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Microsoft Cuts Vista Price In 70 Countries
dforristall alerts us to an odd move by Microsoft: cutting the price of retail boxes of Vista in many markets. Analysts didn't see this one coming, and they are scratching their heads a bit over it; one called it "very unheard of." The price cuts vary by country — they're largest in the developing world where piracy levels are high — and they don't apply to OEM copies of Vista, which account for 90% of sales. "Gartner analyst Michael Silver said the move... is puzzling... [He] noted that the market for such upgrades is fairly limited. Those who bought XP in the fourth quarter of 2006 got a coupon for a free Vista upgrade, while most of those who have bought systems since then have gotten Vista. Machines purchased prior to 2006 probably aren't all that attractive as candidates for a Vista upgrade... 'The whole notion of upgrading PCs has sort of fallen by the wayside.'"
THey need to drop the price of XP so I can buy it to replace my copy of Vista.
vista sp1. that is the only reason retail prices would drop. on a side note, maybe now they will get some more sales
If people can get past, can they get future? Best way to confuse a stoner
No the idea of upgrading to Vista has fallen by the wayside.
I think that Apple actually sells a lot of upgrades.
I have not upgraded to Vista because of the cost to benefit ratio. For me it would be a lot of cost and probably a negative benefit.
I did upgrade from 95 to 98. I upgraded from 98 to 2000. I then upgraded to XP after a while because of the lack of games that said they would run under 2000.
XP isn't bad. as far as windows goes.
Notice that I didn't get Me or Vista.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
I have a dual Opteron with a fairly decent graphics controller that would be an ideal candidate for Vista x64 Ultimate. But, for about $400 cheaper, (or $200 if you get the system builder edition), I downloaded Ubuntu and it works great.
Taken together, Microsoft's actions of the last few weeks : decreasing the price of Vista, giving away Visual Studio to Students, publishing specifications, all point towards an effort to attract developers to their platform. Even the channel partnerships that I railed about earlier are structured to attract developers. Clearly, Microsoft knows something that we don't know, and, I think it is that Linux development is starting to reach a critical mass for them to be really concerned about it. I wonder how much trouble Microsoft realizes it is in.
There is a demographic factor going on as well. A lot of we formerly reliable Windows zealots are now in our 30s and 40s, and suddenly money that would be spent on graphics cards and Windows upgrades is now getting plowed into our over-priced houses and our children. It's like, I would have stayed up in line to get Vista Ultimate the day it came out, but instead, I bought diapers, soy milk and a thomas the tank engine train set for my son. Having jonesed for some sort of an upgrade to my PC, I went with Ubuntu instead, and its pretty satisfying.
Linux has hit that point where, it may not be the best in terms of a consumer operating system, but its often good enough, and installing it just works.
This is my sig.
and i still would not use it...
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
My computer used to be considered near the top of the pile...2.2 GHz Athlon64 overclocked to 2.7, 2 gigs of Corsair XMS DDR-400, a bios-modded x800, Dell 2005FPW (1680X1050)...even though for games coming out now, it's largely unusable (mainly due to the video card), it runs things like Battlefield 2 and World of Warcraft flawlessly. Seeing as most of my gaming has been done on consoles the past few years, I haven't had a need to upgrade my computer. Spore is actually what is going to cause me to take the dive and do it...but prior to that, I have no reason to.
My system can still browse the net with tons of tabs open, winamp playing, word open, and a few of other things. It's definitely no slouch, and (once again) were it not for spore I still wouldn't plan on doing anything to it.
The advances in speed were much greater in the late '90s/early 00's than they are now...granted, a top notch computer equal in monetary value of my computer when it was new are much faster than what I am using, what I am using is still a fairly decent machine...excellent, if you consider I don't play games on it that are more than two years young.
It's true. It's getting harder and harder to keep folks on the constant upgrade path. I don't know if that's because of changes in the age demographic and levels of disposable income, or what it is...all I know is that I'm MUCH less inclined to drop money every year into my tower than I used to be, even though I can afford it just as easy (if not easier...I'm not living at home like I was 4 years ago, but I'm working full time which I wasn't 4 years ago either. I turn 24 in April, for reference)
Living With a Nerd
I'm still waiting for Microsoft to pay people to upgrade to Vista. Ever check the resource consumption on the display models, half the resources are being used just to display the desktop.
