Microsoft's Windows 7 price gamble - and why it's flawed
Microsoft is gambling it can saturate consumers with Home Premium editions of Windows 7, hoping to dislodge Apple and milk customers over the long term. But Microsoft's Windows 7 price strategy is plagued by contradiction. On Friday, Microsoft said it's discounting the list price on Windows 7 again, this time for netbook users …
The average user who buys a PC from PC World or TESCOs is not interested in upgrade this or mess about with SKU that. The PC works with whatever that is running on it. I can get my mail I can browse Google/Facebook/"Twatter/MySpace, I don't need to upgrade, I never upgrade the stuff tha makes my TV work or my microwave, why should I bother with this?
All this stuff only makes sense to tech-savvy people, not "users" of PCs, they happily plod along until it blows up,then off down to PC World, get it fixed and if forced will upgrade or buy a new machine.
XP was there when "Joe Sixpack" bought a PC for the family, hence it's massive saturation, it was the O/S of choice, but I can't see anyone other than tech-savvy people bothering with W7, even though as a confirm Mac addict , I think W7 is pretty damn good!
Same can be said for Microsoft's upgrade deals - can I use it to downgrade... er, sorry I mean upgrade from Ubuntu 9.04 to Windows 7 (although I fail to understand quite why anyone would want to do that unless they're a gamer... in which case they should buy a PS3!)...?
I know that technically it can be hacked to work like that - install an upgrade version without actually activating it and then re-install Windows 7 on top of the unactivated Windows 7 - but that's against Microsoft's EULA. Microsoft's EULA is so damn restrictive. I much prefer the freedom offered by the GPL :o)
Snow Leopard is only $29 USD. This is not an upgrade price, but a complete copy of the OS.
Family Pack is $49. Only 5 legal installations, but there is not activation system.
In fact, you could buy the single version for $29 and install Mac OS 10.6 on every Mac in your house.
I will buying the Family Pack because $49 is so cheap for my 4 Macs anyway.
Franky I have 3 XP pro licensees and XP does everything I need it to do. I am using the Windows 7 release candidate but can see no reason in the present economy to buy it.
I am sure I am not alone with this thought.
I've been dual booting Ubuntu on my laptop for 3 weeks and haven't found anything I cannot do in Ubuntu that I normally do in Windows. Unless I buy a new PC with Windows 7 on it, I have no intention of upgrading any of my computers to Windows 7 any time soon. Ubuntu works just fine for me.
This has got to be one of the most bizarre reports I've ever read on ElReg since Otto what's-his-face disappeared.
The "story" here is based solely on the delusions of someone who is obviously an Arts graduates - they're the only ones who can add 2 + 2 and get 7. People who own Mac hardware won't choose between Snow Leopard and Windows 7 - they'll get Snow Leopard, and some of them will decide to upgrade their copy of XP that runs in Parallels or Boot Camp to Windows 7, and some won't.
People who don't have Apple hardware will be completely unaffected by Snow Leopard pricing, because to go from Windows XP on a Dell to Snow Leopard costs a lot more than $29, $129, $299 or any other pricepoint for Windows7.
I'm pretty happy with my PC running Vista. If I can score a copy of the Family Pack, I'll upgrade that machine and my wifes machine to Windows 7. If I can't get a copy of the Family pack, we'll both stick with Vista until it's time to replace the current machines, 2 or 3 years down the road. In other words, we'll get Windows 7 the same way 90% of users will get it, bundled with a new machine.
I do think that Microsoft has pitched the upgrade price too high for most Vista users. At $50, I think an awful lot of Vista users would have gone for it. At $130, I think most of them will skip it. Especially if they then have to pay someone $100 to install it for them, and they could buy a whole new machine for $400.
The article needs to compare the price of Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6 to Windows 7 Professional Ultimate, not the top home version, as OS X comes with absolutely everything, whilst every version of W7 except Pro Ult is hobbled.
Do that and the price differences becomes even more and more ugly for Microsoft.
As others have pointed out, Apple hold 1/9th the market share of Windows, although Apple are rapidly gaining traction in the market, yet Microsoft can't seem to stop thinking, bitching and talking about Apple.
Despite all the huff and puff, Balmer is shit scared of an Apple firing on all cylinders and executing perfectly. Meanwhile, Microsoft is floundering about, searching for a direction, and the latest shiny thing it can attach its flag to. Just don't looking behind you at the massive pile of other shiny things Microsoft has played with, spent billions on and then discarded like a child with ADD.
@ Matt 53: So you thank Apple for doing the R&D and innovation work for MS. Then why stick with the second rate, derivative imitator, when you can have the real thing from Apple?
Final word: Apple hardware isn't massively overpriced or stuffed with the same crap parts as other cheap-arse crap computers. Apple uses quality parts and workmanship, which explains the astonishingly low return rates and the industry's highest user satisfaction rates. Apple also use innovative manufacturing processes, such as the unibody macbook design, cableless, screwless MacPro internals and industry leading materials. Yeah, so a Macbook Pro has a higher price than an equivalent Dell - but you get what you pay for.
Apple as many others have already said ought to be irrelevant, I very much doubt that price is a factor for the vast majority of OS/X users. MSFT should be targeting existing Windows users.
Why not just have 1 product - with a fixed price of US$80 irrespective of what your currently using. If you have Vista you can upgrade it, otherwise you'll have to install it. Microsoft must have to bear a cost for all these different editions and pricing options, which inevitably get passed onto consumers.
Consumers with multiple machines could buy discounted (say 30%) for packs of 2, 3, 5, 7 or 9 licenses; beyond that there would be alternatives targeted at small, medium & large businesses.
At those prices many individuals & families would upgrade. That means that within a couple of years most of the XP (& IE6) and Vista legacy would be eliminated from the consumer market, at least in the developed world.
I don't anticipate getting a new system built for at least 5 years, by then I suspect W7 will be superseded by W8. Until then it looks like I'll stick with XP/64 running on my existing quad processor with 16Meg of memory.
Apple..made from Foxconn quality parts...just like it says on the parts inside these cheap Dells I'm working on.
Mmmmmm.
Its only the cases that are different folks. The rest is the same cheap mass manufactured stuff you find anywhere else.
If MS is serious about getting people (like me) to upgrade from Windows XP, they need to get the price below the "no-brainer" point, which for me is probably $20-30. There's just no good reason to spend $90 or more. (See http://www.codinghorror.com for a discussion of this).
As far as Linux: hmmm, I can spend $90 with Microsoft and get technical help from their website, or I can spend $50 with Canonical and get an actual human being to help me through the rough spots. Looks to me like MS has a problem.
"Apple..made from Foxconn quality parts...just like it says on the parts inside these cheap Dells I'm working on.
Mmmmmm.
Its only the cases that are different folks. The rest is the same cheap mass manufactured stuff you find anywhere else."
What crap. Have you even looked at an Apple mobo? Have you checked the chip density and the fact a Mac Pro mobo beats the likes of Asus etc. under Windows?
I'm not saying there aren't plenty of Samsung/Foxconn chips in there, but do you expect Apple to build its own memory chip plant? 'Cheap mass manufactured' is good because it works.
What next? Saying a Ferrari is crap because there are Magneti Marelli components in there, as there are in a Volkswagen?
