Microsoft Pricing is Crazy!

dangerstat · 19 Apr 2009 at 10:31

Okay,

So I'm in need of a copy of XP, now I can either buy an OEM version from an e-tailer for, say £65. Or I can buy a second user machine (in this case a 2.4Ghz ex-corp P4) for £60...

what are MS thinking of? If they priced it a bit more realistically (say £30) I'd buy a copy - now it makes more sense to buy a PC with a copy of XP?!!!!

Madness I say! :eek:

Trifid · 19 Apr 2009 at 10:33

The PC will most likely have a OEM copy of windows that can not be transferred between machines with out breaking the EULA.

IAmATeaf · 19 Apr 2009 at 11:08

New versus used I suppose, not sure how or why you're comparing to be honest.

dangerstat · 19 Apr 2009 at 11:13

IAmATeaf said:
New versus used I suppose, not sure how or why you're comparing to be honest.

Well it seems straight forward to me. I need to run windows - and it's shocking to me that it's *far* cheaper to buy a complete new machine than just buy the operating system - surely that's crazy!

Phil99 · 19 Apr 2009 at 11:23

Well, when you say 'complete new machine', you really mean 'second hand PC with a non-transferrable volume license'. The original owners would have bought XP licenses in bulk and thus at a vastly reduced price. The license is obviously tied to that second hand machine making resale value of the license nil so the seller of the machine probably haven't even factored the cost of XP in to the price; it's worth nothing to them if they try and sell it seperately so you're not paying anything for it.

As for the price of XP OEM today, £60 does seem a bit steep but Microsoft are trying to move everyone away from XP; a price drop could do the complete opposite to their plans so they have no motivation to drop the price.

blix · 19 Apr 2009 at 11:24

On OcUK, XP Pro OEM is only 10 quid less than Vista Home Premium full retail. It's mental. Even on the "No competitors!" place it's still £112.

Phil99 · 19 Apr 2009 at 11:25

blix said:
On OcUK, XP Pro OEM is only 10 quid less than Vista Home Premium full retail. It's mental.

If Microsoft had their way OcUK wouldn't be able to even sell XP Pro

wombraider · 19 Apr 2009 at 12:11

Don't be an arse. Piracy is not cool mmmkay?

Phil99 · 19 Apr 2009 at 12:20

Subtle

reflux · 19 Apr 2009 at 12:25

If you want to complain about the price of an OS, pirate it or use Linux instead.

Hatter The Mad · 19 Apr 2009 at 12:25

You're quibbling over £65 for an OS? What on earth brings you to the conclusion that "£30" would be more realistic? Some GAMES cost £45 on launch. Do you have any idea the sheer number of man hours that goes into producing an OS as substantial as XP? If you don't like it, use Linux.

TheVoice · 19 Apr 2009 at 12:27

MS can't really control what price people sell old PCs for, nor are they out to compete with them.

Burnsy2023 · 19 Apr 2009 at 12:33

Phil99 said:
Well, when you say 'complete new machine', you really mean 'second hand PC with a non-transferrable volume license'.

Not quite. All VL client OS licences are upgrade only and fully transferable. It's most likely OEM.

lokkers · 19 Apr 2009 at 12:34

Hatter The Mad said:
You're quibbling over £65 for an OS? What on earth brings you to the conclusion that "£30" would be more realistic? Some GAMES cost £45 on launch. Do you have any idea the sheer number of man hours that goes into producing an OS as substantial as XP? If you don't like it, use Linux.

This.

£65 for the machine's OS is an absolute bargain, even given the OEM limitations. There isn't one essential component in my PC that costs less than that.

Phil99 · 19 Apr 2009 at 12:46

Burnsy2023 said:
Not quite. All VL client OS licences are upgrade only and fully transferable. It's most likely OEM.

Ah, that's surprising, I assume volume licenses are only used when a company has existing machines they want to upgrade then?

mmj_uk · 19 Apr 2009 at 12:47

Microsoft pretty much give their software away to people buying new PC's in order to increase their monopoly, it's only those who actually want to buy the OS specifically that get raped by ridiculous pricing.

Hatter The Mad · 19 Apr 2009 at 12:48

mmj_uk said:
idiculous pricing.

Again, £65 ridiculous???

IAmATeaf · 19 Apr 2009 at 12:50

Phil99 said:
Ah, that's surprising, I assume volume licenses are only used when a company has existing machines they want to upgrade then?

Volume licensing is just a scheme where MS used to give you a bunch of licenses the extent of which was agreed on the total number of seats purchased.

As such you'd have a VL agreement and a right to use the licenses but not a EULA sticker as such, well not that I have seen anyway.

Burnsy2023 · 19 Apr 2009 at 12:54

IAmATeaf said:
Volume licensing is just a scheme where MS used to give you a bunch of licenses the extent of which was agreed on the total number of seats purchased.

There are two main types of VLA. One where you purchase licences as and when and subscription based agreements what cover a range of products for a set number of devices.

IAmATeaf said:
As such you'd have a VL agreement and a right to use the licenses but not a EULA sticker as such, well not that I have seen anyway.

The COAs are there to prove you have a licence. A VL statement will do exactly the same.

blix · 19 Apr 2009 at 13:09

My XP OEM licenses have unlimited activations, and I've installed them on various different PCs, all it takes it one phone call and they activate it every time. Or is that not what you're saying?