Didn't they learn this lesson with the Student/Teacher version of Office?
Duh
How about cutting the prices of the OEM licenses so that it moves more computers pre-installed with Vista too? Oh wait. That's not going to happen as that's how you make money. So IMHO, this means that you won't miss the cash that you lose due to these price cuts.
Nothing to see here. Move along.
This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
A slightly smaller number multiplied by zero still equals zero.
great so now all the "early" (2 years+) adopters got screwed, paying more for a lousy product to begin with. I wonder if they'll give a credit to those early adopters, like Apple did when they lowered the price for the iPhone.
When Vista Ultimate upgrade costs almost $200 and Kubuntu 7.10 full costs $12 (if you don't feel like just downloading it) - it seems reasonable that some prices are going to have to come down somehwere.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
I still thank Microsoft should be paying people to help debug there software. In some ways they are smart getting people to pay to work for them.
True other third parties contribute to technical problems.
Collective debugging and product development, which sounds a lot like open source, should result in Free software but I am not sure how that fits into Microsoft's business model.
Remember it is all good and a process of evolution, and everything happens for an intelligent reason.
"an infinite player that has lost his finite mind" ~Infinite Play the Movie (it blends with reality)
I totally called it, again.
So What do I need to do to be an analyst? Get a degree in statistics? take some logic course? DO I need a masters?
I'm sure only qualified people would be an analyst~
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
And that's why it makes sense. Dropping the price will not affect Microsoft's revenue. Yet they'll sell a few extra copies. They're hoping to sell it to people who are otherwise upgrading with unlicensed copies. Plus they probably think it'll help their public image.
Of course they could have just made a better product in the first place and not dropped the price, but we'll leave that discussion to other threads.
Developers: We can use your help.
What I think makes the brunt of those new sales is that people who have the money to shell out for what the salesman at best buy tells them to get, will also shell out for the newest thing, which in this case is vista in terms of OSs. I will personally feel fine using XP until Vista's issues are either resolved or it's put in the ground.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. indymedia
Lately I've been seeing a lot of criticism point at Apple when they do the same thing Microsoft does. Let's turn it around, eh? When Apple cut the cost of the iPhone, quite a few people were screaming bloody murder about Steve Jobs and his evilness. So where is the outrage over the Vista price cut? Where is Bill Gates promising to send a rebate to all the people who "overpaid" for their copy of Vista? I'm not trolling here, I suspect the reason is that MS waited just long enough for the sensationalism to fade before they dropped the Vista price whereas Apple didn't wait long enough. Since I haven't bought either of these products, I'm going to have to rely on others who have...
Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!
Did I mention I'm a hoarder?
"The fight for freedom has only just begun." - Geert Wilders
MS drops the price to what is charged in China; $5. Even then, the chinese consider that too much. But ignoring that, it seems very unfair that Americans and EU pay SO MANY TIMES more.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
if the product works.
Did they fix that? I thought not. Nothing to see here.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
"I think it is that Linux development is starting to reach a critical mass"
Maybe, but I haven't seen a large trend towards that through the industry.
What I think is happening is that MS as a place to work has been stagnent in the last few years, and MS needs good developers.
There is no opportunity to get rich anymore, there reputation stinks, they have been cutting back on developer perks, but still expect 60+hours a week.
Ballmer is right in that it's about the developers, but MS isn't handling it's transition from skyrocketed company to, a strong but steady market force very well. This is typical. Developers seem more like a commodity that can be swapped around by Accounts. Which is fine,if accountants are tempered with good upper management that backs the developers concerns.
The top management may be deluded and think MS got the great developers it did in the early 90's because it's a great place to work. Instead of a great place to get rich.
I have said this for years, MS will go to an existing OS and brand their GUI on it, or die. You can not turn out a good solid OS in 10 years of development, you also need 10 years of in the market maturity.
