Microsoft has turned The Corner. You know The Corner. The one that gets us off of pothole ridden Vista Avenue (one street over from Lincoln in Blue Velvet). The Corner that requires Microsoft to shed some of the fat it has layered on recently just to make the turn without flipping.

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