Microsoft to Cut Windows Licensing Price by 70% to Compete with Apple

Windows dwindling

The problem with Microsoft is they design windows but allow other PC manufacturers to make the hardware, if Microsoft made the hardware like Apple, they'd make more money from that and could make windows free
 
Awesome! Hope this will get more XP people to move! Even if just 5-10% of computer users stay with it after April 8th and still connect it to the internet, it means a 4-8% increase of malware, bots and spam on the entire internet! :mad:

Yeah, 70% isn't free, but Microsoft is in a different situation than Apple. They make money from the software, not from the hardware. (except Surface, Xbox, ...) On the other hand however, they have billions of dollars, come on! This way they wouldn't have to invest money to keep making updates for ancient software.
 
H2SO4 said:
......Apple has been the top vendor in the PC market, selling more combined tablets, notebooks and desktops than any other manufacturer.

Hmmm, just hmmm. Is this a fair metric?
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Yes, because nearly all of the PC OEMS are trying to sell tablets as well.

They just aren't as good at it.
 
I like how some of the people in this thread are acting like Microsoft only makes money selling Windows licenses...
 
furi0usbee said:
Funny, I just bought Windows 8.1. I heard a lot of bad reviews, and I really can't stand the Metro side of it. However, for $4.99, I found a great little app, errr program called Start8 that gives me the start button functionality/look of Windows 7.
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One of the most publicized new features of windows 8.1, comparing to Windows 8, was precisely the inclusion of the start button functionality.
You don't need a third-party program for that.

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smulji said:
This applies only to OEM's that are selling PC's $250 or less. If you are upgrading from a previous version of Windows or purchasing a full license, you pay regular price. So for the vast majority of people, it is business as usual.
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Exactly!
That's the trick.
Enterprise business, not consumer.
 
Blinded by the light.

Correction
wikiverse said:
As a mac user, I don't understand what everyone is bitching about. Windows 8 is awesome. Metro is like dashboard and launch pad all-in-one.

Plus, you can use a basic desktop and have a small portable monitor like the gechic on lap which has 10-point touch support natively.

So you get a 15.6 in trackpad, that is also a screen, that supports stylus and 10-point finger touch and works great with metro.

OSX doesn't have anything like it.

Microsoft nailed it. It's their customers who are too stupid to realise how to use it properly.

This is the first ever version of windows where I am actually considering ditching OSX, which has gotten progressively worse since snow leopard. Apples value was always the software, and Since apple killed fcp there isn't really any value in apple computers anymore.
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Don't forget your hat.
 
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It's funny how no one here realizes Microsoft doesn't want to be a software company anymore. They make a pretty great tablet and they are buying Nokia (known for absolutely amazing hardware). Microsoft is going to be more like a blend of apple and google in the coming years. I would be surprised if they lose some OEM partners along the way but honestly who cares when sales are dying like they are currently for MS, the OEM partners sure aren't helping much.
 
brendu said:
It's funny how no one here realizes Microsoft doesn't want to be a software company anymore. They make a pretty great tablet and they are buying Nokia (known for absolutely amazing hardware). Microsoft is going to be more like a blend of apple and google in the coming years. I would be surprised if they lose some OEM partners along the way but honestly who cares when sales are dying like they are currently for MS, the OEM partners sure aren't helping much.
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They should have done this two years ago.
 
furi0usbee said:
I've been computers since the late 80s, have been using Mac OS since 2005, and have used Windows from 3.11 through Windows 8.

Seriously, with the issues I had with the ISO, it took me no less than 7 hours from start to finish, until I had Windows 8.1 with all the updates, security patches, etc. And that was 7 hours with just a bare OS, no apps. I can do a clean install of Mavericks (which I did) and have all my 30+ apps up and going, with my settings in under 3 hours.

