Spicy Stuff

Windows Vista - Should I buy a Legal Copy?

The pricing of the upcoming Windows version Vista was available all over the web today. I have been using a pirated copy of Windows all my life (secret, don't tell anyone about it). I was feeling quite guilty about it, especially after I started selling my own software. I have decided to buy a legal copy of Windows and instead of buying XP, I thought it would be a good idea to wait for Vista. It's just around the corner, always.

There are 5 versions of Vista - Home Basic, Home Premium, Vista Business, Professional and Ultimate. Knowing me I want Ultimate, who would not. Guess what the price of the normal version (not the upgrade) costs around $400. Now that's what I paid for the entire PC. Is Microsoft justified pricing their products so high? Especially a product that sells huge volumes. I belive their margins on Windows is close to 87%.

They use all the profits they generate on Windows to fund and subsidize their other products. Think about it, an entire XBox console with the OS costs just about $249. So that's where my money's going! I should think twice about buying a legal copy.

On the other hand, having a pirated copy is getting increasingly difficult. Gone are the days of Windows 2000 and 98, when you installed it with a pirated key and forgot about it. Never connected to the Internet. Today, we NEED to connect to the Net, at least for patches and Microsoft can easily track a pirated copy and deny any updates. In the worst case, they can even disable the OS, that's a speculation anyway (right now)

However, the price of the entire range of Vista ranges from $199 to $399 for the full version and $100 to $260 for an upgrade.

Here's the pricing for the full version/upgrade for 4 versions:

Windows Vista Ultimate $349/$199
Windows Vista Business $269/179
Windows Vista Home Premium $239/$139
Windows Vista Home Basic $199/$99

Note that these are guesses only, the actual pricing is not yet released by Microsoft officially. Some discounts will probably be available in the retail channel. OEM prices will, of course, be significantly lower. And I expect Microsoft to offer some enticing promotions when Windows Vista ships to encourage early adoption.

posted by Arun @ 7:11 AM