Windows 7 Version Revealed

If they NEED a laptop, to replace a broken one or to get their work done then no they cannot. And (unfortunately) XP is only available on a minority of laptops. And on many of those it costs extra to get.

Exactly. Which is why they need a Starter edition. I believe its sold for as little as just a few bucks in some countries. They don't need a Home Basic, just three or four versions.

They can hold of their PC or Laptop purchase or they can choose to stick to XP.


MS can lower the price, but they still won't make basic 30$:

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/new...price-cuts.ars

Customers can't "just not buy", they still need an OS. For the average user Linux is not a viable alternative, and neither is OS X.

They still need a 3rd version for developing countries, because they can't price Windows 7 Home at <$30.

I am speaking from a company perspective, price differentiation can backfire on the profit.

Besides the higher cost (which are underestimated because a lot of the additional cost are not visible), there are consumers who just do not buy because they want to avoid the risk of making a wrong decicion (experiments were conducted with goods that are far easier to judge, like marmelade, and the results were impressive).

That can quickly cost you more than what you earn by charging some customers higher prices.


2 versions would still seperate the high paying business customers from the home users.

from a customer's perspective you are right Rutar, from a company's perspective who's aim it is to make profit, the multi-version Vista makes it possible to sell the same product with a higher profit margin to the high end.

comparable to the Extreme and Black editions of Intel/AMD

People are running the full version of 7 on Netbooks already and it works with them unlike Vista.

Ultimate was created for stupid people with promised extras that never came.

If there are only 2 versions, people would be sure they pick the right one, hence they would not hold off with their purchase.



The problem with the Trade commissions could be solved by giving 2 CDs, one with the OS and one with the programs.

these are the kits they'll sell to OEM, no pirating, little laptops will get Vista Starter, entry level desktops, Home Basic or Premium, Workstations Business, Gaming setups Ultimate.

it's not interesting for OEM to buy $300 Ultimate if all they need for certain models are Starter or Home.

Hm, so those names/categories are just preliminary and have not been finalized... I guess I will wait and see. All they need is Starter, Home, Pro, and because they are greedy, Ultimate. Ignoring "N" versions, "K" versions, and "KN" versions which are still mandated by the EU and Korean Fair Trade Comission.

Since that is your example, how exactly would you propose they solve that?

You are again ignoring the cost and the fact that people with a low budget pirate the higher version because they don't want the cheap one.


http://www.channelregister.co.uk/200...vista_capable/

http://www.infopackets.com/news/busi...nt_ vista.htm

but at the same time people who have low budget can use Windows 7 starter, and those with more money can get the fancier features; both can claim their PC is driven by Windows 7

marketing

a) the US car companies are in trouble because they got too many models

b) The confusion and the increase in SKUs cost money, stall sales, cause negative press and lawsuits. They are not making a OS more powerfull or more economical, they just gimp it to differentiate in price but ignoring the costs of that strategy.

they're just trying to have a hand in all market segments with the same product; same as car manufacturers offer the same model with different engines

just read it at computerworld, sigh

http://www.computerworld.com/action/...pageNumber =1

64 bit version for home and media center
64 bit version for business and advanced users

now give me the paycheck from the guy who already messed up the Vista versions

They merged Vista Business and Vista Enterpise in one; all the rest is same as Vista with 7

- Windows Vista Starter
- Windows Vista Home Basic
- Windows Vista Home Premium
- Windows Vista Business
- Windows Vista Enterprise
- Windows Vista Ultimate

Tell me that this is a joke and you are messing with us.