Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> Windows Vista pricing favors PC upgrades
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | While Microsoft's entry-level and upgrade prices might appear reasonable
> | on paper to some, and little changed to the five-year-old Windows XP,
> | there are a few clouds to this sliver lining. The first is the ability
> | for machines running Windows XP to actually be able to run Windows
> | Vista, as Microsoft's hardware guidance for new versions of Windows has
> | tended historically towards the, ah, optimistic shall we say.
> |
> | [...]
> |
> | For consumers, Vista Home Basic does exactly what it says on the box -
> | you get the an OS, browser, search and parental controls but no sexy
> | Aero interface and no Windows Media Center (for watching and recording
> | all those episodes of CSI: Miami, hooking up the Xbox 360, and
> | viewing photos). Those little gems are reserved for users of Vista
> | Home Premium, while Ultimate gives you all this plus additional power
> | features from the business products like BitLocker encryption, support
> | for domain group policy, and advanced and simplified networking.
> `----
>
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/06/windows_vita_prices/
"Ballmer to Wall St: we always back a winner "
I don't think you have backed a winner this time matey. Of cause they will
be the flurry of purchases by the MS geek set and those who are just
interested and have cash to spare. But once they start telling their
friends and neighbours that along with the cost of the OS they had to pay a
fair bit to upgrade their PC, in some cases maybe needing a new PC, only to
find that they had to upgrade the OS straight away because they couldn't
play any music or videos on their version, I suspect that the sales will
fall dramatically.
Initially many people will just stick with what they already have, maybe a
few more will venture into Linux, There after I suspect people will be
upgrading only when they need a new PC anyway, so get the OEM.
If I ran xandros or Linspire I would be preparing a major advertising
campaign for about a month after Vista is launched. Vista Ultimate at $259
or get the whole blooming lot from xandros or Linspire for $40.
The only other way they are onto a winner is that it has been suggested that
you will need the new MS Office for vista, with no doubt deliberate
incompatibilities. So the sooner our users are persuaded to take up ODF and
alternative office suites the better for all of us.
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