I was astounded when Apple did it. Man, that blew me away. It's a good move that will keep you from reinventing the wheel.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
(offtopic, checking "no karma bonus" box)
No fair, you added two more people to your "foes" list making me not the only guy on it any more.
Now my feelings are hurt!
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
whhoooooooooooooeeeeeeee!
that was a good one there fella
you shore would be a purdy good comedian
From my point of view, it's because I don't care about the iPhone. It's an overpriced gadget that does stuff that I don't really need. My phone does what I need it to do. Whereas I actually use the winblows OSs, and considered using vista. I also think you're comparing apples and oranges here. If Apple had done the same with Leopard I think people would have grabbed on to it, just the same as with Vista, but Leopard has been pretty stable (except for one upgrade about a month ago my roommate had problems with) and hasn't got such the flux of bad press that vista has. I'm even considering using a partition to try out Leopard.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. indymedia
...but "very unheard of".
You buy, it is yours. But companies like MS and groups like RIAA will say otherwise. The real issue would be that I seriously doubt that the chinese version will include any western languages, save esperanto (which is really not a western language).
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
"version used to move from XP or another copy of Vista. "
They are competing with themselves, and need to slash prices. Market force at work.
"surprised to find that the amount of revenue lost was more than made up for by an increase in the number of PC buyers willing to shell out for an upgrade."
you're kidding me, right? that's not un common. You can sell a newspaper for a dime and sell 100 of them, cut it to a nickel and you will sell 300 of them.(adjust number for inflation)
I mean, this is a known market factor. maybe they need to replace their CFO.
"Brooks also pointed to the increase in sales Microsoft saw when it cut the price to computer makers for Windows XP Media Center Edition"
So contrary to the top of the article, they have done this before.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
So you didn't save as much, and good luck if you ever want to use wireless with that Ubuntu computer.
I am wireless with the Ubuntu computer. I didn't have to do anything. When I installed Ubuntu, I got the little wireless icon on my upper right hand corner, hit connect... to my wireless network, and it completely worked, just like the little wireless icon on my Windows XP does.
This is my sig.
Vista costs twice as much in the UK as it does in the US.
I still have my old AMD K5 166 mhz, my AMD K7 750 mhz, and my "more modern, laugh* AMD 1.4 ghz computer.
Each has a purpose and a place in my computer eco system. Each one was my main computer rig for a period of time, and each was tweaked until very stable. The oldest even saw use with my younger brother for a good time after I was on to my next computer.
Sometimes it is nice to pull out the old Dungeon Keeper or even Betrayal at Krondor and Doom I & II and remember the good times from the past. Gameplay over graphics.
I hope my daughter will enjoy these computers in the future, and have a better appreciation of how far computers have progressed in a relatively short time.
I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
They almost can't give it away?
"Attention K-mart customers...."
Clearly, Microsoft knows something that we don't know, and, I think it is that Linux development is starting to reach a critical mass for them to be really concerned about it. I wonder how much trouble Microsoft realizes it is in.
I agree that Linux is attractive for developers who want to build their own integrated solution from the ground up and have control at each level, plus many existing libraries that they can modify for their specific uses. Companies are starting to realize that they can't put all of their eggs in the MS basket and have the control they want later on when they need to grow or change in ways that MS won't allow or that is deemed too costly because of licenses that must be changed or 'upgraded' for further capability. However Visual Studio is a very good tool and it seems like many people are kind of stuck on it because they're used to it and also they have a lot of historical files (code snippets, projects) tied to the development environment that cannot easily be transcribed to another environment, and also where a lot of shortcuts and snippets won't work exactly the same when you're going for cross-platform or non-Windows targets.
The whole Windows environment and API is different enough to make it a real hassle for people who haven't started from the beginning to build easily portable applications. Perhaps updating to Vista is also making things significantly different, and now even developers who target Windows are beginning to build things to be portable from the start because even changes between the various Windows versions are different enough, and new development environments and libraries make it easy to target multiple platforms. I think bringing the KDE environment to multiple platforms shows just how powerful and well-done such software can be. Now if we can only get some sort of stack like "LAMP" or something to catch on when concerning cross-platform development.
Twinstiq, game news
The whole notion of upgrading PCs has sort of fallen by the wayside.
