QOTD: Do You Think Windows 7 Prices Are Fair?

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No, is not even a question. No OS is worth over 100 bucks, simply ridiculous and Microsoft should be taken to court for abusing it's marketshare.
 
[citation][nom]smithereen[/nom]There should be a family license, though, that makes sense.[/citation]

Yeah I think it'd be an instant hit if they did that. Tech members of the family would get them on their families computers.
 
Way to expensive.

If microsoft really wants to rake in some $ and get most everyoen to upgrade....they should price it $50 at the maximum. If they priced it at $20 i bet they would have most people upgrade.

Me, id pay 10 and try it out, there is no way in hell ill pay 200 tho, or 100. I might even pay 20, 50 is a stretch tho. XP does everything i need it too, so there is no reason to upgrade unless the price is right.
 
Can someone explain how the "upgrade" works?
I remember long ago upgrading from NT4 to Win2000. I needed to install NT4 first, then run the Win2000 upgrade - can not do a clean format install (or at least have 2 install CDs handy).
Later I tried to upgrade from XP Home to XP Pro on a Dell notebook. Dell told me it will cost something like over $200!
I just remember this upgrading as as total pain.
Am I completely wrong? Has things changed? What is it like now? Thanks!
 
Pricing sucks.....OSX is $129 (even has developer kit included) or bundled with iLife & iWork for $169. ($229 for 5 user License). Many of you complain about Apple being high priced, but Micro makes the world bend over when it comes to their OS and Office Products.
 
Prices are ridiculously high, especially when you get only one license (come on Microsoft, at least allow 3 installs per copy!).
And it gets worse in my country, where import tax and currency ratios are high. The "starter edition" of Vista for underdeveloped countries is still highliy priced and offers limited functionality. How could Microsoft ever dream with people not getting illegal copies here?
I'm stuck with an original OEM XP Home (which curiously is able to be installed on many PCs), and I decided I would skip Vista altogether, but this preorder deal is really attracting me to Win 7.
What I find as an extreme abuse is the price tag of Office 2007 products... which can cost more than the OS itself.
 
To all the upgrade whiners...

You dont need to install anything other than Win7 to do a clean install. It will simply ask you to insert your Vista (or potentially XP disk) to verify that you are eligible for upgrade status. Its been that way since at LEAST 98SE.
 
I just wish Microsoft would issue a coupon or a buy back program or something for buying Windows Vista. (I bought Ultimate-upgrade) I used it for maybe 2 months then went back to XP. I have an evaluation copy of Windows 7 and to me it's everything Vista should have been. I think I'll just wait for Windows 8.
 
[citation][nom]duckmanx88[/nom]thats ridiculous. the ultimate version costs as much as a netbook.[/citation]
It's why you don't see that many netbooks with vista ultimate :)
 
I just think it`s monopoly abuse to sell different version of the OS. 319$ for the unlocked version is thievery !!!
 
Lets be honest here. Windows 7 is built off of Vista and is basically what Vista should have been. There is no way they spent as much to make Windows 7 as it did with Vista. So these prices are certainly a rip off.

With this economy as well I don't see this selling very much and may be mimic Vista when it comes to sales. Even worse companies that sell computers will no doubt have to charge more to the consumer which may hurt their sales as well.

What I see happening here is Microsoft is trying to make up as what it sees as poor vista sales in hoping that consumers will buy Windows 7 and accept it at its high price by heavily advertising it and making it out to be some sort of OS messiah. I doubt this plan will work.

I would like to note that Windows 7 is a good OS and I'm not attempting to put it down in anyway.
 
I think its fair. It's their product and they should be able to price it however they like. If no one buys it because it's too expensive then Microsoft will lower their prices, as they want to make money. I know I'm going to be rated down for this, but I don't care. It's my opinion, and I should be free to express it.
 
Fair? Well what are ya gonna do, run hacked oses yer whole life? Open source is fine and dandy but you can't run a lot of programs and/or hardware that way.

