Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99 • Hacker News Board

Re: Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

#61

Post by keithpeter » Mon, Jul 02, 2012, 8:26 PM UTC

amccloud wrote: post #30

keithpeter wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The only time I see $UI is when I hit the windows key, type "chro" and hit enter to launch Chrome. In this use case, $UI isn't anything more than a bigger start menu" $UI = [Metro|Ubuntu Unity|DWM/dmenu] Strange how these changes all come along at the same time. Does Mac OS have a text based launcher at all?

Spotlight?

Thanks all three parent posters, I had tried to put Spotlight out of my mind (iBook G4 with the appropriate upgrade). I imagine it works a lot faster now.

So that is all three main end user desktop/laptop OSes using type and go interfaces.

Re: Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

#62

Post by jmj4 » Mon, Jul 02, 2012, 8:29 PM UTC

greenyoda wrote: post #35

neovive wrote: post #14

I wouldn't chalk this up as just a competitive response to the relatively low price Apple charges for its OS upgrades. I think Microsoft really wants/needs to accelerate the adoption of Windows 8 even if that means taking a hit on license fees. Whatever they can do to accelerate adoption of W8 in the enterprise and consumer markets will more than pay off in the long-term. A major reduction in legacy support requireme…

My guess is that it will take a long, long time for enterprises to move to Windows 8, with most sticking with Windows 7 for as long as Microsoft continues to provide security patches for it. If you're an enterprise with 10000 or 50000 non-technical users running Windows 7, the cost of moving to Windows 8 will be primarily IT staff hours, including all the support questions from users puzzled by the new user interface…

Microsoft is eyeing consumers with this announcement, and once consumers switch, they will adapt to the new interface. Once consumers adapt to the new interface, the overhead that you are talking about decreases, and companies can roll out Windows 8 without totally killing productivity.

MS is betting the house on Windows 8, but they know there will be growing pains. This $40 upgrade strategy is one way to mitigate the risk of alienating corporations by driving adoption in the existing consumer market.

Re: Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

#63

Post by mythz » Mon, Jul 02, 2012, 8:30 PM UTC

Xuzz wrote: post #52

mythz wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"As currently proposed, Secure Boot impedes free software adoption. It is already bad enough that nearly all computers sold come with Microsoft Windows pre-installed. In order to convince users to try free software, we must convince them to remove the operating system that came on their computers (or to divide their hard drives and make room for a new system, perceptually risking their data in the process). With Secu…

If you're technical enough to be buying old computers to work around it, I bet you could figure out how to disable it when the option is right there. :)

That still hinders FOSS's world-domination / year of the linux desktop plans.

Re: Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

#64

Post by anigbrowl » Mon, Jul 02, 2012, 8:31 PM UTC

WiseWeasel wrote: post #41

anigbrowl wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty stoked about it actually.

I think the Surface Pro looks like a nice device, and Windows 8 makes perfect sense there. For my gaming rig/media productivity desktop with a large monitor, however, it seems detrimental to me. What has you stoked about it?

Much tighter multimedia kernel, which is a big deal for me. Downside: not on the ARM tablets. So paradoxically, the opposite of your pro/cons. I'm neutral on teh tablets; I have an Asus Eee pad and Android just got a major audio shot int he arm with Jellybean, so I haven't decided whether to stick with that platform or switch to Surface (or indeed an iPad). But for big projects, you need a desktop.

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2012/06/music-developer-on-win...

Re: Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

#65

Post by jfoutz » Mon, Jul 02, 2012, 8:32 PM UTC

nemo1618 wrote: post #44

WiseWeasel wrote: post #18

I have a hard time imagining that many Windows 7 users are eager to upgrade to Windows 8 on their desktops and laptops, given the drastic changes catering to touch interaction, bringing them little apparent value at best, and significant lost productivity and frustration at worst. My Windows 7 box is for gaming and productivity (not necessarily in that order), and after all I've seen of it, I wouldn't touch Windows 8…

Have you actually used Windows 8? I don't make much use of the metro apps, but there are lots of smaller improvements that I appreciate, like the new task manager, file copy dialog, login screen, etc. The sight of the new start screen incites revulsion in most power users, but try to remember that you won't be spending much time there. Treat the start screen like what it really is: a fancier start menu. Like me, you'…

That's kind of the issue, right? There's no way a big enterprise is going to be using 8 the day after launch. I suspect most will be hostile to it. MS's best bet is to get 8 into the hands of as many users as possible, so they'll push work to upgrade.