I upgrade my PC every time there is a new version of Fedora Core [your distribution if choice goes here]. Funny thing is it even works faster/better now than when I bought it seven years ago. Could that be improvements in the kernel?
realkiwi
It's called 'skimming the market', nothing new.
Because Vista sucks, and nobody wants to pay for it. I don't see what's surprising to the analysts about that.
The only difference between this and Toshiba's price cuts on HD-DVD players shortly before they finally conceded defeat, is that Microsoft won't have to admit defeat for a long time, if ever, due to the lack of a real "format war" on the desktop.
It should be illegal to say that freedom of speech should be limited.
I was finally thinking about actually buying (vs. pirating) windows, but the price is ridiculous.
I need the ultimate version, and as a full version (not oem or upgrade).
The price: 494.90 (=$750) (guess they didn't cut the price here yet...).
Guess I'm sticking with XP for now, read and heard so bad reviews and experiences that why should I bother...
From msft's point of view, would it make more sense to have an XP firesale?
That would still lock people into msft, but it look better from a PR point of view. And msft apparently considers PR very valuable.
If there were an XP firesale, msft could say "Yeah, nobody wants junky old worn-out XP anymore. Everybody wants a shiny new Vista."
Also, XP would be more attractive to those with lower-end hardware.
Selling more Vista will just piss more people off
So how much before the matted & framed copy of the OS is worth more on the antique market than it was at retail?
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
I fail to see the point. What idiot consumer is going to run out and buy a new OS just because it's $30 cheaper. It's still $130 out of their pocket, and if they really wanted it before, they would've bought it at the $160 point. And if they really want cheap, there's linux.
I expect to see a major turn-around with their next desktop OS release or it might be time to start beating the drum for desktop linux instead of hiding my linux boxes exclusively in the server room. End users will just have to deal with the inevitable problems.
Protector of Capitalist views,
Meorah
That is untrue.
What is true is the notion of upgrading to a new version of Windows on PCs has sort of fallen by the wayside, since the only available Windows "upgrade" version is actually a downgrade from Windows XP from a performance perspective.
Linux users upgrade regularly, and more and more average joe users are discovering Linux and upgrading from Windows to Linux.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
I followed the link you mentioned and the best I could do was an OEM version for $188.
Enough of the ranting on Ubuntu wireless. it works now.
I had an old Toshiba notebook sitting around. I tried Ubuntu about two years ago, and wireless was a major pain. It worked, but I can't imagine many people expending as much effort as I did. The machine had only 256MB of memory, which was a bit tight even for Ubuntu. As a result, it sat on the shelf unused.
Recently, I rediscovered the forgotten notebook and bought a cheap memory upgrade (the machine is now maxed out at 512MB). I installed the latest Ubuntu, and much to my surprise it worked flawlessly. Even the crappy Broadcom wireless chipset on the Linksys PCMCIA card was detected and supported without anything more than bare minimum configuration effort.
uhhh.
Actually on a purchased Dell C531 low end system, I've had fewer problems on install with Both XP home and Vista basic than i did with Fedora 5, Fedora 7, and now Fedora 8.
Most of the "problems" were related to X and not actually "Linux", and I was able to correct them each time, but again, the "average idiot" would see that "linux" has more problems than "Windows" does.
And being someone who runs several Vista computers (all 64bit as well) on both purchased and built systems, and Fedora (and having tried ubuntu) on several other computers, I can honestly say that I have had fewer problems on install with Vista than Linux.
But the problems weren't insurmountable for someone with the ability to use Google and some basic knowledge. However, for everyday use by the masses, I wouldn't recommend any Linux distro over windows (especially XP)
MSFT is in the DJIA and one of the largest valuations in the S&P500. Cuting the price of your flagship product doesnt help profits.
...trying to push Vista on people? It is incompatible with a lot of programs, and XP has been the standard for 6-7 years now. Will it make a difference if XP is purchased instead of Vista, considering the same/similar pricing? Why is Microsoft doing this?
Instead of axing all those other features that were supposedly going to be in the Vista, they SHOULD have axed Activation and Windows Genuine "Advantage." Then I might have considered upgrading.