I am much more interested in oem pricing, which it sounds like will be unable to take advantage of pre-orders. I Might buy one for my wife or stepdaughter though; at $50 bucks that's pretty sweet.

Unfortunately at my school, the prices for operating systems are much higher than street.
 
At these prices, most users will probably choose again to stick with XP. There is no compelling reason to upgrade and those of us who were burned buying Vista Ultimate are unlikely to fall for the same trick again. Can you say Vista Ultimate Extras?
 
If the base price of Home Premium, the lowest denomination you can buy off a store shelf, is going to be $200? Then I think the next tiers up should be staggered at only a $50 difference each, rather than $100.
 
And another release with ~$ price tag. Still the same old problem various OS systems around which do not talk easily with each other. Isn't it time to put an end to it? It is the major problem of computing. The os should be a public domain, like the alphabet, the roads, etc. Development shall be in the hands of ~ the open source community. Otherwise great a new operating system is generating lots of work and if more and more software requires the os the price will be secondary. Cheers Aquaboy
 
First of all most people will buy this if only because they buy a system from a major OEM that comes with a preloaded installation of windows 7.
On those licenses it is believed microsoft hardly makes any money thus they charge more for a retail version.

Now i dont think any OEM or local system builder should be able to offer a default OS unless the system is build from the ground up by one manufacturer (that includes software or hardware like in example Sun Microsystems Apple or genesi).
This would even out the prices (since there is only retail) and it would make room for a fair choice of operating systems ranging from windows to several linux distro's to BSD and solaris which in turn makes sure there is real innovation.

Now back to the prices of windows 7, i dont think they are fair there is just no way to justify 300+ euro's for an operating system made by the one holding a monopoly.
This might sound weird but if my OS was indeed special and did give me the edge over others i would have a reason to pay this much.
As others pointed out with these prices people who cant afford it (like me) or have other priority's (again like me) will be tempted to just use a pirated VLK.
I would not be able to buy it even if it was 100 euro though if it was i could prioritize and would make room for it.

Last but not least, a system builder or OEM version sounds like a solution though according to microsoft the reason they are cheaper is because you dont get any support.
I would go for that any time since i dont need any support however i might buy another computer or burn my motherboard and if that happends i cant reactivate.
i still dotn know what that last part has to do with support but i do know in my book there is no such thing as buying a vase you can only use on the table you putt it on first after taking it home.
If i bought it its mine !
 
Does MS have any idea what is going on with the economy now?
Should be $49 for Home Edition...max! Maybe people would actually pay for it then instead of copying their friends or pirating. It's ridiculous to expect $100+ when laptops are selling under $500.
 
Yes Windows is expensive but if you think about Apple hardware are way overpriced. If you just get Windows, there are millions of free software than can do most functions of Office and for general use. Come of think of it most Apple stuff are overpriced.
 
[citation][nom]cabose369[/nom]This isn't Apple... there are no "Family Packs"[/citation]
There is Technet.

[citation][nom]B-Unit[/nom]To all the upgrade whiners...You dont need to install anything other than Win7 to do a clean install. It will simply ask you to insert your Vista (or potentially XP disk) to verify that you are eligible for upgrade status. Its been that way since at LEAST 98SE.[/citation]
I thought that changed with Vista where you had to install and then "upgrade" after installing the first time.
 
W7 will prove to be the downfall of M$ even more than Vista did. There is no must-have killer app that necessitates "upgrading" from either XP or Vista. There is no massive performance boost, compatibility or stability increase. All you get is a revised interface to relearn, some new icons and a lighter wallet. Vista was the lid on M$'s coffin, W7 is a nail.

The age of freeware is at hand with Linux, OpenOffice, StarOffice, etc. The age of M$ is over. Only a fool would plunk down money for this crap. Especially when they already have reliable, stable software like XP.
 
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