Archive for the 'Pricing' Category
Windows Vista retail doomed unless Microsoft cuts prices?
Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007It’s starting to look as thought Microsoft has finally twigged that the retail launch of Windows Vista at the end of the month is likely to be an almighty flop, at least in the USA and Canada, but the company seems to be ignoring the consequence of inflated prices in the rest of the world. [...]
Windows Vista Family Discount Is No Ultimate Bargain
Friday, January 19th, 2007Maybe only Microsoft could take something as obviously simple as a family pack and make it unnecessarily complicated and costly. As part of a six-month promotion, people buying the full-version Windows Vista Ultimate–for the lovely price of $399–can get up to two extra licenses for about 50 bucks each. I suppose one Ultimate and two [...]
Microsoft offers family discount for Vista
Friday, January 19th, 2007With the consumer launch of Vista now less than two weeks away, Microsoft is putting the finishing touches on its strategy to drive Vista sales and upgrades. First up is the Windows Family Discount program, which is Redmond’s solution for home networks needing up to five copies of Vista. Unfortunately the solution is skewed towards [...]
Vista Home Basic: of lemons and lemonade
Wednesday, November 1st, 2006Acer is talking openly about what many OEMs are privately expressing frustration over: the weak value proposition offered by Windows Vista Home Basic. The many-headed hydra that is Vista has at least one gimp head, according to complaints.
If you ask Jim Wong, senior corporate VP at Acer, Microsoft has crippled Home Basic so thoroughly that [...]
Why Vista will sell
Wednesday, October 11th, 2006The whole world of PC users is fuming at the thought of lining Microsoft’s pockets by paying the outrageously high prices for Windows Vista. But they will pay it. The user community is justifiably moaning and bitching about the intrusive anti-piracy measures of the WGA and SPP programs which amount to Microsoft putting spyware on [...]
Vista costs more than a computer in Australia
Tuesday, October 10th, 2006Microsoft has released Australian pricing for Windows Vista, revealing that its high-end version of the new operating system will actually cost more than a well configured desktop or as much as a low-end notebook computer. The price for a copy of the top of the range Windows Vista Ultimate is a whopping AUD$751 to buy [...]
Buzz: Vista to cost $5,000 per user? No way
Monday, October 9th, 2006How much will it cost to upgrade businesses to Windows Vista? Anyone who works in IT knows that pinning a number down for a question like this is a nigh-impossible task. Are you replacing hardware? Do you need to retrain users? What software are you using, anyway?
Thursday James Gaskin of ITworld wrote an article claiming [...]
Vista to take a cue from budget Windows
Monday, October 9th, 2006Microsoft is sprinkling some features from Windows XP Starter Edition into Windows Vista, the next generation of its operating system.
The software maker plans to take the video help feature in XP Starter, which is geared to PC users in emerging markets, and put it into all versions of Vista, said Mike Wickstrand, a director for [...]
MS to Offer Free, Discounted Vista
Sunday, October 8th, 2006Microsoft is set to offer either free or discounted Vista upgrades to those who purchase new computers during the holiday season, press reports indicate. To qualify for the coupons, a PC would need to be purchased after October 28 of this year, and the upgrade would be good through March 15, 2007.
The Redmond company would [...]
Yes, Microsoft really is price-gouging
Friday, September 15th, 2006Myth: The officially announced prices for Windows Vista aren’t any different from previous versions.
Reality: It all depends on how you look at it. By most measures, [tag]Windows Vista prices[/tag] will indeed be virtually identical to prices for Windows XP. But one price in particular stands out, and unless Microsoft has a real surprise in store, [...]
