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.'"

Comments

Re:The whole idea of upgrading PCs???

[plague3106]

I think that Apple actually sells a lot of upgrades.

Can you back that up with some numbers, such as % of apple users that buy OS 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.

Probably a negative benefit? Maybe you should try it. Personally I like the new features of Vista, and wouldn't want to go back to XP. I only have one computer that's not running Vista, and that's a laptop from 01 or 02 and I haven't checked specs.

Re:still waiting

[geekoid]

Man, Vista is doing so bad the suc^H^H^H customer who bought it are getting defensive!

I am used to the primary argument against Linux is that ion order to get it to work well, you ahve to 'fiddle with it'. Now the answer supporting Vista is that if you want it to work well, fiddle with it. Adjust default setting, turn off Aero, customize Aero, wait for new printer drivers; which MAY be coming out.