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Windows 8 Pro upgrade to jump from $40 to $200 on Feb. 1

venturebeat.com

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Re: Windows 8 Pro upgrade to jump from $40 to $200 on Feb. 1

#31

Post by kalid »

wildranter wrote: post #8
vividmind wrote: post #2

That's an interesting move for a failed product. I have no plans of moving to Windows 8 at all after watching a number of reviews on youtube.

Failure? I can't see they failing in the long run. They have a monopoly in mind share and bundles with virtually all new laptops (apart from Macs and some Ubuntu machines). They took this route with Xbox and all went well in the end. Secret, keep iterating the damn product.

Market share and mind share don't keep a company alive; profits do.

Xbox is not profitable over its lifetime (http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/07/15/how-one-of-microsofts...). Windows PC sales are down 20% from last year (http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33642_7-57556199-292/windows-8-...).

Microsoft has negligible presence in the high-margin mobile and tablet space. By contrast, Apple makes hundreds of dollars from each phone/tablet sale. Phones are repurchased every 2 years, and Apple originally got $18 per user per month for each iPhone subscriber (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-9803657-37.html). Microsoft makes ~$50 from one-time PC purchases, which are replaced every 4-5 years.

Re: Windows 8 Pro upgrade to jump from $40 to $200 on Feb. 1

#32

Post by sliverstorm »

diminoten wrote: post #3

Damn; to be fully honest, this may motivate me into upgrading, which I find to be an interesting reaction, given how I had, previously, no plans to upgrade. Obviously this is intentional, but I am just surprised by how effective it is on me.

At $40, I'd almost suggest buying a license even if you haven't yet decided for sure if you will use it.

Re: Windows 8 Pro upgrade to jump from $40 to $200 on Feb. 1

#33

Post by dangrossman »

sixothree wrote: post #25

I am running Windows 8 on my home desktop. I'm really surprised at how unstable it is. Sometimes after entering my password I am presented with a black screen, sometimes I am presented with the desktop but with nothing pinned to taskbar and windows key and corners do nothing. Sometimes I when I shut down it just sits at desktop. This is a machine that had no such problems with Windows 7. I've uninstalled virtually ev…

Sounds like a driver issue. I upgraded in October and haven't had a single crash, freeze or stutter.

Re: Windows 8 Pro upgrade to jump from $40 to $200 on Feb. 1

#34

Post by sliverstorm »

porter wrote: post #21

I set up Windows 8 for our grandma's new computer 2 nights ago. I run Ubuntu and OSX but also use Windows 7 on occasion. I've read all the bad reviews, but I was interested in actually trying it out for myself. The new UI is horrible. Some problems I encountered: - IE hides the URL bar by default and makes you right click near the bottom of the browser to show it (this took me 5 min to figure out). - We backed up all…

Bottom line? Grandma hates it and wants her old computer back.

This fairly accurately describes every time a tech-unsavvy friend or relative of mine has upgraded anything, ever.

Re: Windows 8 Pro upgrade to jump from $40 to $200 on Feb. 1

#36

Post by arde »

ghshephard wrote: post #11
diminoten wrote: post #3

Damn; to be fully honest, this may motivate me into upgrading, which I find to be an interesting reaction, given how I had, previously, no plans to upgrade. Obviously this is intentional, but I am just surprised by how effective it is on me.

Quick question, without searching - what's the driving "Must Have" feature in Windows 8 for you? My OS X Lion System finally (finally!) stabilized around 10.7.5, stopped kernel panicking, beach balling, and just outright hanging. I'm going to wait at least a year from now on before upgrading my OS, and then, only if there is some "Must Have" feature in the new platform. I've got a Windows XP Desktop to the left of me…

This one wasn't one of the reasons I considered, but I find it interesting:

Suppose you upgrade any old OEM Windows XP or later that's bound to the hardware that you bought it with. Once you upgrade, you are no longer bound by the old license but by the new one. So you now have a full Windows 8 Pro, not OEM, that you can move somewhere else, virtualize, etc. That's what the license says, as far as I understand it (IANAL, but I have read it thoroughly).

Edit for clarification: even though you get a Windows 8 Pro, not OEM, it's still a Windows 8 Pro Upgrade. So yes, you can move it somewhere else or virtualize it, but it still needs to be installed over an existing and properly licensed Windows copy (XP or later).

Re: Windows 8 Pro upgrade to jump from $40 to $200 on Feb. 1

#37

Post by nemo1618 »

jotto wrote: post #35

i used this guy's hack to get Windows 8 for $15, no official license, but hey, no prev license required either - supposedly lasts until jan 31 http://everymantech.com/post/40133879737/windows-8-for-15-no...

I used this too. I'm thinking of wiping my machine and reinstalling everything in a few months; I guess I should buy another key now while they're cheap and hold on to it!

Re: Windows 8 Pro upgrade to jump from $40 to $200 on Feb. 1

#39

Post by derefr »

porter wrote: post #21

I set up Windows 8 for our grandma's new computer 2 nights ago. I run Ubuntu and OSX but also use Windows 7 on occasion. I've read all the bad reviews, but I was interested in actually trying it out for myself. The new UI is horrible. Some problems I encountered: - IE hides the URL bar by default and makes you right click near the bottom of the browser to show it (this took me 5 min to figure out). - We backed up all…

> The old desktop mode was great at first, until I realized there wasn't a start button

There's a start button, it just doesn't look like anything. Throw your cursor to the bottom-left corner and click. (And the little "show desktop" widget is still in the bottom-right corner as well.)

Re: Windows 8 Pro upgrade to jump from $40 to $200 on Feb. 1

#40

Post by desireco42 »

I really don't know where they clone you guys, but aside from a bunch of macs and some linux, I do have windows machine, on which I spent many happy hours (playing and working).

I upgraded to win8 when it came out, I can't imagine anyone visiting HackerNews being confused by Win8 interface, even businessy lean startup types. Everything so far was good and while I switch to desktop mostly, Metro interface is fine and makes me want to get a tablet (since I have quite a few already, this will not happen soon, again ipads).

My Win machine is at least 3 years old, it feels with W8 way more snappy then my iMac 27" that I got last year. In fact, I am using it now because StarCraft II on iMac got iffy and screen ... well it crashed pretty much.

Again, I don't know why you have such hard time with Win, it works really well. Feel free to ask me any questions. I do spend most of my time on linux and osx, but still...

[edit] Reason why I like win8 so much is that it is modern interface and how future interfaces will be. That is why so many of you feel resistance to it, because it is new.

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