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01/19/2007: "They Still Don't Get It ..."

You'd think the ass-kicking Microsoft got when they tried to take on the iPod with their Zune mp3 Player would have woke up the brain-trust in Redmond ...

Microsoft has basically been sitting on their hands watching the rest of the world innovate the computer for most of the decade since they released Windows XP in 2001. Now they're ready to "save the world" with the release of Windows Vista later this year.

Never mind that this won't catch up with Apple's MacOX 10.4 - much less 10.5 due in a couple of months. We'll wait to comment on features. Let's just talk about pricing.

Traditionally, you can only get Windows pre-installed on a new computer, or by buying a disk in a box. One of the advantages to Apple - which blatantly stole their Software Update concept from Windows - is the ability to upgrade software over the Internet. I own 4 Macintoshs, each of which came packaged with the latest software available at the time. As updates to each version became available, I was able to download and install the updates just like Windows. But when OSX 10.2 became 10.3 and then 10.4, I was able to pay a small upgrade fee and download the new version for each machine.

Microsoft has apparently taken notice of this, and are including the ability to download Vista via the Internet as part of the upcoming release (God knows where you can find a broadband pipe big enough to download a product that will doubtless be bloated in the Microsoft tradition, but that's another story). This might lead you to think that the folks at MS had finally seen the light ... but then the other shoe drops.

Vista comes at four levels - Home Basic ($199), Home Premium ($239) Business ($299) and Ultimate ($399). When you buy Vista - by whatever method - you getthe entire product. However, you only get the keys to unlock the part of the product you pay for. Want to upgrade? No problem. Pay the fee online - Home Basic to Home Premium for another $79, Home Basic to Ultimate ($199), Home Premium to Ultimate ($159), or Business to Ultimate ($139) - and you get the appropriate keys.

In the meantime, you can get MacOSX 10.4 - the whole damn thing - for $199. And now it plays just fine on an Intel chip.

Time to slam the Window ...