Windows Vista Prices and Release Date Leaked 378
Nieske writes "Prices and the release date for Windows Vista have leaked online. Ed Bott's Microsoft Report has information on pricing, and the release date is currently January 30th, 2007. Are they really going to make the deadline this time?" From the ZDNet article: "In Canada, at least, the rumors of a 'modest' price increase were true, based on this list. Will these same relative prices hold true in the U.S.? Who knows? But if they do, then it's mostly good news for Windows customers. There's no price increase for Home Basic. Home Premium, the Vista version that maps most closely to the OEM-only Windows XP Media Center Edition, will finally be available as a retail product for a slight bump over the Home Basic product, similar to the $39 premium typically charged by large OEMs for Media Center upgrades. And Vista Business buyers will get a break with a small discount relative to XP Professional."
Unlikely (Score:1, Interesting)
Market segmentation (Score:5, Interesting)
It is an increasingly unpopular pricing method because people resent it. Note, for instance, the rapid growth of budget airlines (in Europe at least) - a lot of their popularity can be put down to the fact the traditional pricing model for flights was highly segmented - customers have come to resent paying different prices for essentially the same thing and so the budget airlines, with their simpler pricing model, have grown in popularity.
It is interesting that Apple do not do this, they don't even have separate "upgrade" prices. If you want the latest version of their OS or basic software (iWorks or iLife), then you pay one price. As a customer I like that.
29th will be (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:from the article, price list (Score:4, Interesting)
Ok you can all go home now.. Microsoft is closed.
Re:from the article, price list (Score:3, Interesting)
Let's get this straight (Score:5, Interesting)
Call me negative but I'm not exactly in hurry to join that particular queue.
Re:Market segmentation (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:version version everywhere (Score:4, Interesting)
There are certainly some applications which require a certain version (Media Center, IIS, etc, etc) but I cannot think of a single example where a MS application supported by both Home and Pro versions have ever had the Home version crippled in some way. I may well be wrong and would be interested to hear examples if I am.
Re:from the article, price list (Score:4, Interesting)
Second, how many times will you buy OS X in between releases of Windows? Since XP came out, you've likely bought OS X three times (10.2, 10.3, 10.4) at $129 apiece and soon a fourth. The copy of XP you bought or, more likely, got from an OEM in 2001 is only now getting a pay-for update.
OS X is more expensive. If you like it more, that's cool, but your argument that it's cheaper doesn't hold up.
Re:version version everywhere (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:from the article, price list (Score:2, Interesting)
In order to buy a cheaper OEM copy of Windows you need to qualify as an equipment manufacturer. The easiest way to do so is to purchase the prerequisite hardware from a vendor to prove that you are a PC builder. Some vendors require you to purchase as much as a motherboard and CPU, while others simply require a $10 mouse. Check into some such online retailers (sorry I have no examples) to land yourself an OEM copy of Vista.
Re:version version everywhere (Score:4, Interesting)
The biggest deal is that the ability to rip a DVD is only in the home upgraded version, and the ability to use non-M$ networking protocols is only in the pro.
Starter is a joke and will only run 3 pieces of software at once. This version of Vista is like an "upgrade" back to Windows 3.1.
Re:Not Quite (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:from the article, price list (Score:1, Interesting)
Questions.... (Score:2, Interesting)
2. Why is Vista Ultimated the only one that lists Remote Access as a feature?
Anyone know?
Re:from the article, price list (Score:3, Interesting)
Me too--after a power surge killed the mobo and hard drive, I built what amounted to a completely new PC. I installed the OEM copy of XP I originally purchased on the new machine and noticed in the EULA that it only applied to the original "computer".
So I actually e-mailed Microsoft and aksed what constitutes a "computer" according to the OEM license. They wouldn't tell me. Years later, they decided it's the motherboard [bink.nu]--replace the motherboard and your Windows license vanishes in a puff of smoke. Unless the motherboard is replaced due to a "defect". I'm going to assume being bricked by a blown out PSU qualifies as a "defect".
