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>What's the disadvantage in giving something like Bitlocker and UNIX to regular professional users? >>The cost. These features cost money to develop and they c

>What's the disadvantage in giving something like Bitlocker and UNIX to regular professional users? >>The cost. These features cost money to develop and they cost money to support. Imagine if Microsoft was getting calls from everyone who enabled BitLocker and then forgot their password. Enterprise costs a lot more than Home Premium. I dont know who is doing your purchasing but through volume licensing enterprise pay significantly less per cal than a home user could ever hope of getting. Also enterprise tend to purchase MS support but home users do not. >MS's stock hasn't moved in the past decade. >>That's a sign of a mature company. They rake in a lot of money. They're no longer "cool" but they're a steady source of a lot of income. And unlike Apple, they actually pay dividends on their stock. [1] While gangbuster growth is not usually sustainable flat earnings are not a sign of maturity they are a sign of stagnation. Without growth (real or expected) dividends are required to keep share holders happy. Also I am not sure its clear cut that dividends in general are a great thing. >(and they're not anymore) >>I'd like to see some numbers on this, because every number I've seen shows Microsoft in the mid 90% range for computer install base. This only takes into account the desktop market which is quickly becoming less relevant than the mobile market where MS has no dominance and little growth. Even in the desktop market the user experience is shifting away from the OS to the web, again not a dominant area for MS. >If MS could stream easily, people wouldn't be buying Roku boxes, Boxee boxes, PS3's. >>And where are people streaming from? Their PC, among other places. Because Vista and 7 have it built in, and XP has the feature as a download. They are streaming mostly from the web not saved content. >Why not just give Access away! >>You would make a great businessman. Is Access really the killer app from Office? I cant see the case. Outlook and Excel are still killer apps but charging for access, or at least not making it part of the most basic bundles like word is did not do MS any favors. >If MS had simply given away SQL server licenses, Apache would have never taken off. >>Because if there's one thing Apache servers are known for, it's SQL (wtf is this?) Agreed here I am not sure what the OP was referring to unless he means the power of the LAMP stack. Had microsoft had a competing offering that was not under such expensive licensing it would have given them a big bost in server licenses. >Why am I shown different deals if i'm a home user, a small business user, a medium size business user, or a larger business user? >>Because home users buy one computer. Businesses buy dozens or hundreds. But this segmentation does not work if everyone can see every deal. You can achieve similar results based on volume discounting or segmentation along less artificial lines. For example as a home user I do not care if the same modle of PC will be guaranteed available for a 3 year life cycle. As a business customer I am willing to pay extra for that. >Why are my computing needs different if I'm a small >>business user vs. a medium size business user? Business machines need to be stable, supported, and perform well for the task they do. Home computers tend to be less stable, less supported, easier to break, but above all closer to bleeding edge and cheaper. Home PC tend to fall into bleeding edge or cheap but reliability and support are just as important too the two groups. Delivery of service is different but expectations are the same. At the end of the day these are the same components and are used by users at work and at home. The reason consumerization of IT is hitting business hard is because users no longer have a difference in expectations between what they can do at home and what they can do at work. >Why is it such a struggle for me to order a machine with an SSD and 16GB RAM? >>Because you can't figure out how to read? Your mouse is broken? Monitor is unplugged? I don't know, you tell me. Listen, complain all you want, but it makes sense from a business standpoint. His point on 'What's the different between a "vostro" and an "optiplex"and an "inspiron" and an "xps"' is completely valid. What the hell do those mean and where do I even begin looking for what i want when these are the initial choice presented to me. To make matters worse I can configure near identical machines under these different lines but get vastly different prices. Now I need to configure my PC several different times and track that pricing to make an intelligent choice? That is insanity. >>If you can't wrap your head what Microsoft is doing, just take a step back and realize that there are really only two options for Windows 7: Home and Professional. That's all you need to know. And Microsofts marketing does a horrible job at making that clear. That is not a fault of the consumer.