Re: Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

#66

Post by spicyj » Mon, Jul 02, 2012, 8:33 PM UTC

yuhong wrote: post #45

polshaw wrote: post #23

Lets be clear; this has little/nothing to do with apple. You can't spend $40 to switch to the latest OSX on your regular PC, so it is just not direct competition. I can only assume they think this way is how they will get most money from selling to end users, and I wouldn't be surprised at that being the case. No doubt they make most of window's licence money from OEMs.

Except this is the upgrade version, so this requires a previous version on Windows too.

The Mac OS X price is essentially also an "upgrade" price because you can only install it on Macs (which already have OS X installed).

Re: Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

#67

Post by spicyj » Mon, Jul 02, 2012, 8:35 PM UTC

keithpeter wrote: post #61

amccloud wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spotlight?

Thanks all three parent posters, I had tried to put Spotlight out of my mind (iBook G4 with the appropriate upgrade). I imagine it works a lot faster now. So that is all three main end user desktop/laptop OSes using type and go interfaces.

In addition to hardware improvements, Leopard also brought speed improvements for app launching in particular.

Re: Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

#68

Post by ShabbyDoo » Mon, Jul 02, 2012, 8:37 PM UTC

mythz wrote: post #37

UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why wouldn't you? Secure Boot is a root-kit protection mechanism; and Microsoft has required OEM partners to provide a way for users to disable it in the UEFI/BIOS. I think you're either trolling or hugely misinformed.

"As currently proposed, Secure Boot impedes free software adoption. It is already bad enough that nearly all computers sold come with Microsoft Windows pre-installed. In order to convince users to try free software, we must convince them to remove the operating system that came on their computers (or to divide their hard drives and make room for a new system, perceptually risking their data in the process). With Secu…

I get the argument from a purist's perspective, but it's a minor problem when compared to the set of impediments "normal" users face if they decide to install a Linux distro.

Re: Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

#69

Post by madoublet » Mon, Jul 02, 2012, 8:38 PM UTC

WiseWeasel wrote: post #18

I have a hard time imagining that many Windows 7 users are eager to upgrade to Windows 8 on their desktops and laptops, given the drastic changes catering to touch interaction, bringing them little apparent value at best, and significant lost productivity and frustration at worst. My Windows 7 box is for gaming and productivity (not necessarily in that order), and after all I've seen of it, I wouldn't touch Windows 8…

I honestly think my productivity is a lot better in Windows 8 then in 7. The updates to search are fantastic. You simply hit the start key and type what you are looking for. You get smart filters on the right that allow you to filter by type (files, apps, settings) and even by app. I have also found that managing multiple desktops (something I often do for work) is made a lot easier by the hover corner. Plus, everything just looks so much better. Once you get the smart tiles up and running to your liking, there is nothing like it. Sometimes, I just toggle the Start screen to see the weather, news, etc. Very cool.

Re: Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

#70

Post by madoublet » Mon, Jul 02, 2012, 8:42 PM UTC

Alex3917 wrote: post #5

It's great to see Apple really sticking it to MS. Apple has no need to make money off their OS upgrades since the cost of the OS is already built into the hardware, but for MS, Windows is over 25% of their total revenue. Plus this is great news for web developers. Hopefully this means that IE6-8 will be going away much faster than was previously anticipated.

When Windows 7 launched, early adopters could upgrade for $50. I doubt Apple had little to do with it. Microsoft always has a huge incentive (regardless of competition) to move consumers to their new OS.