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Some would say that Mavericks was launched for free because Windows 8.1 did the same. Those same people might also say that Apple did one better by offering the

Some would say that Mavericks was launched for free because Windows 8.1 did the same. Those same people might also say that Apple did one better by offering the update for computers running older than the most recent version of their software.

ctdonath 13y ago
Offering it for older computers & versions indicates this was in the works long before MS released 8.1 out of urgency.
danieldk 13y ago
This has been coming a long time. The updates were already very cheap (20something Euros) compared to the old days (> 100 Euro if I remember correctly) and it fits in with the iOS strategy of having the latest version on every device. OS X upgrade revenue is now such a minuscule piece of the pie that it probably doesn't matter anymore.
- masklinn 13y ago
  > the old days (> 100 Euro if I remember correctly) Yes, 129 for single-user and 169 for family (5-user). And these are not so old days, Leopard was 129 and that was in 2007. Snow Leopard and Lion were 30, and ML was 20 (in USD, IIRC $129 translated to 129€ but ML is "only" 18€)
- eungyu 13y ago
  OS X Prices by Version - http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/osx-prices@2x.png http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/osx-pr...
- dba7dba 13y ago
  It's just a bait and switch. Free OS X upgrade and yet charge 50% more for hardware than what's realistic/fair.
- bsimpson 13y ago
  Apple's policy until System 7 was that you paid for the hardware and you should be able to expect software updates free for the life of the product. Nice to see them coming home, on this point anyway.
heartbreak 13y ago
Apple still makes money selling the computers that are running free OS X Mavericks. Microsoft makes no money by giving away Windows 8.1 for free to consumers.
- masklinn 13y ago
  > Apple still makes money selling the computers that are running free OS X Mavericks. Well you can install Mavericks on machines from 2007, that's money from quite a long time ago.
  - heartbreak 13y ago
    Money from quite a long time ago is worth more than no money at all.
  - lazerwalker 13y ago
    When you need to finally replace that 2007 machine, Apple obviously wants you to buy another Mac. Screwing over people with perfectly good hardware wouldn't do a whole lot for customer goodwill.
    - stcredzero 13y ago
      Exactly. That's when people think, "Well, if I have to change OS anyhow..."
      - D9u 13y ago
        I change my OS every few weeks or so... Distro hopping. Or "Nixploration." OS is not necessarily tied to a single machine.
        aaronem 13y ago
        Seems like a lot of effort, that. What do you get for it?
devx 13y ago
I think the bigger hit to Microsoft, or just as big, is the free and much improved iWorks. Now there are 2 office suites from 2 big companies being offered for free (Docs and iWorks), which are becoming increasingly more popular not just with consumers, but a lot of enterprise customers, too. Microsoft should be terrified. Both of their cash cows are getting rapidly commoditized.
- untog 13y ago
  Wait and see if iWorks makes it into corporate environments. I'm not sure it will. Google Docs has a better chance.
  - sounds 13y ago
    I would think iWorks is targeting the same market ClarisWorks did from 1984 until the 90s. [1] It's the same reason iOS is coming into corporate environments: people want to use it. iWorks is never going to be a threat to Microsoft in corporate environments, really. But the fact that Apple's customers don't need Microsoft at all just as Microsoft is taking a big step into consumer devices is probably an issue. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AppleWorks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AppleWorks
- footpath 13y ago
  Is this really the case? According to a survey by Forrester[0], corporations are still largely dominated by Microsoft products. [0]http://blogs.forrester.com/philipp_karcher/13-10-17-office_productivity_software_is_no_closer_to_becoming_a_commodity http://blogs.forrester.com/philipp_karcher/13-10-17-office_p...
Geee 13y ago
I think it just pays Apple more in customer satisfaction to have everyone on the same boat. Simple economics. They make the money on the hardware after all. Same thing for free iLife and iWork, customers pay for the complete experience in the price of the device.
- rogerbinns 13y ago
  It also helps developers. It would be a reasonable position to take to only support the latest MacOS release and features. (People who don't want to upgrade their MacOS version for free are also less likely to want to try your software or upgrade to new versions of it.)
glhaynes 13y ago
They went out of their way to point out that this is a "going forward" thing, too — system software on Apple devices is free. I assume Windows 9 isn't gonna be.
- gohrt 13y ago
  I wonder how this jibes with Apple's much-derided claims that stuff like XCode had to be $5 due to accounting regulations around free upgrades. Windows 9 might be free for the same reason -- the new features are in apps and services, and the OS is a compatibility layer than needs to keep up. For example, hypothetically: Office 2014 is expensive, Win 9 is free to provide access to Office 2014 Viewer or whatever.
  - parasubvert 13y ago
    The accounting regs were real, but FASB changed revenue recognition principles in 2010 to allow for free releases.
McPants 13y ago
The reason they offer it for free is pretty simple to me. They have an app store which is making them more money than the Operating System itself. The more people who have access to the app store the more money they make, so why put a price barrier between the user and the store? This is why Windows 8.1 is free and I will assume the next iterations of Windows will be. Windows now has an app store and they are banking on getting as many people into that ecosystem as possible. While they may lose money in the OS purchase, that isn't where the bulk of the money is made anymore. It's all about money.
MiguelHudnandez 13y ago
Microsoft has never charged for service packs. They are being a little more generous with 8.1, but I still lump it in with service packs.
locusm 13y ago
The upgrade path for Windows 8.1 is pretty confusing - it differs depending on what edition you have.

