The momentum for Windows 7 continues to build, and it seems so far that Microsoft is doing a good job at redeeming the Windows name after Vista. Windows 7 is fast, seemingly very stable, application compatibility seems good, and the reaction from the tech community and media is far more favorable than it has been in the past couple of years.
So the technical side of Windows 7 is going pretty well, and we haven’t seen much out of marketing yet, but there have been many discussions online about how much Windows 7 will actually cost consumers. Some have suggested it should be free, which is quite ridiculous, and others speculate it will be similar to what Windows Vista was.
One of my biggest displeasures with Windows Vista wasn’t so much on the technical side, as it was with the actual price and the lack of license bundles. With some Vista licenses averaging out around $200, it just wasn’t economically feasible to outfit my entire house with copies of Vista, which I would have liked to have done. I have roughly 5 PC’s in my house, so give or a take a bit, it could have easily cost over $1000 to get my home setup with Vista.
Now I certainly don’t expect Windows 7 to be free, but I’m now wondering how Microsoft will set the pricing for new and upgrade purchases. I really hope it reasonably priced, because going too high will have a real negative impact in my opinion. I would like to see a simple upgrade from either Vista or XP for $99, with a 3-license family pack for $150. I think that would be very competitive, and get even more people to upgrade.
What do you think?
Imho free for personal use would be appropriate, and then add some cost for support options. A higher pricetag for commercial use is not uncommon, starting at $100/license for the basic version up to whatever reasonable a volume license could be worth...
Looking at a more "realistic" pricing, I'd say $25 for upgrade from vista (let's face it, unless they add some really dazzling extras, it's nothing more than just a big service pack...) and $100 upgrade from XP... That's not likely to happen either though...
I think we'll see the same pricing as we got now, from microsofts point of view "if it works don't fix it" is not strange. They are probably more interested in milking as much cash as possible from everyone before they have to either jump onto the "free-wagon" or fade away as "once-a-dominant-OS".
What price point will they set? That's an easy one. As much as the market will bear.
well i dont agree >.> ive got xp for the sole reason that i knew vista sucked, just becuase i took time in looking up some information b4 purchase doesnt mean i should pay more...
rly i do think it should be sold cheap... just to repay people for making such a miserable piece of software... and for the sake of my wallet....
im glad theyre not yet throwing away 32-bit, there's plenty of programs that i still use, stuff wich is jsut not replaceable not until something just like it is released now i just i'll just run a multi-boot using 64-bit and 32-bit both the same only able to run 32 and 64 -bit seperatly... that's really gonna be helpfull
it wouldnt be very fair either, becuase sotfware wich runs on 32-bit is still being released... or has been released not that long ago, some game's will just not run on 64-bit, so wont be played anymore, even tough it's still fun playing
Becuase:
Sometimes we power users and developers tend to forget that we are often not the largest target market.
I dunno about the emotion-loaded "miserable piece of software" argument, but I do think they should reconsider their pricing.
Backwards compatibility with 32 bit software is superb in both Vista and Windows 7. I have had very little trouble running 32 bit software on my OS.
Can you name those games?
The only games I can think of are DOS and Windows 3 games which are 16 bit (or using a 32 bit extender), not pure 32 bit. In those cases, they can usually be run in an emulator anyways (many DOS games won't even run in XP anymore).
All of the 32 bit games I have tried so far work perfectly in Vista, and I expect them to continue working in Windows 7.
hopefully something i can afford......if that fails ill wait a few months and try to score a decent priced unopened version on ebay.
Well said Cobra. I purchased Vista upgrade a few months after release, I used it for 2 months and went back to XP, deciding to wait for SP 1 to be released before using Vista. I have been planning for months to install Vista on a small partition and have yet to take the time to do so, which means I have a copy of Vista upgrade sitting in my desk that I have only used for 2 months (though it is my own fault). Anyway my point is I completely agree. Just because something had some problems does not entitle anyone to a free item of the next version.