Until that happens, I'll continue using software that doesn't require me to "prove my innocence," and no amount of pricing cutting will make me think differently.
Vista is only in use by about 6 percent of the internet surfers.
http://www.w3counter.com/globalstats.php
Maybe the users of vista don't like to surf the net?
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You have to be sleeping to have missed free software's 2007 surge and proof of concept. Dell, IBM and Asus all did well with it on "consumer" desktops. If the Asus EEE PC meets sales goals, there will be more EEEs out there than Macs. So far, the EEE has exceeded sales goals handily. You only need a few home runs like that to have GNU/Linux break into double didgit market share, which would also eclipse Vista. Microsoft has launched this firesale to prevent that but it's too little too late. Every vendor is going to pile on to the new, profitable model and Microsoft will never recover. They lost their "cool" factor and will soon lose their perception of practicality. Non free software can't compete with free, even when you give it away.
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Comment removed based on user account deletion
To me, the best part of TFA is the poll, where 88% of respondents say they still won't buy it.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
I've worked on "embedded" systems with PCs which run POS and Security, and the idea of Vista on those systems scares me. I now own an eeepc, you can use the xandros (not vista) or xp (not vista) on it. This is a very strange time for Microsoft, XP does *everything* that 99% of people need. It runs nicely on simple hardware. Ubuntu is getting better by every release. I havent made the switch (yet), and each time i try it out i get more pleased with it.
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I wasn't clear, I was tlaking aboutn a sharp consumer trend, something your example may end up doing, but it is too early to tell.
"well with it on "consumer" desktops. I"
did it, I must ahve missed those number,do you ahve a link?
". So far, the EEE has exceeded sales goals handily"
really, you think that's the same thing as the current home market? it isn't. Again maybe it will go that way. I certianly hope not. regarding the EEE PC, regardless of OS.
"Microsoft has launched this firesale to prevent that but it's too little too late."
hmm where have I heard that before..let me think, oh yeah after ME's failure. Also with the introduction of XP. Besides it hardly a firesale. Let me know when Vista Ultimate id selling for 50 bucks.
"You only need a few home runs like that to have GNU/Linux break into double didgit market share, which would also eclipse Vista"
Yes, but you DO NOT HAVE that.
"Non free software can't compete with free, "
That is, at best, an incredible ignorant statement about Market forces. Market force is about value, and price and 'free as in Oen OS' are just some factors of the market. Ultimately it comes down to Value for most consumers. Most consumers don't see a value gain in Linux. Not yet anyways.
The most likely value will be MS's OS bacause to burdensome to use for media.
I suspect if the gave Vista away they would move a lot more then Linux does at the moment.
Just so you know, this post is neither anti or pro for either, it's just what is going on right now. If you can't see that then you are letting your emotional ties with Linux hamper your reality check.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
The only downgrade available from Vista is to CP/M-80. Anything else - even XP Toy (aka "Home") would be a *significant* upgrade, with major performance and usability improvements. And, in many circumstances, CP/M-80 will also deliver these, compared with Vista. See Mike Cox's MS rep for details.
The grandparent post was moderated: Insightful, Funny, Informative, Overrated and Flamebait
See? Moderation works. That's what I was going for.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
In which PCs became so powerful that the above scenario has come true. How fast does one need to open one's spreadsheet program? And once loaded, how powerful does one need one's computer to be to use most spreadsheets created in most companies today? And let's not talk about mundane word processing.
We really reached this point a decade or more ago.
Who is this delectable creature with an insatiable love of the dead?
How about Anytime Upgrade...?
While I do agree that was a crappy install experience for you, you do realize that what you describe means that your hard drive was dying, right?
It's not possible for the O/S to make a hard drive 'screech and die' unless the drive is failing.
http://tufar.com/vista/
Longer term, Microsoft has brought the retail price closer to the OEM imputed price. That will make us home-builders happier and is likely to stimulate the legal license markets in developing nations (where piracy is a multi-billion dollar problem for Microsoft).
Last, the lower Vista prices are a way of lessening the blow that's coming in June, and which a lot us are dreading: the day Windows XP disappears from the shelves...