ctdonath 13y ago

Offering it for older computers & versions indicates this was in the works long before MS released 8.1 out of urgency.

danieldk 13y ago

This has been coming a long time. The updates were already very cheap (20something Euros) compared to the old days (> 100 Euro if I remember correctly) and it fits in with the iOS strategy of having the latest version on every device. OS X upgrade revenue is now such a minuscule piece of the pie that it probably doesn't matter anymore.

masklinn 13y ago
> the old days (> 100 Euro if I remember correctly) Yes, 129 for single-user and 169 for family (5-user). And these are not so old days, Leopard was 129 and that was in 2007. Snow Leopard and Lion were 30, and ML was 20 (in USD, IIRC $129 translated to 129€ but ML is "only" 18€)
eungyu 13y ago
OS X Prices by Version - http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/osx-prices@2x.png http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/osx-pr...
dba7dba 13y ago
It's just a bait and switch. Free OS X upgrade and yet charge 50% more for hardware than what's realistic/fair.
bsimpson 13y ago
Apple's policy until System 7 was that you paid for the hardware and you should be able to expect software updates free for the life of the product. Nice to see them coming home, on this point anyway.

heartbreak 13y ago

Apple still makes money selling the computers that are running free OS X Mavericks. Microsoft makes no money by giving away Windows 8.1 for free to consumers.

masklinn 13y ago
> Apple still makes money selling the computers that are running free OS X Mavericks. Well you can install Mavericks on machines from 2007, that's money from quite a long time ago.
- heartbreak 13y ago
  Money from quite a long time ago is worth more than no money at all.
- lazerwalker 13y ago
  When you need to finally replace that 2007 machine, Apple obviously wants you to buy another Mac. Screwing over people with perfectly good hardware wouldn't do a whole lot for customer goodwill.
  - stcredzero 13y ago
    Exactly. That's when people think, "Well, if I have to change OS anyhow..."
    - D9u 13y ago
      I change my OS every few weeks or so... Distro hopping. Or "Nixploration." OS is not necessarily tied to a single machine.
      - aaronem 13y ago
        Seems like a lot of effort, that. What do you get for it?

devx 13y ago

I think the bigger hit to Microsoft, or just as big, is the free and much improved iWorks. Now there are 2 office suites from 2 big companies being offered for free (Docs and iWorks), which are becoming increasingly more popular not just with consumers, but a lot of enterprise customers, too. Microsoft should be terrified. Both of their cash cows are getting rapidly commoditized.

untog 13y ago
Wait and see if iWorks makes it into corporate environments. I'm not sure it will. Google Docs has a better chance.
- sounds 13y ago
  I would think iWorks is targeting the same market ClarisWorks did from 1984 until the 90s. [1] It's the same reason iOS is coming into corporate environments: people want to use it. iWorks is never going to be a threat to Microsoft in corporate environments, really. But the fact that Apple's customers don't need Microsoft at all just as Microsoft is taking a big step into consumer devices is probably an issue. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AppleWorks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AppleWorks
footpath 13y ago
Is this really the case? According to a survey by Forrester[0], corporations are still largely dominated by Microsoft products. [0]http://blogs.forrester.com/philipp_karcher/13-10-17-office_productivity_software_is_no_closer_to_becoming_a_commodity http://blogs.forrester.com/philipp_karcher/13-10-17-office_p...

Geee 13y ago

I think it just pays Apple more in customer satisfaction to have everyone on the same boat. Simple economics. They make the money on the hardware after all. Same thing for free iLife and iWork, customers pay for the complete experience in the price of the device.

rogerbinns 13y ago
It also helps developers. It would be a reasonable position to take to only support the latest MacOS release and features. (People who don't want to upgrade their MacOS version for free are also less likely to want to try your software or upgrade to new versions of it.)

glhaynes 13y ago

They went out of their way to point out that this is a "going forward" thing, too — system software on Apple devices is free. I assume Windows 9 isn't gonna be.

gohrt 13y ago
I wonder how this jibes with Apple's much-derided claims that stuff like XCode had to be $5 due to accounting regulations around free upgrades. Windows 9 might be free for the same reason -- the new features are in apps and services, and the OS is a compatibility layer than needs to keep up. For example, hypothetically: Office 2014 is expensive, Win 9 is free to provide access to Office 2014 Viewer or whatever.
- parasubvert 13y ago
  The accounting regs were real, but FASB changed revenue recognition principles in 2010 to allow for free releases.

McPants 13y ago

The reason they offer it for free is pretty simple to me. They have an app store which is making them more money than the Operating System itself. The more people who have access to the app store the more money they make, so why put a price barrier between the user and the store? This is why Windows 8.1 is free and I will assume the next iterations of Windows will be. Windows now has an app store and they are banking on getting as many people into that ecosystem as possible. While they may lose money in the OS purchase, that isn't where the bulk of the money is made anymore. It's all about money.

MiguelHudnandez 13y ago

Microsoft has never charged for service packs. They are being a little more generous with 8.1, but I still lump it in with service packs.

locusm 13y ago

The upgrade path for Windows 8.1 is pretty confusing - it differs depending on what edition you have.