There’s an error in the article below, but it does illustrate how things are changing. Windows 8.1 Home Premium sells for $120. Apple’s newest OS OS X Mavericks sells for $0. The article does make it sound like Windows 8.1 is free, but it’s only free for those who have Windows 8 already installed. Windows 7 (and users of older Windows) will have to ante up $120 (or thereabouts) for Windows 8.1 Home Premium — and about $80 more for Windows 8.1 Professional.
The times are changing. As more and more people access the Internet from phones and tablets — and Apple’s market share keeps growing, Windows PC use keeps shrinking. This may be the last version of Windows that Microsoft will be able to extract $120 or more from Windows PC owners. There are many many more Windows 7 and Windows XP users than there are Windows 8 users — so to say Windows 8.1 is free is a glaring error in the article — but the article does point out an undeniable trend: The days of the paid operating system are waning.
The following article is from “Wired”:
“The desktop operating system is dead as a major profit center, and Apple just delivered the obituary.
Amid a slew of incremental improvements to its iPad tablets and MacBook laptops, Apple today announced some landmark news about its oldest surviving operating system: It will not charge for the latest big upgrade, Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks, breaking from a tradition that goes back 16 years and shining a light on a long-unfolding reversal in how tech profits are made. Eighteen years ago, the tech industry’s dominant company made nearly half its revenue selling OS licenses. Now, as Apple just confirmed, the prices of OS licenses are headed towards zilch.
Prices of Apple’s Mac OS X have long been on the wane. After four releases that cost $129, Apple dropped the operating system’s upgrade price to $29 with 2009’s OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, and then to $19 with last year’s OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. Microsoft — the king of the operating system in the ’80s and ’90s and on into the aughts — still charges PC makers who sell the Windows OS preloaded on their desktop and laptop machines, but that business is shrinking, thanks in large part to the continued success of Apple. And just last week, Microsoft announced that, much like Apple, it would not charge consumers who upgrade their machines to the latest version of Windows, version 8.1…”
Read the rest of this “Wired” article here.
VERY GOOD ARTICLE. MICROSOFT IS GETTING DEEPER INTO A BIND. IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT MICROSOFT WILL DO NOW. I AM NOT INTO SMART PHONES, LAPTOPS, IPADS, ETC, MAYBE THERE IS STILL A CHANCE FOR A GOOD WINDOWS BASED PC’S.
I must be one of the rare few who loves their desktop pc. I like the large monitor which allows me to read without straining my eyes, and Windows XP was fabulous. Since Microsoft will no longer be supporting it’s best OS so far, I will have to purchse Windows 8.1, but I’m not happy about it. I just hope the desktop does not go the way of the dinosaur for those of use who use it daily.
Just like cars there are many makes and models to choose from to suit your needs. I could not function without a desktop computer. You can’t just put one model out there and expect everyone to like it. Microsoft needs to ask the customer base what thwy want and listen. Just like specifying a production machine, or ordering a car, the customers needs can’t be assumed. You need open dialog to put out there what is needed.
the last Time i was at best buy,all they had on the shelves was laptops.the desktop is being phased out.