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Re: [News] When the Operating System Costs More Than a Computer...

__/ [ The Ghost In The Machine ] on Thursday 14 September 2006 22:00 \__

> In comp.os.linux.advocacy, arachnid
> <none@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>  wrote
> on Thu, 14 Sep 2006 14:56:04 -0500
> <pan.2006.09.14.19.55.57.465621@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>> On Thu, 14 Sep 2006 19:06:02 +0000, Robert Newson wrote:
>>
>>> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>>> 
>>> ...
>>>> | So the next time your hands start itching to buy the latest state of
>>>> | the art proprietary OS , ask yourselves this question. Is the
>>>> | mismatched price of the OS justified ?
>>> 
>>> Let's see:
>>> 
>>> Just checked a current high street retailer (for full, not upgrade
>>> versions):
>>> 
>>>     XP Home (inc SP2) = £199.99 (or $377.44[1])
>>>     XP Pro  (inc SP2) = £259.99 (or $490.67)
>>> 
>>> Leaked prices for Vista:
>>> 
>>>     Ultimate = $399 (or £211.42)
>>>     Business = $299 (or £158.44)
>>>     Home Pre = $239 (or £126.64)
>>>     Home Bas = $199 (or £105.47)
>>
>> But wait... wasn't WPA/WGA supposed to *reduce* the price of Windows by
>> eliminating piracy?
> 
> Eventually.  But where would the profit be in that? :-)

Piracy has always helped Microsoft reach the position it had reached. Without
it, Microsoft relies on the 'effectiveness' of lockins. And it won't be long
before it loses many users with the benefit of short-term gains. It's a
short-term strategy in Microsoft. It's not even clear what happens to
Windows once Vista is 'out the door'. Jim Allchin retires, Gates soon joins
him, the codebase needs to be largely scraped and rewritten, Singularity is
in its diapers, etc.

There is no long-term strategy other than to collect the golden eggs (or milk
the cow) until the goose (or cow) dies. The only hope is that new emerging
markets (e.g. services, games, media) will offer a cushion. But the same
margins gained by overpriced software which eliminates price-fixing
competition will never see the light of day again.

Best wishes,

Roy


Best wishes,

Roy

-- 
Roy S. Schestowitz      |    Proprietary cripples communication
http://Schestowitz.com  |     GNU/Linux     ¦     PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
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