Reminds me of the nVidia 8800 cards when they first came out. Partly due to Vista and partly due to driver bugs they did not function well in Vista. some jack-ass lawyer in California who ran right out and spent $1200 bucks to SLI 2 8800's threatened to file a lawsuit against nVidia. he had a webpage and was asking others to put there name in the suit. he was gonna screw nVidia because the cards were not yet fully compatible. Made me laugh so hard.
unfortunately I never heard if they actually filed suit and if so what came of it.
The point is just because something does not function correctly does entitle people to a free copy of the next version, nor does it entitle people to a wad of cash. The only thing poor function entitles people to is a refund (which we don't get on software) or a solution to the problem such as SP's that fix the bugs.
I do not feel one bit sorry for those who think they deserve a free copy of 7 because they were upset with Vista. Fact is EVERY OS has problems upon release. It will be the same with 7. If you have to run right out and buy it upon release and are to impatient to wait until it has been out for a while, research the issue and decide if you can deal with the bugs or the lack of functions etc... then you deseve to be upset because you made a POORLY UNEDUCATED purchase. When I bought Vista I knew full well the bugs etc... but decided to buy anyway as my research on the issue allowed me to decide that I could deal with the bugs. The main reason I uninstalled it was because one of the games I was playing at the time was not compatible and had not released a vista patch. I actually like Vista, Sure there are area that could be better but I am the one who has not taken the time to reinstall it and get my monies worth.
Netbooks. Atom and such don't come in 64bit flavours.
I think that's a load of crap. Why should we XP users be punished with a higher price because we chose to skip Vista?
I don't really want Windows. But whether I want it or not, it's necessary in order to play the vast majority of games made for the PC. I'd happily have a dual-booting system if there were two operating systems that competed for PC titles and each had their own merits, but that fiction has yet to become a reality.
The reason I don't like Windows is that it just doesn't quite deliver what I want from an operating system. There's a limit to how much I can customise it to my tastes, one which at times seriously tests my patience. I'll give you an example. If I want to switch from desktop speakers to wearing headphones, I have to open the control panel, pick Sounds and Audio Devices, and then pick Advanced to adjust things accordingly. And even then, on a dual monitor set up, if I didn't have a control panel shortcut on the second screen, the control panel and the subsequent Sounds panel would open over top of my game window, no matter how many times I dragged that panel over onto the second screen. Things like that make me wonder, why the bloody hell bother having an extended desktop if everything is going to be sent to screen 1?
Don't sponsor laziness and lack of foresight, is all I'm saying.
Really? I just plug in my headphones and the sound chnges from speaker to headphones.
Vista64.
As for the Dual Screens I use Ultramon that has a lot of features that help with screen mangement.
I do get your points though.
wow.
This is a bit dependent on audio drivers. My motherboard's built-in Realtek sound automatically changes the output when I plug or unplug something, and the drivers give me controls to switch between inputs/outputs.
In addition, I think Windows 7 may have improved it a bit? I'm in Vista currently, so I can't check it.
I think that's in part about how DirectX works in full screen mode.
Some games have a full-screen "windowed" mode that acts like a window but fills the screen: That should get rid of the bad behaviors of the true full screen mode. Of course, the game needs to support it.
GalCiv 2 supports full screen windowed. Sins of a Solar Empire has a resizeable window mode that can be maximized (but still retains the Windows tile bar).
I said it should.. because no one is going to buy them now because they are old enough..
As MS did for MsDos and Win 3.1.....releasing them free..its time now for win 95/98/00.....
Releasing them free wont mean they should give support too. There are many freewares without support...
This wlll help them to spread some goodwill about them too because they have been enough criticised for their pricing....
I don't see how giving away useless, outdated, and obsolete goods will help their "goodwill." If they were realistic and reasonable about their current pricing, that would help a lot.
Giving them free will at least help students... Here are many in India and developing nations who still use Win 98/00..
Mostly in Cyber Cafes....... There are many books on which softwares are taught even on Win95...
