“Mac OS X 10.6 and Windows 7 are yet to be released, but Apple has already won the upgrade battle,” David Flynn reports for APC Magazine.
“This morning’s WWDC keynote revealed that the forthcoming OS X 10.6 ‘Snow Leopard’ will launch in September with an upgrade pricing of US$29 for users of 10.5 Leopard,” Flynn reports.
“By comparison, Windows 7 upgrade prices leaked last week by US retail chain Best Buy listed an upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 Home Premium for US$50, with the jump to Windows 7 Professional costing US$100,” Flynn reports.
“We should of course stress that unlike Apple’s upgrade prices, these have not been officially announced by Microsoft. But if they’re right – and we have no reason to suspect otherwise – then Apple has caught Microsoft with a swift one-two knockout to win the OS Upgrade Crown,” Flynn reports.
“This is another instance where Apple’s ‘one OS for everyone’ model trumps Microsoft’s many-flavoured model,” Flynn reports. “US$29 will give Leopard users the full version of Snow Leopard, but US$50 will give Vista Users only what’s in the mid-range Home Premium build. This is missing several features from Windows 7 Professional, which in turn is missing even more features from Windows 7 Ultimate.”
Flynn reports, “Unless Microsoft swiftly revises its Windows 7 upgrade pricing in light of this morning’s announcements, we can chalk up the first win in the mighty OS 2009 battle to Apple.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The first win of many.
