View Full Version : Microsoft Cuts Price for Boxed Vista
Microsoft Marks Down Vista Premium, Ultimate Sold at Retail
SEATTLE (AP) Friday, February 29 -- Microsoft Corp. will cut the price of
some versions of Windows Vista, the software maker said late Thursday.
The move came a day after court filings revealed internal dissent over which
Windows XP computers would be considered capable of running the new
operating system -- and a feeling on at least one executive's part that the
company had "botched" the marketing of computers as "Vista Capable."
Only copies of the year-old operating system that are sold in boxes directly
to consumers are affected by the price cuts -- not the versions pre-loaded
on personal computers. The cuts will range from 20 percent to 48 percent. ...
More @ http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080229/microsoft_vista_price_cut.html?.v=6
Earl Bonovich
03-03-08, 09:46 AM
Sub $100 for some versions over the weekend.
Which is great, as I can now update one of the three computers to Vista...
(Been using it for a year on the laptop, and really haven't had even a fraction of the issues that people are clamoring about..... but then again... I know about drivers and stuff like and don't try to use my 10 year old printer)
Stuart Sweet
03-03-08, 10:53 AM
In 20 years on several platforms I have never been 100% satisfied with an OS upgrade, I prefer to wait for a new box with supported hardware.
"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and you can fool all of the
people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all of the time!"
:alterhase
Doug Brott
03-03-08, 11:43 AM
Good .. Microsoft made the right choice I think in lowering the price. I guess that they finally realized that Vista was competing with XP .. more so than with another company
Steve Mehs
03-03-08, 11:56 AM
I bet the $200 I paid for the OEM version of Vista Ultimate is still a hell of a lot cheaper then the boxed version will be after the price cuts.
Doug Brott
03-03-08, 02:05 PM
I bet the $200 I paid for the OEM version of Vista Ultimate is still a hell of a lot cheaper then the boxed version will be after the price cuts.
Got mine for free ;) That was the good thing about going to the Launch ..
Brad Brooks, a corporate vice president for Windows marketing at Microsoft, said in an interview that the company has since tested lower prices and found "product was moving much, much faster."
Let's all welcome Brad to our Economics 101 class.
Pinion413
03-03-08, 03:35 PM
I bet the $200 I paid for the OEM version of Vista Ultimate is still a hell of a lot cheaper then the boxed version will be after the price cuts.
Likewise. It's not like I plan to run this install on another machine anyway. If components go in this rig, and it prompts, I can always re-activate.
If I build a new machine, I'll buy another copy. :grin:
Earl Bonovich
03-03-08, 03:49 PM
As I have aways believed...
Charge $50 a copy.... you will sell 200 copies
Charge $350 a copy ... you will sell 30 copies, and 170 are copied.
Software prices have absolutely gotten crazy.
When Vista came out and it was going to cost me $250+ to go to ultimate..
I didn't even hesitate to forget about it... that is just nuts.
I look at Corel, Adobe, and even Office.... some of those prices are just so astronomical.
You would have a TON more registered, legitament users of a product... if the prices where proper.
Charge me $50 for Adobe Professional... I'd order it today.
Charge me $500 for Adobe Professional... I am out searching for third party, or other solutions to my needs.
I know R&D and support is a lot, but heck go to a per-incident model for support... and if you sell 100 at $50... that is the same revenue as 10 at $500
You're spot on, Earl. I know it's not equivalent, but there's amazing shareware that can be had for $8 and up ... I'm just saying. :)
Doug Brott
03-03-08, 04:20 PM
Earl I'm with you on that one. I should have taken advantage of the Family Discount for Vista when it was available. Silly me didn't realize that they were going to take it away. I was all set to buy two copies of Home Premium to go along with my Ultimate (which happened to be free) for $49/each. Then the deal went away and the cost at least doubled, perhaps more and I ended up not getting it.
On the flip side I ended up buying 2 more computers that came pre-installed with Vista and the family is more happy. So, in my case net result was a happier Microsoft. Still I balked on the Vista box purchases and still would today if the prices were not reduced.
Earl Bonovich
03-03-08, 04:20 PM
You're spot on, Earl. I know it's not equivalent, but there's amazing shareware that can be had for $8 and up ... I'm just saying. :)
Oh... I know... and I have evaluated (and purchased)... a lot of them.
Earl Bonovich
03-03-08, 04:21 PM
Earl I'm with you on that one. I should have taken advantage of the Family Discount for Vista when it was available. Silly me didn't realize that they were going to take it away. I was all set to buy two copies of Home Premium to go along with my Ultimate (which happened to be free) for $49/each. Then the deal went away and the cost at least doubled, perhaps more and I ended up not getting it.
On the flip side I ended up buying 2 more computers that came pre-installed with Vista and the family is more happy. So, in my case net result was a happier Microsoft. Still I balked on the Vista box purchases and still would today if the prices were not reduced.
Our "family" offers were only for office, and I jumped on it in a heart beat.
Whish they would offer us Vista.
Doug Brott
03-03-08, 04:22 PM
You're spot on, Earl. I know it's not equivalent, but there's amazing shareware that can be had for $8 and up ... I'm just saying. :)
Heck, there's Linux and it's free. Sure I understand the needs of Windows vs. Linux but you look at one and then the other and wonder why the huge difference.
Pinion413
03-03-08, 04:37 PM
Software prices have absolutely gotten crazy.
I couldn't agree more. This is why over the last couple of years I have grown to embrace a lot more Open Source software. I'm much happier making a donation if I'm going to use the program regularly that I determine rather than have to shell out, say, $300 for MS Office.
If it's reasonable, I have no problem paying for software. If it's astronomical, I'm looking for other options. :)
The difference is in the staffing. Microsoft uses a model for engineering that has folks "stop the bus" and "put in what is good" mantality. I'm not saying that is bad, but it does cost a lot of money to keep engineering staff around for development. Is it worth $250 per copy? I'm thinking my XP is working quite well and Office 2003 is working quite well and any features in later versions I will likely have to learn to use and like not use or need. The problem goes to when everyone surrounding you has the latest copy and you become uncompatible.
I applaud Linux but they can not throw the man power behind it like Microsoft can, even if bloated, to be as competitive with all the features.
Until another OS that has considerable backing to influence hardware design comes along, then we're going to remain in this quagmire, I think.
Earl Bonovich
03-03-08, 04:47 PM
But still...
50 copies at $50 = $2500
10 copies at $250 = $2500
Same revenue goes back to the company (minus the very marginal production costs of a disk, and the paper box)
And then you probably could then reduce the cost/expense/man-power, in the anti-piracy areas....
And would have more registered users to target new products and offerings (including subscription services), to.
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