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After years I still fail to understand how Microsoft thinks an OS is worth the prices it charges. I see two possibilities: 1. The OS isn't worth this, in whic
by makecheck 14y ago
After years I still fail to understand how Microsoft thinks an OS is worth the prices it charges. I see two possibilities:
1. The OS isn't worth this, in which case it's either extortion (if their partners feel they have no choice) or cluelessness (if their partners end up walking away).
2. The OS is worth this, in which case they've over-engineered: they made their particular OS do way more than it's supposed to and are trying to recoup the cost of developing so damned much.
Fundamentally, an OS needs to boot a device and provide resource management. In order to be compelling to developers it needs to include good libraries that make common tasks easy and tricky tasks efficient. ARM tablets don't even need Windows' backward-compatibility, so there should be a heck of a lot they can just drop out of it! It is hard to imagine this OS being a beast; apparently it is.
Technical points aside however, Microsoft is also the underdog, and a rich one. If anybody should be eating the true costs of an OS and charging partners $6 a head to boost adoption (whether or not it's worth $85), it's Microsoft.
- nl 14y agoAfter years I still fail to understand how Microsoft thinks an OS is worth the prices it charges. Show me an operating system (that comes with support) that is cheaper. Ubuntu is $104.99/year for the cheapest support offering from Canonical. OS-X is more. Android is free, but you have to pay to license the Google Apps (exactly how much no one is saying).
- damian2000 14y agoVast majority of Ubuntu and Linux users don't pay for support - that's the difference - they have a choice. With Windows there is no choice, just a huge fee going to Microsoft, who are trying desperately to hang onto the lead in the desktop OS market.
- thornkin 14y agoYou actually do have a choice. If you buy an OEM copy from, say, Newegg, there is no support included. That's part of the reason it is so much cheaper than the retail version.
- Agathos 14y agoWindows doesn't come with support. The manufacturer has to handle it.
- nl 14y agoYes and no. Microsoft doesn't support the consumer directly, but it does support the manufacturer.
- dmboyd 14y agoIts worth whatever people are willing to pay for it. It's a perception that you need Windows, and that's going to last a while. That's why there's such a huge market in silly things that you don't need(like Winzip for example), the price has nothing to do with how much engineering went into it, or how much it cost. And also, from TFA the actual source of the article is hearsay at best. Pricing is more likely to be based around individual agreements with suppliers. They have a real incentive to get units out (to drive more App store revenue), But for smaller players they will continue to milk the Windows brand for as much as people are willing to pay for it.