MS throws away more money than most companies can ever hope to make. Why not sell upgrades at a price people would buy them and pick up the cash? All I can figure is they’re stupid or they don’t need the money.
Thank you, Mr Dvorak. I have just heard you on the Twit podcast talking about the price of Ubuntu Linux operating system.
I too have Ubuntu. The price I paid was also $ZERO. And it just works… everything just works.
I put Ubuntu on my mother’s laptop. And I am so glad! It does everything she could want… email, internet, word processing, games, Skype, and all the others. And especially… no more phone calls where she is worried about viruses!
Thanks again for mentioning the true alternatives to Micro$oft Windoze.
Since MS sells both a retail version, and its OEM version of Win-7 to PC makers. Natually, it has to charge the customer more for it. Or the OEMs would feel they weren’t getting a great deal, for licensing copies by the 100s of thousands. And also would feel MS was cutting into their new PC sales, by making upgrading seem the better choice. Still, I think it sucks.
For the two Amiga computers I used for 10 years. I never paid more than $50 for the OS upgrades. And those upgrades had dual PROMs to install! Plus support software on disks. I never could understand why Windows needed to cost double that (or more). Especially when they eliminated the printed operating manuals.
But then I suppose the constant free patching and Service Packs, makes up for this.
And yet, Linux has this too, for no cost at all. And hardly any hackers trying to screw with it. But being free, it can afford the commercial propaganda, to make us all think we can’t live without it. MS could probably make plenty of money, just charging OEMs for licensing their copies of Windows. And businesses using more than 5 PC, a similar licensing fee. But all other customers, would pay nothing. Or just enough to cover the cost of discs and packaging. Maybe $10?
Click to listen, there is nothing to click. Why is the player for this changing randomly constantly.
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