We don't realize how good with have it with Mac OS until you try installing/upgrading Windows.
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What did you try? What did it do/say?
I guess you don't have a dvd drive?
With bios/uefi you can use windows usb tool to create a usb stick from the iso (or rufus/unetbootin/etc) and just boot off that.
With uefi you can just format a usb stick as fat32 and extract the iso contents to the stick, that'll boot.
.
I did a fresh 8.1 install off an iso last weekend (and I've done a fair few in the past), it couldn't be simpler?

I've tried a few times to force myself to use 8/8.1 for at least a week in case I'm missing something obvious. Despite honestly trying, I keep going back to Windows 7 simply because of the UI.
The underlying OS is great, but classic shell etc can't fix what seems inherently broken to a productive user/geek. You can see what they're trying to achieve, but it seems nonsensical that there isn't a single 'off' checkbox fix.
 
furi0usbee said:
Funny, I just bought Windows 8.1. I heard a lot of bad reviews, and I really can't stand the Metro side of it. However, for $4.99, I found a great little app, errr program called Start8 that gives me the start button functionality/look of Windows 7. I have to say I'm really liking it.
Click to expand...

Not sure why you had to pay $5 for this app. I got this for free http://www.classicstart8.com/

It worked flawlessly.
 
osofast240sx said:
The original article did not mention Apple, not sure why MR threw Apples name in it. It does mention Apple but not in the way MR title suggest.
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I'm just going by the headline; "Microsoft to Cut Windows Licensing Price by 70% to Compete with Apple". That's why I mentioned Apple.
 
smulji said:
For now that hold true. In the long-term future, there is no money to made being an OS vendor - you either make money selling devices or services (through subscription or ads).
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The sad part is that even if you pay for your OS, Google will inundate you with advertisements. Microsoft should make an OS and browser that has 'don't track' and 'no ads' options.
 
Competition is good and lowers prices for the "consumer". Excellent news but why not lower the price of the full retail disc to $30 Microsoft? That would more than double their numbers.

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BCWorld said:
Still won't help Microsoft sucks.
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So Mac OSX is doing better? Why even have the ability to run a Microsoft OS on a Apple machine?
 
When Bill Gates can't even update his work computer to 8.1, that sure says something about the Windows experience...
 
wikiverse said:
Microsoft nailed it. It's their customers who are too stupid to realise how to use it properly.
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I agree with you although I wouldn't say they nailed it. The dual-OS idea still needs some work but as it stands with 8.1, is perfectly usable (with 8.0 it was certainly clunky). Faster, more stable and feature complete than Windows 7.

And, unlike Apple, Microsoft have focused a lot into compatibility so older desktop apps continue to work just fine.
 
wikiverse said:
And windows phone.

They've achieved a higher percentage of smartphone marketshare in just a couple years than apple ever achieved in the desktop market over 30 years.

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Comparing mobile phone space with desktop space is IMHO an unhelpful red herring.

MS has single digit share of an incredibly important, strategic market (mobile phones) in terms of where the future is going. That's fine if you're an almost-failed Apple, pulling itself up out of the gutter of near ruin. If you are the dominant player of the past 2.5 decades it's a total disaster for long term shareholder value.

wikiverse said:
There are more computers running windows today than every apple device ever made. Microsoft isn't going anywhere soon.
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Yes there are - and these all represent PAST expenditure, and only suggest SOME potential future revenue.

MS made the classic sales & marketing mistake with Windows 8 - they didn't give enough people enough reason to buy, and to buy from them. It doesn't matter what technical benefits Windows 8 has over Android, OS, iOS or Linux if the consumer/end user cannot differentiate Windows 8 over the others in those areas that matter to them, or if they see no reason to move away from what they currently have.

Lumping mobile devices and desktops together makes sense from an analysis point of view when you look to move more people from desktops to mobile devices, and/or provide a more seamless & integrated experience for users what wish to operate without issue in a combined desktop/mobile device manner.

Since late 2006 I've moved, like many millions, from PC to MacBook, followed by a second one, then to iPad, then the addition of a Mac Mini, and my next phone will be an iPhone, even though I love my Galaxy S3. Not because of better technology, but because of a better overall user experience.
 
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