Last week, Microsoft revealed that Windows 7 would be priced similarly to Windows Vista. There were some discounts to be had -- a kind of "Crazy Eddy" pre-order sale for upgrade licenses -- but by and large the retail cost remained the same.
This, of course, resulted in criticism within the blogosphere. Some claimed that Microsoft didn't go far enough with its discounting -- that the company should essentially give the product away for free to Vista users (which is not going to happen) or at least be more aggressive with its stated retail pricing, which ranges from $130 to $200 depending on the Windows 7 version.
Many of these critics were Mac enthusiasts referencing Mac OS X Snow Leopard's more palatable-sounding upgrade price of $29. And they were quickly countered by the Microsoft apologists who noted how Windows 7 will at least run on some older systems, whereas Mac users with pre-Intel hardware are left out in the cold with regard to Apple's latest Mac OS X release.
[ Find out what Mac OS X Snow Leopard brings to business in InfoWorld's in-depth analysis. ]
It's this latter argument that caught my eye as being somewhat disingenuous. While it's true that Windows 7 will run on older hardware, the reason it can has more to do with the stability of the Intel (x86) platform than any altruistic impulses on Microsoft's part.
Simply put, Microsoft has never faced the kind of fundamental architectural shift that Apple was forced to navigate when it abandoned the fading PowerPC platform nearly four years ago. In fact, the closest thing to Apple's Intel migration within the Microsoft realm would be Windows NT's long-forgotten support for the MIPS R4xxx and DEC Alpha platforms. And even there, Microsoft ultimately abandoned those dead-end platforms in favor of more tightly focusing on the volume Intel architecture.
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Download now »Apple and Microsoft have put a phenomenal amount of effort into their respective operating systems. Calling them service packs cheapens the quality and value of these products, which I suppose is the desired intent. Every feature is being scrutinized, every move is being criticized. This fall, both of these products will be released to the general public.
That will be the real test. The court of public opinion. I'm amazed by the percentage of the public that has little or no idea what is going on. For all the praise and vitriol we spew, it doesn't really matter. Most people are not yet involved. Come fall, we will start to see what they think. I can't wait.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=4800
My number are correct.
Steve corrected your thoughts on the Apple migration strategy. Let me add that I had first hand experience with both the classic environment and Rosetta, and it was truly painless and worked on 100% of the equipment. Microsoft is providing similar migration options with XP Mode. Time will tell how successful that will be.
Ty explained why Microsoft has actually done you a disservice by not providing backward compatibility in Word. This would have been an easy feature to keep in all of the Office products. Microsoft didn't need to provide the ability to write in the old formats, just the ability to read them. Your life would have been much easier.
Your pricing arguments will go by the wayside as soon as special pricing expires, which will be 3 months before Windows 7 is actually released. At that point Windows 7 upgrade prices will range between $120 and $220. Full price will range from $200 to $320. Pricing will tilt in Apple's favor at that point. Stock up now, but your limited to 25.
I did not buy my five license family pack of Leopard ($189) on the day it was released because it was a stepping stone for the upgrade to Snow Leopard. I bought it to use. I think all of the others who purchase upgrades bought it to use as well. Your incorporating the cost of Leopard upgrades cost into the cost of Snow Leopard is FUD.
I use Leopard on my six year old PowerMac Tower G5 (which shipped with OS X.2.7 Jaguar and OS 9.2), my three year old Macbook Pro (which shipped with OS X.4.8 Tiger), my oldest daughter's four year old 20" G5 iMac, my youngest daughter's nine year old Dual 500 G4 PowerMac (shipped with MacOS 9.0.4), and my new 24" Intel iMac. Notice that there was no impediment to upgrading although it took some circumlocutions to get Leopard onto the dual 500.
By the time I upgrade to a $49 five license family pack of OS X.6 Snow Leopard, I will have gotten 23 months of superb performance and productivity from my purchase of OS X.5 Leopard. I consider it completely amortized, having gotten full value for my investment. Therefore it cannot be considered in the cost of the upgrade to Snow Leopard.
I will also point out that those who bought G5 towers three years ago have NOT been thrown under the bus. Apple is working on OS X.5 upgrades and improvements at the same time as they are finishing the release candidate of Snow Leopard. They are still releasing updates to OS X.4 even though OS X.5 has been out for 21 months. They will support the G5s for some time yet.
I don't give Microsoft near as much credit as you do. I think Microsoft has developed one piece of software and the thousands of hardware manufacturers have had to come up with drivers to incorporate their products into the operating environment. One of the biggest sources of instability in the Windows environment is getting all the device drivers to play nice with one another. Part of Apple's reliability is due to the fact that they control both hardware and software.

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