Windows 7 pricing is of particular interest to two groups of people: consumers who think they might upgrade, and Microsoft itself, which is watching its bottom line, and not much liking what it sees in the present or the future.
Let’s start with looking at Microsoft’s point of view.
They’ve been having disappointing results in the revenue department for some time now. More than looking forward to releasing their new operating system, they are really looking forward to the revenue it will bring in.
It may have cost $6 to $10 billion to develop Vista, and possibly another 2 billion to develop Window 7.
Windows Vista was not the smash hit that Microsoft hoped it would be, and didn’t bring in the revenue they were hoping for either.
Enter Windows 7. It isn’t exactly a a big step away from Vista, although it may be preferred over Vista by many. Some hope they will be happy to move from Windows XP to Windows 7 and skip Windows Vista altogether.
Microsoft needs users to switch, not due to problems with the technology, but due to problems with their revenue. Roughly one third of Microsoft’s revenue comes from operating systems, according to some sources, so a buying frenzy of Windows 7 is just what they need.
Now let’s take a look at how users feel about upgrading.
Your average home user will probably go with what ever came on their computer when they bought it. So some people are going to upgrade simply because they bought a new computer.
Where Microsoft is really hoping for a big influx of revenue is from the corporate world.
According to a recent ScriptLogic survey about how many companies will adopt Windows 7, six out of ten plan to wait before purchasing. This survey may not really reflect what companies actually do when the new operating system comes out. They will certainly be testing it before switching over, and that will take some time. And they may not switch if they don’t like what they see.
Many will wait until the first service pack comes out.
If Microsoft feels that they are not making enough sales, they may decide to discount the new operating system to move things along. After all, anyone with a compute has an operating system already (obviously) and while necessary, it is not the most exciting part of a computer.
What's your opinion on this?
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