These OS are not that much outdated... I still have to run my backup through win 98.... and most softwares still run on them... so they are better for learning... because they are economical and if they are free they will be most welcomed by students and Linux community..
And for looks Win 98/00 with windowblinds can at least match XP and even Vista......
The current pricing much depends on how free OS can compete against Mac and Windows.... I think there will be some discount for Vista users.... lets see what happens....
I currently have a beta version of Windows 7 running on a backup PC that is a few years old and it does seem to have some improvements over Vista as mentioned above.
I haven't ever purchased a retail O/S only OEM products as I always feel they don't warrant the extra added cost. That mainly being software tech support. I would pay around $100 for a basic OEM version without complaint but I doubt that will happen. I would guess $325 is going to be the premium retail price.
Because those of us who have Vista already paid for most major features that Windows 7 bring.
I don't mind paying for their next OS... Windows 7 is not a new OS though, it's an optimized, fixed version of vista. The main difference between vista and windows 7 is a few new apps.
Free is alot to ask though, cheap is good enough for me.
Personally, I don't think the OS should cost over $150 - for any version.
Given the cost of development vs. the return for investment (the man-hours versus the users cost), the OS should be the lowest common denominator in a computer system.
After all, MS Windows is used by, what, nearly 90% of all computer users?
That is so close to a monopoly that it makes little difference.
If Microsoft makes Windows 7 truly affordable to everyone - they will reap the good crop... in spades.
Here is my 2 cents on the pricing issue.
$299.00 for Windows 7 x86 Ultimate
$349.00 for Windows 7 X64 Ultimate
$190.00 for Windows 7 x86 Business
$220.00 for Windows 7 x64 Business
$129.00 for Windows 7 x86 Home
$159.00 for Windows 7 x64 Home
I figure by mid October of this this year it will be RTM and
be availible right after Thanksgiving. I figure Black Friday
would be a good release date ...
Erm, these days, China? Korea (at least back when I was stationed there in '89).
When I was stationed in Korea in '89, if you went to a software shop downtown,maybe at best, 10% of thier stock was original, packaged software.All the rest was pirated floppies, MANY were virus-infected.And this was not a dark backalley place, this was a rather large store on a main street.And if you DID go in there to buy something, obviously they would know you were a US Soldier,and would hit on you to bring them original software so they could copy it.There was no copyright laws in effect in that country at that time, dunno about now.This was also not limited to software, but also to any other goods,aka, a Rolex on the street-corner for 40 bucks, Gucci bags for 20 dollars,35 bucks for an ORIGINAL pair of Nike sneakers, the SAME sneakers costing 125 bucks in the PX.
Back then, we had a choice, buy our games in the PX at "x" dollars,or go to one of the software shops, and buy it for half the PX price.Yes, I did buy some of those floppies, but no, I never did give them one of my purchased games.
These days, the only software I buy is my OS, the occasional game,and software I want, for which I cannot find equivelant freeware,with the functions I want or need, for example, WindowBlinds or DeskScapes.If you look around, there's freeware, real freeware, not that 'less-functionality'or 'fully functional for 30 days' freeware,for almost EVERYTHING you could ever need...
Where?
They offer students some great, steep discounts. I got Microsoft Office for about $60.
I take it you haven't tried the beta. There are some pretty big UI changes.
GenBlood: I don't think there should be different pricing points for 64 bit and 32 bit versions. That would encourage more people to buy the 32 bit version, and I don't want them to do that. Current versions of Vista don't have different prices for 32 and 64 bit versions, and I see no reason to start doing so.
100% correct, bebi. And Vista users were their 'guinea pigs'. Why should they pay a price for what is essentially a Vista Service Pack?
Unfortunately, M$ has earned it's rep for incompletely developed products which are then resold as a brand new OS.
I can confirm: In Windows 7, the sound device can be selected, and the device properties sheet can be opened directly from the volume mixer.
Yes I did try it. And yes, there has been a few changes to the UI... WB and WinStep does big UI changes too... So back to what I said... Just a few new apps.
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