11.01.08
“I’ve Heard Creditable Reports of Microsoft Offering XP at No Cost to OEMs”
Windows is a Loser
Microsoft is losing money due to the emergence of competition from GNU/Linux. We mentioned this last week. The quote in the headline comes from the founder of Ubuntu, Mark Shuttleworth. He said this last week.
Watch the following good video of Dan Gillmor. We brought it up in the daily links just a few days ago. It explains how and why the cost of Windows can sink to zero. █
DOUGman said,
November 1, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Interesting… $0.00 cost for Microsoft Windows and Office software…
…too bad companies are unaware of the possibility of price negotiation.
D.
Shane Coyle said,
November 1, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Huh, down significantly since the testimony that sparked this seemingly humorous posting (since then Netbooks have really taken off – not saying it was all my idea, but…)
Anyhow, at the time MS was claiming pricing of $50 for Windows, $38 for Word and $36 for Excel.
Roy Schestowitz said,
November 1, 2008 at 3:30 pm
They now offer a crippled version of Windows/Office for $3 in some countries. From what I could gather some months ago, Netbooks got their copy of XP for as little as $19 or $29.
seller_liar said,
November 1, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Windows xp costs nothing for m$ anymore.Proprietary model is a land of money .
Roy Schestowitz said,
November 1, 2008 at 3:38 pm
This is why they move to services (AKA “cloud”, among other sillier names). I have a post about it coming in a few minutes.
xISO_ZWT said,
November 1, 2008 at 4:35 pm
First it was “Midori”, now it’s “Azure”. OK what’s next?
Roy Schestowitz said,
November 1, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Don’t forget it used to be “Hailstorm”.
http://joelonsoftware.com/items/2008/05/01.html
http://www.25hoursaday.com/weblog/2008/06/10/SomeThoughtsOnJoelSpolskysLiveMeshRant.aspx
akf said,
November 3, 2008 at 3:50 am
But please keep in mind that the real problem with Windows is not the price. Even if they give it away for nothing it is still neither free nor open at all.
Roy Schestowitz said,
November 3, 2008 at 3:55 am
No doubt. The lowering of price, however, entices more people to concede their freedom.