Why is Windows So Expensive?
By mikepayne
Why is Windows So Expensive? That’s the top question on googler’s minds this morning. While Windows 7 prices were revealed back on July 25th (and more recently in the UK), users are apparently beginning to question the pricing structure Microsoft has provided. The full retail price of Windows 7 Home Premium is $199, while this scales up to $319 for the Windows 7 ultimate version. For the standard consumer, the issue is that there is very little to compare these prices to. The cost of an Apple OS is considerably less, typically running around $150 and including a suite of productivity and play software. The open source alternative is roundly free, with ubuntu packages available on most netbooks and as an option from providers like Dell. So how can Microsoft justify a price of $319 for it’s latest OS? We’ll leave the answer to that question to you, in the comments. What do you think?
Update – GadgetCrave’s own Alex Ion has an insightful, rather comical take on the issue. Apparently Bing doesn’t know why windows is so expensive, blames Apple.
Saturday, August 22, 2009 8:08PM
microsoft needs to pay more people to constantly figure out how to patch the holes and make things work as they should long after the OS is "done". that, plus they CAN. and we pay them what they want, because too many people are afraid to make a switch to anything else
Tuesday, September 1, 2009 9:34PM
Microsoft sells software and not hardware, unlike Apple, aside from products such as the Xbox.