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

[satcomer]

and they can't give it away....

Almost all businesses are sticking with Windows 7 so much Microsoft is freaking. Windows 8 and the current Economic Crunch and no one, not even businesses are are buying it.

 

[phrehdd]

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.

I respect your opinion and that you like Win 8.

What I also respect are those who realize that having to swipe your hand all over the place is a waste of time and counter productive when it comes to the utility of a computer. I also respect that some people prefer simply getting to their apps in a logical fashion that isn't a "fashion" or fad.

I suppose it really is - to each their own.

Having come from command line on up, involved in graphics, designed UMI - user-machine-interfaces in the days of yore, the entire notion of blending desktop with tablet or phone remains more than suspect and in my estimates Apple and MS should offer both to accommodate both schools of thought. Please don't take anything I said above that discounts the use of Win 8 personally. This is not my intention but just pointing out there is a very different school of thought out there that does not at any level find benefit of the Win 8 blending. For those that like it, they have it and should enjoy it. For the rest of us, not going to bother with it (and yes I have played with it and it is contrary to what I consider ergonomically sensible).

Last - please be aware that there are plenty of things that bother me about Apple's decisions on OSX, IOS and their hardware. Neither company is really about getting us the best possible device/systems, but about what they want to sell to us and get us to like it and obviously make profit.

 

[Macman45]

The only things that Microsoft has a modicum of success in are legacy OS and XBOX.

Totally true....XP wasn't all bad, but all this Metro stuff? Not for me..I have no need for Windows and haven't boot camped a Mac in a long time. Even if I was given a free copy from MS i wouldn't use it.

 

[dilbert99]

OSX is not always free. It may have been this round. But it also alienated a lot of the older user base as well, which I'm sure they are hoping will convince people to upgrade older Macs.

Why would providing free OSX upgrades alienate any OSX users?

 

[Cyborg21]

It's a terrible time for Microsoft.

Google sells ads and makes money from it.

Apple sells hardware to make money

They both give the software free.

How Microsoft will make money from its software if competitors are giving away free.

Ouch! A terrible paradigm shift.

Yes, you are definitely right but I see tons of people switching to Macs (I am one of them I got rMBP yesterday ) and it seems like less people using Windows PCs. In place I live Macs are more popular than Windows PCs

 

[jmgregory1]

Every time I see a commercial that shows someone touching a laptop or desktop (rarely do they show desktops), I think how stupid it is to have your hands in the air touching the screen. A laptop isn't a tablet. Your hands are naturally on the flat plane in front of you, resting on the device. To then pick them up to do some screen manipulation in the vertical plane in front of your makes zero sense, not to mention who wants a laptop screen with finger smudges all over it?

Minority Report was on tv yesterday and their portrayal of how computers of the future could work does not involve touching the screen, but rather having the computer recognize finger and hand gestures in front of it. That, again, makes sense if you're not using any kind of keyboard, but I don't see that being part of our human to computer interaction happening any time soon.

 

[section31]

Microsoft lowered the cost of their software to compete with Googles Chromebook not Apple.

Exactly.

This has nothing to do with Apple unless Apple has plans to enter the sub-$250 market for laptops/desktops.

 

[peterdevries]

It's a terrible time for Microsoft.

Google sells ads and makes money from it.

Apple sells hardware to make money

They both give the software free.

How Microsoft will make money from its software if competitors are giving away free.

Ouch! A terrible paradigm shift.

It's not about "free" it's about value. Customers are willing to pay if they get value. Look at Apple Hardware and look at Adobe Creative Cloud software. All expensive products but with increasing market shares.

The relative value that MS provides in their software has been decreasing due to competitive offers from elsewhere. The problem is that these competitors not only provide more value in terms of product, but are also able to provide their products at a lower price. It's a basic principle of market maturation.

