Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Microsoft Said To Cut Windows Price 70% For Low Cost Devices

Posted by timothy on from the prices-convey-information dept.

kc123 writes with this except from Bloomberg News: "Microsoft is cutting the price of Windows 8.1 by 70 percent for makers of low-cost computers and tablets as they try to fend off cheaper rivals like Google's Chromebooks, people familiar with the program said. Manufacturers will be charged $15 to license Windows 8.1 and preinstall it on devices that retail for less than $250, instead of the usual fee of $50. The discount will apply to any products that meet the price limit, with no restrictions on the size or type of device."

7 of 178 comments (clear)

  1. At last by MCROnline · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Now all we need is Windows retail to be a more realistic price too.

    1. Re:At last by ColdWetDog · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's like telling poor people they should stop stealing and just lie down and starve. Sure in an ideal world that's what they would do.

      The scary thing is that there really are people who believe that poor people should just lie down and starve, as if respecting property rights is more important than staying alive.

      The really scary thing is people like you who think that TV shows and commercial software are needed to survive. The rest of the planet and the rest of history would like a word with you.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  2. Good-bye middle tier by SuperKendall · · Score: 4, Insightful

    One unwanted side effect I can see coming from this, is that most Windows devices will become either very cheap (to meet the price guideline) or very expensive. If you build a device costing $500, the cheaper devices are not going to be that much lower in spec than you because they didn't have to eat a more expensive Windows license.

    When I read this story, I was excited because I thought it meant cheaper Windows for home users. I wouldn't mind running Windows 8 in Parallels on my mac, or even dual boot to it to play games. But the price for consumers is just too high for me to do that. They could get a lot of casual Windows sales and remain relevant but for some reason, they just don't seem interested in doing so.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  3. Microsoft, the former leader by surfdaddy · · Score: 5, Insightful
    They sat on their laurels too long under Ballmer and watched the market expand while they sat on the sidelines. They laughed at the iPhone when it first came out. Rather than putting Office on the iPad, they held it hostage to "protect" Windows. Five plus years later, they may finally do it. How much revenue did they give up there?

    They chased Google with Bing. They've chased Apple with the Zune, their music store, and their Windows Phone. They put the name Windows on everything - their cloud, their phone, their ARM tablet, and their regular PC OS, even though all those products are different. They are a MESS. Good luck to Satya - he will need it.

  4. Re:Ah yes... by danbob999 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Just because Apple includes the price in their PC doesn't mean it's free. It is not free if you want to run OS X on a non-Mac PC.

  5. Did the same thing with Netbooks by rahvin112 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They did the same with netbooks. Discounted to $15, then used the $15 price to force the OEM to reduce the specs. Once they got the specs to the point of garbage and sales started to drop off they raised the price a bit, rinse and repeat until the entire market is gone. That's what happened to netbooks, incredibly popular until MS deliberately destroyed the hardware requirements so that no on wanted them anymore. Everyone that bought a netbook and hated it? That was Microsoft ensuring they were underpowered pieces of garbage.

    The best tricks are the old tricks.

  6. Re:Whoop-de-do! by geekster99 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No it's not the only difference. How about:

    1) You can't add an administrative user without using the metro user app to create the user and follow up by switching to the desktop app to promote the user to administrator. How stupid is that?

    2) No more safe mode with F8. What happens when Microsoft Windows update installs a fscked up video driver (like it did to one of the machines I worked on) and it no longer boots with video? 8.x has to boot to working WINDOWS to force a reboot into safe mode. How stupid is that? I guess we'll never need to go to safe mode unless Windows is working properly. Sheesh

    3) That God awful abortion of "fast shutdown and startup." Good luck getting rid of root kits and virii if you don't know the tricks to get Windows to actually reboot the system.

    4) Windows 8.x shills and apologists always point out that installing "classic shell" or "start8" makes it usable. Why in God's name should an end user be forced to install third party software to repair the functionality intentionally gutted by Microsoft? The last Lenovo I worked on came with a replacement start menu app preinstalled. Of course, the Windows 8.1 update removed it. Which is 8.x? A half-ass desktop OS or a half-ass tablet OS?

    I could go on, but you get the picture. Windows 8.x's user interface and user experience are a piece of shit. I don't care if it plays games or copies files faster. I wouldn't pay for it if it was $15. I wouldn't use it if it was free. Every time I am handed a 8.x machine, I think there is no way it could suck more than I have already seen. Every single time, it proves me wrong.