Windows 8 SKUs Announced: MS Makes Things Even More Confusing

[Ichinisan]

I wouldn't mind if I had to pay a small, reasonable fee to activate Blu-Ray support and CableCARD support...but they should make sure to provide the basic WMC app for free.

[Anteaus]

What we really need is a viable third party HTPC front end. While I do like WMC, I don't like relying on MS to make it better. There are plenty of perfectly good media players, so when it comes down to it WMC isn't a necessity, but it makes it more slick to have a remote driven interface.

[VirtualLarry]

Whatever happened to a feature that was mentioned early on, that Win8 could create a smaller windows install on a USB stick, that you could boot on other machines. Was that "Portable Windows" feature canned? I don't recall seeing mention of it around the time of the CP release.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_To_Go

Here's a Tut on how to create one:

http://pureinfotech.com/2011/09/28/h...-step-by-step/

[gmaster456]

Hardly confusing.

[jhansman]

Say, are we going to have a "Windows 8 Party" again? I signed up for one at the Win7 release, and was sent the kit that included a Steve Ballmer autographed copy of the OS, both Ultimate 32 and 64 bit! BTW, my party was a blast!

[ViRGE]

Originally Posted by ViRGE

Actually it may not be. There are two theories here;

1) Removing WMC is a cost-cutting move. MS will remove some of the multimedia features from Pro in order to keep their costs down by not having to pay royalties and license fees to add those features to an OS where they're unlikely to be used. In which case it's assumed that Win8 Pro will be unable to play some multimedia formats that Win8 Home can, perhaps stripping out MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 ASP support while leaving in H.264.

2) WMC is getting Blu-Ray support, which is very expensive to license, and MS has to continually update it. Hence the reason it's sold separately.

And we have an answer. For those of you hoping it was option #2... psyke!

It's option #1.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2...windows-8.aspx

Win8 won't even be able to play back DVDs.

[Ichinisan]

I'm confused by that chart. A Windows 8 (standard) user upgrades to Pro and gets Media Center, but a Windows 8 Pro user has to install a Media Center pack to get it?

[Pia]

Originally Posted by Ichinisan

I'm confused by that chart. A Windows 8 (standard) user upgrades to Pro and gets Media Center, but a Windows 8 Pro user has to install a Media Center pack to get it?

It looks like there's a standard version, a pro version, and an ultimate (ahem) version to which both other versions can upgrade. There is no reason whatsoever to give the upgrades names of their own if the end point is the same. I'm really just confused of why Microsoft seems to have employed a pack of retarded orangutans in their marketing and technical writing departments.

[Ichinisan]

Originally Posted by Pia

It looks like there's a standard version, a pro version, and an ultimate (ahem) version to which both other versions can upgrade. There is no reason whatsoever to give the upgrades names of their own if the end point is the same. I'm really just confused of why Microsoft seems to have employed a pack of retarded orangutans in their marketing and technical writing departments.

According to the graphic, there's:

Windows 8
Windows 8 Pro
Windows 8 Pro (with Media Center)

The upgrades are:
Windows 8 Pro Pack
Windows 8 Media Center Pack



If a Windows 8 user installs Pro Pack, they get Media Center...even if they didn't want it?

[Pia]

Originally Posted by Ichinisan

According to the graphic, there's:

Windows 8
Windows 8 Pro
Windows 8 Pro (with Media Center)

The upgrades are:
Windows 8 Pro Pack
Windows 8 Media Center Pack



If a Windows 8 user installs Pro Pack, they get Media Center...even if they didn't want it?

I could - maybe, kinda - understand the thinking behind that. Few people will ever want to upgrade to Pro because the ones who wanted it, got it in the first place. So Microsoft eliminates this upgrade path which only few people would have used. Those few people will pay slightly more than they would have with a "pure Pro" upgrade because they will now have to pay for the licenses, but it's not going to break anyone's bank.

Bundling Pro features with Media Center makes the upgraders feel like they are getting extra value, even if practically speaking they are just paying all of that to get Media Center. Again, since there are few people who would upgrade to Pro, there's no money for Microsoft in selling that separately.

Now they just have to call the thing on the right as "Windows 8 Ultimate", and call both upgrades as "Upgrade to Windows 8 Ultimate". They can charge different prices for the upgrades depending on if you are coming from 8 or 8 Pro. No confusion.

[ViRGE]

Originally Posted by Pia

I could - maybe, kinda - understand the thinking behind that. Few people will ever want to upgrade to Pro because the ones who wanted it, got it in the first place. So Microsoft eliminates this upgrade path which only few people would have used. Those few people will pay slightly more than they would have with a "pure Pro" upgrade because they will now have to pay for the licenses, but it's not going to break anyone's bank.

And that would appear to be Microsoft's precise thinking. They really don't want to be paying license fees any more than necessary.

[gcoupe]

Originally Posted by ViRGE

And that would appear to be Microsoft's precise thinking. They really don't want to be paying license fees any more than necessary.

By also forcing people who want to have WMC + necessary codecs to pay the premium for Windows 8 Pro, it seems to me that they are also ensuring a small takeup. Then they can announce the death of WMC 'because so few people wanted it, and we have the figures to prove it'.

WMC is designed for an HTPC. An HTPC does not need the additional features of Windows 8 Pro.

Why on earth would I want to upgrade to WMC 8, since I would be paying for both the non-essential features of Windows 8 Pro as well as for WMC + codecs? It's not as if WMC 8 is any advance whatsoever over WMC 7 - Microsoft has stated as much.

It seems to me that with this marketing decision of Microsoft, my decision has become very simple. I keep my HTPC running Windows 7 Home Premium with its built-in WMC for as long as possible.