* Roy Schestowitz peremptorily fired off this memo:
> Ballmer Could Learn a Lesson from Jonathan Schwartz
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| Microsoft can always try to reverse this trend by reducing their prices.
> `----
>
> http://www.linux-foundation.org/weblogs/jzemlin/2008/03/06/ballmer-could-learn-a-lesson-from-jonathan-schwartz/
>
> Ballmer must be going bananas. Zemlin began blogging very actively for the
> first time a couple of days ago.
The Guardian published an outstanding article on this future fate of
Windows titled "Why falling Flash prices threaten
Microsoft." In the article they describe "the price
differential between the basic Eee PC running GNU/Linux and one
running Windows XP is now significant as a proportion of the total
cost. One of the main suppliers of the Asus Eee PC, RM, sells the
GNU/Linux version with 4Gb of storage and 512Mb of RAM for £199. The
cheapest machine running Windows XP costs £259, 30% more, not least
because Microsoft's operating system needs more storage and
memory - 8GB and 1GB respectively. It is that difference, far more
than any cost of licensing Windows, which means that Linux-based
machines can remain consistently cheaper."
. . .
What is additionally striking is that the OS is now likely the single
most expensive thing in a low-end Windows laptop, even though the
cost of goods sold (COGS) of the OS is $0. All this adds up to
fundamental problems for Microsoft in the world of the affordable PC.
--
We are not even close to finishing the basic dream of what the PC can be.
-- Bill Gates
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