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Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

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Re: Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

#81

Post by commandar »

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…

I'd also guess the fact that very, very few individual users have ever bought Windows upgrades at $100 a pop played into this, too.

Re: Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

#82

Post by kmfrk »

joeybaker wrote: post #39

This is huge for webdevs. With MS making upgrades to Win8 (and therefore IE10) so cheap/easy, the death of OldIE is that much closer.

If. Enterprise and Chinese pirates[1] might not be able to upgrade anytime soon.

[1]: http://www.troyhunt.com/2010/08/aye-pirates-be-reason-ie6-ju...

Re: Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

#83

Post by kmfrk »

bishnu wrote: post #26
UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #16

This is all about the app store. Remember Microsoft can make a good chunk of profit from each app purchase and nobody will be developing let alone buying apps if Microsoft cannot get eyes on it.

Citation needed? Apple's app store isn't a huge revenue source by any means [1], let alone profit. I've seen no evidence that App Stores can be any kind of profit center. [1] http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-apple-revenu...

The guy they probably took the data from: http://www.asymco.com/2011/06/13/itunes-now-costs-1-3-billio....

Re: Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

#84

Post by dhughes »

spicyj wrote: post #66
yuhong wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

It's like Xbox versus PS3, you pay for XboxLive! but the Xbox is cheaper or (when new) you paid nearly $1000 for a PS3 but got PS3 Network free, either way you're paying.

The old options was buy a lower priced computer with Windows but pay more for the OS/upgrades or buy a very expensive Apple computer but $40.00 for an OS upgrade.

Re: Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

#85

Post by greedo »

gouranga wrote: post #22
3JPLW wrote: post #3

Competition is great! I'm very glad that Apple has managed to exert some pressure on Microsoft here. I really don't think that this would have occurred otherwise.

I don't think it's related to Apple at all. I can't believe people are trying to give Apple some credit for it. Two real things: 1) No one ever buys Windows upgrades, so this is a motivator to shift to Win8. Consumers and businesses just buy a new PC and large businesses get licenses automatically. 2) They now have the opportunity of upselling inside the operating system (which they've been playing with for a long ti…

If #1 is true in terms of past behavior, then expecting this price point to change that is doubtful. In my experience, the reason no on upgrades is because they then inherit all the cruft from their old install. I'm not sure that upgrading will ever be popular with the Windows crows.

#2 is also doubtful for the same reason. If users are faced with 900 versions of Windows to choose from while upgrading, they'll choose the cheapest. And if they find out that Feature X requires them to pony up more money through the MS Store, they'll be supremely irritated.

And you haven't really given any evidence to show that it's not related to Apple's pricing.

Re: Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

#86

Post by FreshCode »

r00fus wrote: post #25
UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #16

This is all about the app store. Remember Microsoft can make a good chunk of profit from each app purchase and nobody will be developing let alone buying apps if Microsoft cannot get eyes on it.

Apple has consistently stated that they don't make much money from their App Store (or iTunes content in general). How are Microsoft (and Amazon, whose entire $199 Kindle Fire pricing) going to make money in this market? No doubt they want folks on the store, but I question whether this is the reason behind the $40 upgrade pricing.

I would wager MS wants to foster a stronger Windows App ecosystem and not necessarily App Store profits.

Re: Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

#88

Post by lambada »

What no-one has mentioned that I find interesting, is that Microsoft are calling this a 'promotion'

"This upgrade promotion for Windows 8 Pro both online and at retail runs through January 31st, 2013."

I wonder why this price is only temporary, and what the price will be afterwards?

Re: Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

#89

Post by kmfrk »

kevinflo wrote: post #72

This price feels to me like a lack of confidence in the product. Microsoft needs adoption rates of 8 to be high. $40 might not be much, but anything is too high when the OS feels like a UI downgrade instead of an upgrade.

Look at the lessons learnt cutting the prices of videogames in the Steam store. Lower prices can spur people to buy your videogames in ways that are actually much more profitable than pricing it higher.

Pirates will always try to rationalize themselves to a reason to pirate software. Microsoft is doing a great job of making Windows 8 an attractive upgrade to people.

I was personally planning to hold off on buying it, but that price tag is extremely compelling, so I'll probably buy it, shortly after any launch kinks are sorted out.

Re: Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to cost $39.99

#90

Post by zephjc »

spicyj wrote: post #66
yuhong wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

Except that I can install OS X on a blank hard drive when needed (which I've needed to do twice).
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