4 ms·

Apple OS upgrades have also been generally priced much more reasonably than Microsoft's. If Vista had been a $29 upgrade instead of a $299 upgrade, I think it

by brk 17y ago

Apple OS upgrades have also been generally priced much more reasonably than Microsoft's. If Vista had been a $29 upgrade instead of a $299 upgrade, I think it might have had a lot more uptake, and people would be less likely to complain if it were not "perfect". For $29 people don't expect as much as they do for $299+.

zmimon 17y ago
Yeah, nobody else has mentioned price. Vista is / was expensive! Like half a new computer expensive. Why would anyone buy it for an old PC at that price? Win 7 is too expensive as well. MS just doesn't seem to care about retail sales at all, let alone upgrade. As far as I can tell they actually price products to kill that market and force everyone into OEM sales (where they have no obligations for support).
nkohari 17y ago
Microsoft is forced to price Windows higher than OSX, because their product is the actual OS, whereas Apple makes their money on the hardware.
- artsrc 17y ago
  Does Microsoft price Windows higher OSX? What is the average OEM price of Windows? What is the premium that Apple targets based on the OS part of their user experience? I think the OEM price of Windows XP on my NetBook was something like $15.
  - gamble 17y ago
    No, not really. The upgrade price for either OS is about $130 retail. The difference is that MS is talented at producing bad PR by listing the 'full' retail MSRP at some ridiculous price that no one ever actually pays.
rythie 17y ago
If Microsoft had done 10.6, it would be a service pack and would be free. I'm surprised so many people paid $29 for it. Don't forget 10.6 drops PowerPC support meaning for many users a the price of a 10.6 upgrade is not $29 but $599+ (the price of a mac mini) and Apple were still selling PowerPC macs in 2006.
- acg 17y ago
  Isn't Window 7 a "service pack" for Vista? Companies will charge more if they can, and Microsoft can. It is also worth noting why MS Service Packs have been free: it has been the case in the past that the released OS is not ready. Hence the reason why corporate IT departments used to wait for at least a service pack before installation. OS X pricing hopefully will help bring the cost of windows down. It's clear to see we've been fleeced for years.

by brk 17y ago

zmimon 17y ago

Yeah, nobody else has mentioned price. Vista is / was expensive! Like half a new computer expensive. Why would anyone buy it for an old PC at that price? Win 7 is too expensive as well. MS just doesn't seem to care about retail sales at all, let alone upgrade. As far as I can tell they actually price products to kill that market and force everyone into OEM sales (where they have no obligations for support).

nkohari 17y ago

Microsoft is forced to price Windows higher than OSX, because their product is the actual OS, whereas Apple makes their money on the hardware.

artsrc 17y ago
Does Microsoft price Windows higher OSX? What is the average OEM price of Windows? What is the premium that Apple targets based on the OS part of their user experience? I think the OEM price of Windows XP on my NetBook was something like $15.
- gamble 17y ago
  No, not really. The upgrade price for either OS is about $130 retail. The difference is that MS is talented at producing bad PR by listing the 'full' retail MSRP at some ridiculous price that no one ever actually pays.

rythie 17y ago

If Microsoft had done 10.6, it would be a service pack and would be free. I'm surprised so many people paid $29 for it. Don't forget 10.6 drops PowerPC support meaning for many users a the price of a 10.6 upgrade is not $29 but $599+ (the price of a mac mini) and Apple were still selling PowerPC macs in 2006.

acg 17y ago
Isn't Window 7 a "service pack" for Vista? Companies will charge more if they can, and Microsoft can. It is also worth noting why MS Service Packs have been free: it has been the case in the past that the released OS is not ready. Hence the reason why corporate IT departments used to wait for at least a service pack before installation. OS X pricing hopefully will help bring the cost of windows down. It's clear to see we've been fleeced for years.