Since last September I’ve become quite a fan of Mac OS X and my white MacBook. I have a lot of love for technology, so it’s easy for me to spread it around sometimes. I have a lot of love for Windows 7 too… and I liked Vista! But the bottom line is that Windows 7 is hands down a better operating system than Vista is. So imagine my surprise when Microsoft released the official pricing structure for Windows 7. It’s the same old story. Sigh…
A Windows 7 Professional Upgrade license is $200. $200!!! That’s mind blowing when you consider the fact that both Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6 and Windows 7 are evolutionary upgrades to their predecessor platforms Leopard and Vista. Apple has a reputation in the industry for charging a premium price for a premium product and never wavering on that point. So it was a shock when Apple announced a $30 price tag for Snow Leopard. I was wishing and hoping for a price like that and Apple didn’t disappoint. I’ve described the pricing for Snow Leopard as a punch in the stomach for Microsoft. Obviously, Microsoft does not understand the PC market, the consumer market nor the economy right now.
I want to have Windows 7 as my primary desktop OS, but I’m not going to pay $200 for an upgrade. I’ll be sticking with Vista until I can get a deal no matter how much I really do want Windows 7. To be honest, Vista works just fine for me on the PC and I love my MacBook. I do most of my work on my MacBook anyway, so it won’t disrupt my workflow.
There was a deal Microsoft was running where you could buy an upgrade license to Windows 7 for 50% off, but that’s expired and I was mistakenly under the impression that it was going on longer than it really was. Bummer.
I would pay $100 for a Windows 7 Pro license. But with the state of Linux getting better and better and my love for Mac, I don’t see any reason to pay so much money for Windows. Microsoft, you screwed up. That’s what I think anyway.
Good luck!
UPDATE: When talking about the pricing structure – remember that an upgrade from Leopard (10.5) to Snow Leopard (10.6) is $30. Otherwise you have to pay the standard $130 for OS X. This is still much cheaper than Windows Vista > Windows 7 at $200 if you want Professional. If you want a retail full version of Windows 7 you’ll have to shell out $300 for the Pro package. Snow Leopard full retail is only $130.
Please refer to Paul Thurrot’s site for more info: http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/pricing.asp
