Vista & Office Pricing vs Your Requirements

[Melbosa]

http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/4463/53/

Man after reading this, and seeing the $$$ for Vista and Office Ultimate versions... your looking over $1000 USD for OS and Word processing... yeah I know that is the fullest of the full versions.  Guess old Billy saw the future way back when, as today we are paying more for the software we use on the computer than the computers themselves.  Starting to think the online purchase by use of this software is going to be a huge market in the next 5 years.

[Lazybones]

Office isn't a word processor, word is.

But yes, the price is high.

[Melbosa]

Office isn't a word processor, word is.

But yes, the price is high.

Well you know what I meant.  Picky picky

[Mr. Analog]

Seriously when was the last time anyone bought a MS product? I picked up Windows XP SP2 about 4 months ago and had so many problems with the disc I had to resort to using a pirated copy to get the install going.

[Melbosa]

Every time a new one comes out for me, but then again I get them for $12-$15 from work being an employee of an Educational Institution.  This pricing is a killer for small business client's I have at the moment.  One in particular we are finding it easier to buy the computers at $500 a pop just to get Windows XP with them instead of spending $250 a station for the software upgrade (client doesn't have legit copies of the OS software they have already, so would need full new ones).  At 10 machines, with some needing Ram upgrades to run XP, might as well just re-outfit the whole business with new computers.

[Mr. Analog]

easier to buy the computers at $500 a pop just to get Windows XP with them instead of spending $250 a station for the software upgrade

Now that's a case of the tail wagging the dog. I'm sure even a volume license isn't worth it.

[Melbosa]

Maybe so, but at least it gets the client legit, and up-to-date.  We all know the computer industry is a throw away economy anyway.

[Tom]

The only Microsoft products I've ever bought (myself) have been hardware. A mouse, and a keyboard. Mouse lasted 4 years then died. Keyboard is a few years old now. We'll see how long it lasts

When we got our first _real_ computer back in 97, with windows 95 on it, it came with a crippled oem "rescue" disc, that was fixed to only ever install on that same motherboard. I couldn't afford the $200+ for a new copy of windows EVER, so I got a free OS, turns out I needed one anyway since developing software in 9x is a lost cause. By the time 2k and XP came out, I was perfectly happy with my free alternative, and still couldn't afford the now $300+ charge for a new MS OS.

[Darren Dirt]

easier to buy the computers at $500 a pop just to get Windows XP with them instead of spending $250 a station for the software upgrade

Now that's a case of the tail wagging the dog. I'm sure even a volume license isn't worth it.

Me and the "ex" just split the cost of a $600 new "starter" Acer package for the kids to have at her house. Got it from Future Shop -- that included an AMD 3000ish CPU, 512 RAM, 80GB HD, Windows XP Home, a pretty sweet Canon colour inkjet printer/scanner/fax/copier, and even a 17inch LCD monitor.

The monitor was pretty much the clincher that made me give FS my money, but a big part was also knowing that getting XP Home on its own would have cost almost half that total price

When we got our first _real_ computer back in 97, with windows 95 on it, it came with a crippled oem "rescue" disc, that was fixed to only ever install on that same motherboard.

I was really pleased to find that the above Acer computer system included an "eRecovery Management" application, very easy to use, pretty much identical to "Ghost" as in "make a snapshot backup of your entire HD/system" and since it's intended for "first time computer owners" the interface is frighteningly simple and works great (after installing all the WindowsUpdate.com patches etc., the latest Firefox, Real Player, QT, Flash etc. I did backup which took 2 DVDs since the total was ~5GB, and it took about 45 minutes start to finish) so never gonna be a need to re-install Windoze on this baby  .