“It’s the day after Microsoft announced Windows 7 pricing, and the reaction is mixed. A special two-week promotion, with a limited number of advance orders for a low-priced upgrade, is doing well,” Barry Levine reports for Top Tech News.
“On Thursday, the software giant said it would offer through several retailers an upgrade from Windows Vista or XP to Windows 7 Home Premium at $49.99 or to Windows 7 Professional for $99.99,” Levine reports. “The company said the normal price for the Home Premium upgrade will be $119.99, compared to $129.99 charged for Vista. The Windows 7 Professional Upgrade will be priced at $199.99, and the Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade at $219.99.”
“Some observers are not happy about these prices,” Levine reports. “NPD Group Vice President for Industry Analysis Stephen Baker wrote Thursday on his company’s blog that ‘$119 is a price point that fits nowhere in these economic times.’ He wrote that the price is still ‘way too much for the software.'”
“Laura DiDio, an analyst with Information Technology Intelligence Corp., said that, despite Windows 7’s innovations, she would not describe it as a completely new operating system… She is ‘mystified’ at the regular upgrade price,” Levine reports. “She suggested that the high upgrade price will encourage customers, especially consumers, to ‘hang on to their XP machine as long as they can,’ or even to consider alternatives, such as Apple.”
“Microsoft’s best interest, Baker added, is to “erase all vestiges of Vista from consumers’ homes,” but by making the upgrade expensive, the company is creating a ‘large disincentive’ to move to the new OS. In addition, he noted, it’s only one user license, while many homes have more than one computer,” Levine reports. “Baker pointed out that Apple’s Snow Leopard upgrade will be $29 for one user license and $49 for five users.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Even more market share for Apple Macintosh looms.
