7 Reasons Why Windows 7 Should Be Priced At $99.99
200 bucks for home users, 300 bucks just for XP mode and a whopping 319 dollars for BitLocker drive encryption. Isn’t it high time Microsoft dropped the price on Windows 7? Here’s why:
1. Competition from Apple: Apple users can upgrade to the latest OS X Snow Leopard just for $29. For $49 you can get the full version with 5 user license family pack. Tiger users with Intel based Macs get the Snow Leopard bundle (with iLife 09 and iWork 09) for $169. That’s still cheaper than the Windows Home Premium retail version. Show Apple what’s what and drop the price.
2. It’s $106 in the Kingdom: Yup that’s half the price, Amazon UK lists the 7 Home Premium full version at £65/$106. What I don’t get is this – if you’re able to sell at that price in the UK, why not the US of A?
[Update: Since publishing this article, the price of Windows 7 has increased to £130/$213 at Amazon UK.]
3. Vista Anyone?: It’s almost a cliché to bring up Vista anytime someone bad mouths Microsoft. Although it has matured into a capable OS, but Vista’s launch wasn’t exactly perfect. Microsoft got a lot of bad PR with Vista, so a cut-price Windows 7 will certainly make up the tarnished image.
4. Bad economy: In times like these it’s wise to keep prices down. Cash strapped consumers (read: most gamers like us) will be glad of the discount.
5. Create buzz: Lowering the price to $99.99 will create the same buzz that the discount pre-order did. Think about it, a price cut just days before the release will surely cause a stir.
6. We’re paying you to fix your mistake: There I said it. Windows 7 is the OS that Windows Vista should have always been.
7. Better sales of Windows 7: Many analysts deem that Windows 7 is over-priced. Do the math, if a 50% drop in price results in a 60% increase in sales (as with Left 4 Dead’s 10-40), it’s a win-win situation for everyone.
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Oct 21st, 2009 at 7:00 pm
I get all OS’s free from my uni na nana nana na >=P
Oct 21st, 2009 at 7:11 pm
All valid reasons except #1
Apple sells its OS for cheap because you have to install it on Apple hardware. They make you pay for the development of OSX by inflating the price of their hardware.
Microsoft cannot do that.
Oct 21st, 2009 at 8:18 pm
@Stym
That’s right. I included that part in the draft article, but deleted it in the final one to get my point across
Oct 22nd, 2009 at 12:04 am
I think I should get a free upgrade to Windows 7. I upgraded my desktop computer to Vista Ultimate. I paid around $265 for the upgrade. I don’t feel I ever got anything for the extra cost. There were a lot of promises made about extras. I want a free upgrade Microsoft.
Oct 22nd, 2009 at 3:33 am
I was lucky and got my Home Premium for 49€.
But 200€ is a ripoff.
All that will happen like XP/VISTA people will crack it/copy it and Microsoft won´t see a penny.
They´re shooting themselves in the foot.
And don´t forget most households don´t have 1 PC many have got 2-4 PCs,
Think about it 800 € its a ripoff!
Oct 22nd, 2009 at 9:43 am
@ Brian
Users who bought a Vista PC from July 09 can upgrade to Win 7 for 10 bucks, AFAIK. But it’s not free and what about users who bought Vista on launch day? 😈 I’ve owned every MS OS since Win 95.
@J
MS announced Win 7 family pack, a 3 PC license. The lowest price I could find online for it is $131 Google Product search. I got mine from Amazon UK (single user Win 7 home premium) for 56 pounds, which I consider a pretty sweet deal. 😀
Oct 22nd, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Y’know, this might just raise the consumers curiosity about Linux… perhaps this should be a reason for them to lower the price too?
Oct 23rd, 2009 at 11:10 am
@Krazeecain
DamnSmallLinux and Ubuntu are really impressive. However, Linux needs more mainstream adoption if it wants to pique the consumer’s interest. Sure, its free and many will try it out of curiosity, but if the apps and games we take for granted don’t work on Linux, it’ll still be irrelevant. At least on the consumer side.
However, it’s a different story for business users altogether.
May 28th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
you motherchods let the price to $20 or i am going to became a mac user . So fools please do it quickly I am having to much problem using a pirated windows 7 but still I am happy with this problem . Bye motherfuckers khankis
May 28th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Please motherchods keep the price to a minimum like 1000 or 2000 or i staying with mac forever