freehunter 15y ago
>I dont know who is doing your purchasing but through volume licensing enterprise pay significantly less per cal than a home user could ever hope of getting. True, but what is the cost of one license of Windows? I mean, what is the true cost of goods sold for one copy of Windows? If Microsoft can sign one contract to sell 100 licenses rather than pay to ship discs and sell them in stores individually, the cost substantially goes down and their profits substantially go up. I actually meant to say "Professional" rather than Home Premium, since that is what unexpected was talking about. A mis-type on my part. >Also I am not sure its clear cut that dividends in general are a great thing. They are making sackloads of cash, don't need further capital investment that selling stock brings, and are still able to return money to their investors. That's doing good business. >This only takes into account the desktop market which is quickly becoming less relevant than the mobile market where MS has no dominance and little growth. People keep saying this, but I'm yet to see a family that doesn't own a laptop or two. I've yet to find a college student without a laptop or without making use of a computer lab (running Windows). I've yet to see any real number of large corporations switching to Macs. We can discuss the future when it gets here, until then it's all wild speculation. >They are streaming mostly from the web not saved content. I did say among other places, just indicating that it was possible since it was alluded that it is not. >Is Access really the killer app from Office? It doesn't need to be. All it needs is to be needed in some capacity, and bundled with a more expensive package. If you want HBO, you're paying for basic cable as well. >That is insanity. Well what's the difference between a Chevy Impala, a Malibu, and a Cruze? I can get the same number of seats, the same size engine, and the same number of doors. Maybe it's the fault of Dell (still not sure how Dell has anything to do with Microsoft's naming, it's a little off topic) for not educating their users better, or maybe it's the fault of their users for being complete morons. Look at their laptop site: Inspiron - Everyday Computing (+MacBook) Z Series - Thin and Powerful (+MacBook Air) XPS - High Performance (+MacBook Pro) Alienware - Extreme Gaming (+Mac doesn't compete here) (+my editorial) Yeah, they actually tell you the use-case for their various brands. Funny how they do that. No one seems to complain about the differences between the MacBook, the MacBook Pro, or the MacBook Air, though they can all be spec'd close to the same too. Shit, Dell even lets you sort by the exact features you want. You need an SSD and 16GB of RAM? There are check boxes along the side of the screen that say 16GB and Solid State Drive. Click them and your choices are down to 9 configurations between Alienware and XPS. Pick your processor and hard drive size. Magic. >And Microsofts marketing does a horrible job at making that clear. Disagree >That is not a fault of the consumer. Agree. It's not the fault of the consumer, because the consumer is never going to get confused by it. It's the fault of the tech media and the family tech support for confusing the users. If my grandma knows what version of Windows she's running, it's because I told her. If she knows how many versions she's not running, again it's because I told her. No consumer will look at the shelf and say "Shit there's seven versions, which one will I buy?!" because they will only see two, know they are a home user, and buy that one. Actually the more likely case is they'll buy a computer with it preloaded and not give two shits about what version they're running. It's not Microsoft's marketing failure if they're not marketing products you can't buy. Do you know about Windows 7 Enterprise from an advertisement, or is it because Engadget had a scathing editorial on the subject?

freehunter 15y ago

>I dont know who is doing your purchasing but through volume licensing enterprise pay significantly less per cal than a home user could ever hope of getting. True, but what is the cost of one license of Windows? I mean, what is the true cost of goods sold for one copy of Windows? If Microsoft can sign one contract to sell 100 licenses rather than pay to ship discs and sell them in stores individually, the cost substantially goes down and their profits substantially go up. I actually meant to say "Professional" rather than Home Premium, since that is what unexpected was talking about. A mis-type on my part. >Also I am not sure its clear cut that dividends in general are a great thing. They are making sackloads of cash, don't need further capital investment that selling stock brings, and are still able to return money to their investors. That's doing good business. >This only takes into account the desktop market which is quickly becoming less relevant than the mobile market where MS has no dominance and little growth. People keep saying this, but I'm yet to see a family that doesn't own a laptop or two. I've yet to find a college student without a laptop or without making use of a computer lab (running Windows). I've yet to see any real number of large corporations switching to Macs. We can discuss the future when it gets here, until then it's all wild speculation. >They are streaming mostly from the web not saved content. I did say among other places, just indicating that it was possible since it was alluded that it is not. >Is Access really the killer app from Office? It doesn't need to be. All it needs is to be needed in some capacity, and bundled with a more expensive package. If you want HBO, you're paying for basic cable as well. >That is insanity. Well what's the difference between a Chevy Impala, a Malibu, and a Cruze? I can get the same number of seats, the same size engine, and the same number of doors. Maybe it's the fault of Dell (still not sure how Dell has anything to do with Microsoft's naming, it's a little off topic) for not educating their users better, or maybe it's the fault of their users for being complete morons. Look at their laptop site: Inspiron - Everyday Computing (+MacBook) Z Series - Thin and Powerful (+MacBook Air) XPS - High Performance (+MacBook Pro) Alienware - Extreme Gaming (+Mac doesn't compete here) (+my editorial) Yeah, they actually tell you the use-case for their various brands. Funny how they do that. No one seems to complain about the differences between the MacBook, the MacBook Pro, or the MacBook Air, though they can all be spec'd close to the same too. Shit, Dell even lets you sort by the exact features you want. You need an SSD and 16GB of RAM? There are check boxes along the side of the screen that say 16GB and Solid State Drive. Click them and your choices are down to 9 configurations between Alienware and XPS. Pick your processor and hard drive size. Magic. >And Microsofts marketing does a horrible job at making that clear. Disagree >That is not a fault of the consumer. Agree. It's not the fault of the consumer, because the consumer is never going to get confused by it. It's the fault of the tech media and the family tech support for confusing the users. If my grandma knows what version of Windows she's running, it's because I told her. If she knows how many versions she's not running, again it's because I told her. No consumer will look at the shelf and say "Shit there's seven versions, which one will I buy?!" because they will only see two, know they are a home user, and buy that one. Actually the more likely case is they'll buy a computer with it preloaded and not give two shits about what version they're running. It's not Microsoft's marketing failure if they're not marketing products you can't buy. Do you know about Windows 7 Enterprise from an advertisement, or is it because Engadget had a scathing editorial on the subject?