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Is Microsoft listening on Windows 7 pricing?
Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 26 May 2009 09:25
Page 1 of 3
A reader asks if my plea to Microsoft to offer realistic Windows
pricing will ever be listened to. Of course Microsoft is listening, but
will they do anything beyond announcing higher prices at the worst
possible moment in history?My answer? Of course Microsoft is listening. Why, Steven F. Ballmer himself said "We’ve read your articles (and those of many others) calling for cheaper Windows 7 pricing" right here on page 2 of this article.
Oh, hang on. That's a quote from the fake April 1 article I wrote on how Microsoft had decided to release Windows 7, free. Home Premium, too...
Ah well. We can dream, while enjoying any number of steadily improving and free Linux distros right now.
While my April 1 article was an April Fool’s fake, that article did handily predict the demise of Windows 7 Starter Edition for netbooks, as such, “because people hated the idea of being limited to three programs”.
Of course Microsoft isn't getting rid of that edition, simply getting rid of the 3 program limitation. It will still lack all kinds of features which Microsoft wants you to pay to upgrade to.
Seeing as you have to pay to upgrade... why doesn't Microsoft make Windows 7 Starter Edition free then, pre-loadable on all PCs, with consumers paying something simple like a $10 or $20 upgrade fee to go to Windows 7 Home Premium or Ultimate?
Even a $100 upgrade fee would be "cheap" for Ultimate, cheaper than the $700+ price charged in Australia, but still $100 more than Ubuntu.
No doubt this would have some kind of material effect on Microsoft's profits, but what new possibilities would it open up, and how great a stimulus to Microsoft's market share and the PC economy would this be?
So, is Microsoft really listening, or not – and what impact will rising prices have on the depressed PC economy – and Microsoft’s dominance?
Please read on to page 2…
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