There are several ways of getting out of of problem such as that. First there is innovating the product either through incremental innovations (what we basically see in every new release) or a disruptive innovation that basically resets the market and creates a new product category (e.g. when MS introduced windows 1.0 after DOS).

Another possibility is to differentiate by moving into new product categories. Something that MS has tried several times such as with the Zune, Bing, Surface and very successfully with peripherals such as keyboards and mice.

MS' position is really difficult, because all its product lines are maturing and competitors with higher value offerings or lower priced offerings are moving in. Cutting the price is a bandaid that temporarily stops the symptom, whereas MS should focus on solving its main problem, and that is a lack of successful innovative products or acquisitions.

 

[petvas]

It's not just the start screen that people have a problem with... it's that the start screen also represents a separate operating environment with its own set of applications (Modern/Metro)



If you open a JPG image... it will open in a Metro photo viewer... not a traditional photo viewer they are used to. It is confusing to some people if they're not prepared for that.



I know people who get a new Windows 8 laptop... and they are lost because they don't know why certain things are happening. "What is this? How do I get out of this?" are common questions I hear. It's just not what they're used to.



Why are there two versions of Internet Explorer? One on Metro and one on the desktop? It's little things like that which are confusing.



Most people barely understand computers anyway... but Windows has worked pretty much the same for a long time.



But then they buy a computer with Windows 8... and they're greeted by a new UI with its own set of programs in addition to the familiar desktop. Some things open in a Metro app... while other things open in a traditional desktop program.

Exactly. Windows 8 is inconsistent and provides a terrible out of the box user experience. It doesn't make sense to have two control panels, two IE's, etc..

 

[Kobayagi]

Still overpriced. It's not even worth a compared to OS X. My Wndows days are happily behind me.

Seriously, that's such a BS comment. And I can't believe people up vote it, they must be even more clueless.

You talk like Windows is unusable, but it seems you forget almost the whole world uses Windows, and just think where we would be if there wasn't Windows. Think about all the companies that use a PC and Windows.

Yes, I also like OSX, but it's not even close to perfect and with every big update, there are more and more bugs and Apple happily ruins good working apps by removing functions and restricting it's users.

So wake up, don't just pick a side thinking you're better than the rest and see that both operating systems have their faults.

 

[businezguy]

Indeed!

Apple has become the largest company in the world - do you think its excessive margins have anything to do with it?

Microsoft is "a big evil corporation" - Apple is as bad, if not worse.

Microsoft has bigger margins then Apple, by far.

 

[businezguy]

Seriously, that's such a BS comment. And I can't believe people up vote it, they must be even more clueless.

You talk like Windows is unusable, but it seems you forget almost the whole world uses Windows, and just think where we would be if there wasn't Windows. Think about all the companies that use a PC and Windows.

Yes, I also like OSX, but it's not even close to perfect and with every big update, there are more and more bugs and Apple happily ruins good working apps by removing functions and restricting it's users.

So wake up, don't just pick a side thinking you're better than the rest and see that both operating systems have their faults.

Gee, all I got from his comment is he is happy he's using Mac OSX instead of Windows.

 

[Swift]

Better question

Hey guys, does this mean I will be able to purchase a Windows 8.1 license for only 15-20 bucks, as a customer, for my current PCs? Or this only applies to retailers?

When will they stop the hideous authentication crap?

 

[petvas]

When will they stop the hideous authentication crap?

You mean activation, right?
It will never end.

 

[Robisan]

I also respect that some people prefer simply getting to their apps in a logical fashion that isn't a "fashion" or fad.

No disrespect to your otherwise thoughtful post, but the idea that Apple people are not swayed by fashion or fad is hilarious.

 

[hakr100]

I'd pay $10 American for a legit with license copy of Windoze 7, 64 bit, to run on my iMac.

 

[xStep]

There are several ways of getting out of of problem such as that. First there is innovating the product either through incremental innovations (what we basically see in every new release) or a disruptive innovation that basically resets the market and creates a new product category (e.g. when MS introduced windows 1.0 after DOS).

