Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Sunday, 16 November 2008 18:14
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
Although any of Microsoft’s products are freely available to download
from pirate networks and often advertised in spam emails, Microsoft has
finally opened an official, legal download store in the US, after three
other countries got it first. Microsoft is spruiking the carbon
benefits of downloads, but online purchasing seems no cheaper than at
retail.
Want to help save the planet when buying Microsoft software by eliminating the need for software in a plastic box, a plastic DVD and some basic printed materials?
Then you may well be interested in Microsoft’s new
online store in the US, years after the rest of the planet discovered e-commerce, and after opening similar stores in
the UK,
Germany and
Korea.
Announced in
Trevin Chow’s blog, Microsoft’s Senior Program Manager, Chow explains that US customers “are able to buy first-party software and hardware directly from Microsoft offered in a comprehensive online catalog.”
Most of the software, such as Windows and Office, is available to buy and immediately download, while PC and Xbox 360 games and hardware can be bought and then shipped in the normal manner.
The download option is being referred to as “Electronic Software Distribution” or ESD, which Chow explains, although anyone that has ever purchased any software online and then immediately downloaded it needs no explanation of the process nor its benefits.
However Chow does explain “the obvious fear for most users buying ESD products” is the lack of physical installation media for re-installation at a later time, but there is, of course, a predictable answer.
Chow says that “Microsoft Store solves this by letting you re-download the product until mainstream support for the product ends. Typically this is 5 years after the product is released.”
Continued on page 2.
