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Tuesday, May 30, 2006

$450 for top-end version of Windows Vista!


According to IT Wire, the high-end version of Windows Vista - Vista Ultimate - will retail for $450 for a single license. The ultimate version of Office will be even steeper at $679. Add in the costs for upgrades to your PC and running Office and Windows come 2007 could be 2 - 3X higher than it is now.

I applaud Microsoft for segmenting its products and have long thought that they should emulate Sony's Qualia line, that seems to have been killed by Sir Howard Stringer. However, they really need to do a better job of distinguishing these Ultimate products from the others. If they positioned them as statements and NOT for average consumption, they'd probably get a lot more goodwill and sell just as many.

I think the idea of high-end software is one whose time has come. Just don't market it to the masses, that raises people's hackles especially coming from a company as profitable as Microsoft.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder how a high-end version of Vista will affect software piracy of Windows in the future. My guess is that most of the people running hacked software will run the premium versions of the product. If they can get anything, why not install the best?

Adrian said...

It's almost certain that the premium versions will be pirated. It feels like they're asking for it with prices this high.