In any event, WPA and WGA proceeded without incident, so I guess MS agrees.
Along those lines... suppose the motherboard was rendered "defective" by some other means (whoops, the soldering iron slipped when I was volt-modding it). Now I need to replace the motherboard. But they don't make that model anymore! Shoot! Guess I'll have to get a newer one. But my CPU has an obsolete socket! Darn! Guess I'll have to upgrade. But my memory and video card won't work in the new board. Drat!
Re: Vista Broken in Many Ways (Score:3, Interesting)
Starter Version: Really REALLY broken (supposedly for developing nations)
Home Basic: DVD burning is broken, Eye-candy is half broken. Desktop search is broken
Home Premium: Desktop search still broken. Will it be able to join a domain? I bet it won't. You'll have to pay extra for that. FYI: it appears that if the OEM PC has a DVD burner, you *must* buy home premium so they can protect you from your own entertainment media.
Ultimate: Media playback is broken. (DRM) Protects you from your own media.
It is reasonable to assume this is the first step towards even more segmentation.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=12 [zdnet.com]
Re:Yawn. Nothing to see here, please move along. (Score:2, Interesting)
Vista will become the default consumer OEM install on Day 1 of it's release.
Mac users upgrade within the Mac family, Windows users within the Windows family. It is rather late in the day to believe in a mass migration from one to the other.
Linux isn't even in the picture.
No mainstream OEM support. No significant presence in big box retail. OEM Linux at Walmart.com is dead and buried.
WinXP does not have perverted-control-freak class DRM embedded into it, like Vista does/will
Translated, this means Vista will support your next-generation internet radio services and legit rental and sale high-definition commercial videos.
To the 20% of American households who have already migrated to HDTV, this is generally considered a plus.
Re:Market segmentation (Score:3, Interesting)
Apple does have two versions of OS X and they sell iLife versions seperately as well. Considering their market share, that's probably all they can justify. I see no point in MS having so many versions of Windows but it would be amazingly absurd if Apple did that.
Since Apple brags about bundling their iLife suite, why isn't it bundled in OS X? Every mac gets one of each, so the only logical explanation is that they want to hit their customers for multiple upgrades. As a customer I don't like that.
Re:Not Quite (Score:3, Interesting)
When I got my iBook shortly after the release of OS X Tiger, it came with a free upgrade CD. Now, granted that the order here is different (hardware first, then release the new OS) I wonder if MS would do the same; heavy discount/free upgrade to Vista if you bought yuor PC after such-and-such a date.
Re:from the article, price list (Score:3, Interesting)
In the end, after switching out the mobo, windows told me to reactivate. When that didn't work, I wasn't even given an option to talk to a real person. In near desperation, I clicked the "change product key" button (uh, you know, the one that says something like, "ONLY push this button if the MS person on the phone tells you to..."), and saw that the edit box was pre-populated with a key that was different than the product key that was on the side of my box. That was weird... I assume it was because the mobo had changed... Anyways, I just typed in the "real" product key that was on the sticker on the side of the box, and called the MS number again. Again, it didn't work, but this time I actually got to talk to a real person, and they gave me a new installation ID which worked fine.
What does it all mean? It means that that installed copy of XP is on it's last leg, because the installation CD's from HP don't work since the mobo still isn't "tattooed" (it's not in warranty anymore, so it probably would have costed some outrageous price, plus, I didn't have the luxury of time to do that, as I mentioned above). So the OEM's and MS win after all. I'll either have to buy a new OS sooner or later, or else send the machine in to HP to get the motherboard tattooed. But I still wish there was such a thing as a "release" fee which would untie a copy of the OS from the OEM so that you can install it on whatever machine you like.
For my next computer, I might have to build it from scratch so that I actually feel like I own all of MY OWN hardware and software, and I'm not chained to an OEM or MS like a slave (I'm not bitter... Really.) (Plus, then I won't have to pay the Microsoft tax if I decide to just put linux on it.)