Apple introduced Lisa and then Macintosh much much earlier than MS introduced Windows 1.0. Apple is the company who introduced to the public this disruptive innovation that reset the market and product category. Microsoft was smart enough to recognize the future after seeing the Apple products, just as Apple did when after seeing a demo at Xerox PARC.

 

[Michael Goff]

Where are the MS apologists like say W8 is the best thing ever? lol. It's the worst OS ever, thats for sure.

If you think it is the worst OS ever, you clearly haven't used that many operating systems.

 

[shandyman]

If you think it is the worst OS ever, you clearly haven't used that many operating systems.

I've used Windows for over 20 years, loved windows 7. Had to upgrade to a new maching, I tried windows 8 so bad, that metro interface is junk on a laptop or PC, leave that to tablets and mobiles only. Windows 8 helped convert me to mac. If you had said to me 10 or even 5 years ago that I'd be using mac, then I'd laugh at you. That's how bad windows has gotten. Even Microsoft are admitting defeat if the rumours of windows 9 being announced in April with a newly returned start menu are true. If the start screen is so bad, how come Microsoft are supposedly bringing back the classic start menu in Windows 9?

 

[Mike MA]

I actually don't believe that the price of Windows OS is what it's all about.

 

[NeverAssumeNorm]

Death to Windows! I might finally have to never use it again. So many bad experiences...

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I've used Windows for over 20 years, loved windows 7. Had to upgrade to a new maching, I tried windows 8 so bad

Wait… but you must have skipped Vista. I've tried Windows 8, and sure it sucks, but no way it's worse than Vista. Vista was the worst OS I have ever used.

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So wake up, don't just pick a side thinking you're better than the rest and see that both operating systems have their faults.

Sorry, not everyone has two computers or is willing to dual-boot. You gotta pick Mac or Windows.

And believe it or not, a lot of people have no use for Windows. The only thing I would want it for is ONE game, and that game normally works in Wine but won't on my machine for some reason. So yeah, screw Windows. Deal with it.

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When will they stop the hideous authentication crap?

Doesn't matter. I'd use the WGA cracking tool anyway. My brother's PC randomly stopped being "genuine" one day, and that fixed it.

 

[Michael Goff]

I've used Windows for over 20 years, loved windows 7. Had to upgrade to a new maching, I tried windows 8 so bad, that metro interface is junk on a laptop or PC, leave that to tablets and mobiles only. Windows 8 helped convert me to mac. If you had said to me 10 or even 5 years ago that I'd be using mac, then I'd laugh at you. That's how bad windows has gotten. Even Microsoft are admitting defeat if the rumours of windows 9 being announced in April with a newly returned start menu are true. If the start screen is so bad, how come Microsoft are supposedly bringing back the classic start menu in Windows 9?

They might be bringing in a new start menu, not the classic one. Also, that still makes it nowhere near the worst OD ever. Seriously. The fact that you have just used Windows tells me you wouldn't know how bad some other OS's used to be.

 

[NeverAssumeNorm]

I would't pay Xp/Vista/7 prices for them, but I would certainly install Vista to get away from XP.

Uhhh, you mean purely for security reasons, right? Otherwise, that is a really bad idea. That's like installing an iOS 7 theme in iOS 6.

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And are people still complaining about FCP X? FCP 7 was an old, archaic dinosaur with a 2.5 GB RAM limit and a mid 90's UI. It needed to be replaced, get over it.

They didn't have to totally ruin the GUI by making it look like iMovie '08. They've lost all their FCP customers to Adobe Premier now. Such a shame. I thought they fixed FCP X, but I looked at it again, and it's still retarded.

 

[olowott]

well, they have got to do something

 

[TopB]

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.

Agree, this is one of the main things I hate about Windows, plus it seems like every few days, you need to reboot because another update happened.