Microsoft decides to double down on stupid. New Windows 8 pricing.

[techs]

http://news.yahoo.com/microsoft-reveals-windows-8-pricing-details-214047386.html

Microsoft reveals new Windows 8 pricing details

Microsoft (MSFT) has been running a special promotion to entice consumers to upgrade to Windows 8, where the company has offered the operating system for as low as $39.99 since it was released last year. However, that offer price is slated to end on January 31st and Microsoft on Friday announced pricing information for Windows 8 that will take effect on February 1st. The prices are as follows: the Windows 8 Pro Pack will be available for $99.99, the Windows 8 and Windows Pro upgrade editions will be sold for $119.99 and $199.99 respectively, and the Windows 8 Media Center Pack will be offered for $9.99. Despite selling more than 60 million licenses, analysts have said that Windows 8 adoption is off to a slow start and the company’s new pricing model is only expected to hamper it further.




Yes, that's right. Now you can pay the same price to upgrade to Windows 8 as you did for Windows 7. Plus you get the added feature of adverstisements in your new apps!

 

[StinkyPinky]

It's almost like they go out of their way to sabotage their own company

 

[lxskllr]

Debian is gratis, as always :^D

You should post this in the O/S forum. People there would be interested, and if they're on the fence about getting Win8, it's time to wake up and take action.

 

[Zeze]

Who the hell ever paid for an OS at $199?

All my life it came free with my PC/laptop. Or they can be had so cheaply ($30-50) through very common deals.

 

[HeXen]

Who the hell ever paid for an OS at $199?

All my life it came free with my PC/laptop. Or they can be had so cheaply ($30-50) through very common deals.

i paid $400 for Vista Ultimate

 

[Lonyo]

So they are doubling down on stupid by doing exactly what they did with Windows 7?

 

[Wreckem]

Windows 7 was worth the money. Windows 8 is not. They've only sold as much as they have because of the special pricing. Their sales will slow down drastically once the new prices kick in.

Windows 8 will end up like Vista. Skipped over for a whole lot of people.

 

[HeXen]

You guys are weird, just install ClassicShell and it's literally a faster version of Windows 7 minus the WMC. A few more adjustments like Netplwiz to autologon off to turn off logon screen and you can make it so no one would no any different.
You guys just want something to bithc about.

 

[Nintendesert]

More QQ about win8.

 

[Rio Rebel]

It makes me laugh how so many hardcore computer enthusiasts think that the general public will behave the same way they will.

 

[Dominato3r]

Uhh, the $40 was a limited time promotion after which it goes to full price. Same thing with Windows 7

 

[postmortemIA]

You guys are weird, just install ClassicShell and it's literally a faster version of Windows 7 minus the WMC. A few more adjustments like Netplwiz to autologon off to turn off logon screen and you can make it so no one would no any different.
You guys just want something to bithc about.

Windows 7 was like SP to Vista, and Windows 8 seems to be even less. At this point, pretty much everybody at this forum has at least Windows 7. What we are bitching around is "upgrading" to Windows 8 is not upgrade at all.

 

[MontyAC]

Win 8's sale volume will drop like a rock with the new prices.

 

[Crono]

Promo pricing was good, jumped on it a month ago for my laptop.

The only major flaw Windows 8 has is the segmentation of control panel between metro/Modern and the normal desktop. Otherwise the Modern UI is just a full screen searchable start menu with the addition of charms.

It takes time to get used to it, but it's not bad. Vista truly was bad with hardware support on launch., though after SP1 it was fine.

I can see a lot of people skipping Windows 8, but most of the people who considered upgrading to 8 probably have done so by now. I'm sure Windows 8 activations from this point will be for new PCs, not upgrades of 7.

 

[eits]

i bought win8 before i even tested it. kinda wish i hadn't. it's so damn cluttered with organization. waaaaay too many unnecessary things.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Sadly the masses out there seem to enjoy windows 8, so they'll still sell. This low pricing was temporary after all so they're just back to normal now. I personally think 100's of dollars for ANY software is way too much but it's not out of the ordinary.

Really I think Win8 should have been an expansion pack, and not a whole new OS.

 

[kranky]

You guys are weird, just install ClassicShell and it's literally a faster version of Windows 7 minus the WMC. A few more adjustments like Netplwiz to autologon off to turn off logon screen and you can make it so no one would no any different.
You guys just want something to bithc about.

I can't imagine how a faster OS would even be noticable on my rig. So futzing with Windows 8 just to make it look like Windows 7 would still be a waste of money and time.

 

[OlafSicky]

i paid $400 for Vista Ultimate

Wow you must be the smartest person on the forum :biggrin:

 

[Elixer]

i paid $400 for Vista Ultimate

Curious, did you get your $$$ worth ?

As for MS charging much more than the "upgrade" price, well, they figure that if it costs more, it must be better! :biggrin:

 

[mmntech]

So they are doubling down on stupid by doing exactly what they did with Windows 7?

The difference being that Windows 8 isn't selling as well as Microsoft had hoped and raising the price isn't going to help matters much.

I played around with the beta and my only really issue was how clunky the transition between metro and the desktop was. Metro doesn't work well with mouse and keyboard. It's really intended for touch screens, and works well on PCs with them. The fact that you have to use third party addons to get the start menu back is annoying. Having to constantly switch between the two GUIs is also annoying. Overall, I just don't think it flows as it should. There's sort of an unwritten rules to avoid even numbered Windows releases.

 

[Geosurface]

Can I buy the $40 upgrade now and not install it and just sit on it to lock in at that price, and have the option to use it later on?

My inclination is to stick with Win7

 

[SheHateMe]

I get it for free regardless! Yay for Dreamspark!

 

[frostedflakes]

Win 8's sale volume will drop like a rock with the new prices.

As mentioned retail sales are probably a drop in the bucket compared to OEM. As long as people keep buying new tablets, laptops, and other devices with Win 8 sales will probably be fine (or at least no worse off than they already have been).

After playing around a bit with the Consumer Previews, though, have no interest in upgrading my desktop or laptop to Win 8. Will be sticking with Win 7 for the foreseeable future I guess unless maybe I get a Win 8 tablet or something like that.

 

[destrekor]

Can I buy the $40 upgrade now and not install it and just sit on it to lock in at that price, and have the option to use it later on?

My inclination is to stick with Win7

indeed.

If you buy it now, you are buying the license for the promo price.

When you choose to install it, is your choice. What you buy today is a fully functional upgrade license that can be used, essentially, forever.

 

[Lonyo]

The difference being that Windows 8 isn't selling as well as Microsoft had hoped and raising the price isn't going to help matters much.

I played around with the beta and my only really issue was how clunky the transition between metro and the desktop was. Metro doesn't work well with mouse and keyboard. It's really intended for touch screens, and works well on PCs with them. The fact that you have to use third party addons to get the start menu back is annoying. Having to constantly switch between the two GUIs is also annoying. Overall, I just don't think it flows as it should. There's sort of an unwritten rules to avoid even numbered Windows releases.

The "unwritten rule" is dumb as hell, as everyone should know by now, I can't believe people still use that line.
But there is minimal reason for most people to upgrade, as most of the UI changes benefit touchscreens, and the improvements in non-touch environments aren't particularly worth it.
But then end of life Vista wasn't that much worse than Win 7, as much as everyone loves to hate on Vista because it was pretty poor when it started, so there wasn't massive incentive to upgrade from Vista to 7, other than "OMG Vista sux".