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Microsoft 2014 -- The yardsale — Parallax Forums

Microsoft 2014 -- The yardsale

LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
edited 2014-02-25 09:12 in General Discussion
Of recent, Microsoft seems to have reduced the OEM price for Windows 8.1 to a mere $15 per unit in hopes of fending off Google Chrome and Android.

Not sure if this will turn the corner for them.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/21/5435152/windows-8-1-license-fees-cut-by-70-percent-rumor

Comments

  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-02-23 02:39
    Yardsale. Ha!

    The other day a friend of mine told me how he made 350 euros selling off some old junk at a flea market. You know, leave the junk their and the nice lady sells it for you. At the end of the week you come back and see what you have.

    Turned out everything sold except a two meter stack of movies on DVD. And they were priced at only 1 euro each!

    I think MS has a similar problem on it's hands. No body want's that old junk anymore.
  • localrogerlocalroger Posts: 3,451
    edited 2014-02-23 05:36
    Apparently the term is that the Windows license price drops to $15 if the final price of the entire device is less than $250. I suspect the idea is to stay in the netbook market which had been strangled both by Windows 8's license fee and its bloat. Asus had to stop making EEEpc's and now the only machines you can find in that form factor are expensive "ultrabooks" with high end specs. But Chrome OS will still run on an Atom processor so Chromebooks are re-entering the market at that form factor and price point, and Chromebooks work fine if all you want to do is internet stuff like surfing, twitter, facebook, and email.

    The problem is Windows still needs a faster CPU and more RAM for performance. (When I was buying a larger PC to replace an aged out busted one at work, the sales guy at Best Buy advised against getting "only" a dual core because Windows 8 would choke on it at times.) Giving away the OS is a step in the right direction but Chrome (basically Google's branded and tweaked version of Linux) is inherently leaner and better suited to inexpensive low-scale hardware.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2014-02-23 06:38
    The awkward reality is that Windows is the only OS that is not using some sort of Unix derivative, and Linux seems to do so much better that Chrome and Android are best on it.

    In some instances, MS is even willing to offer Windows 8 for free. But where this is all going seems to delay the need for Microsoft to find a way to embrace Unix rather than live apart from it. Will that ever happen?
  • mklrobomklrobo Posts: 420
    edited 2014-02-23 06:47
    Loopy Byteloose wrote: »
    The awkward reality is that Windows is the only OS that is not using some sort of Unix derivative, and Linux seems to do so much better that Chrome and Android are best on it.

    In some instances, MS is even willing to offer Windows 8 for free. But where this is all going seems to delay the need for Microsoft to find a way to embrace Unix rather than live apart from it. Will that ever happen?

    :) Embrace the future, Linux. With the whole world working on improving Linux, resistance is futile. (?)
    :)
  • bill190bill190 Posts: 769
    edited 2014-02-23 07:28
    They need to LISTEN TO THEIR CUSTOMERS!

    Seems to me many customers want XP. They should offer that product and not go changing things. They can also offer their constantly changing products and give their customers a choice.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-02-23 07:38
    bill190,
    ...hey need to LISTEN TO THEIR CUSTOMERS!
    Always a good idea.

    Problem is that an increasing proportion of customers don't even what an OS. all they want is surf and text and tweat, and email and play music and videos. perhaps even read eBooks.

    The vast majority don't know or care anything about an OS. A neither should they have to.

    Increasingly every thing a business needs to do can be done in a browser with the help of remote or local servers.

    MS main product has been bypassed.
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2014-02-23 12:08
    I'll give an OEM $15 NOT to put it on my next computer!

    At work, we're going the route of hosted virtual desktops. Yes, they are Windows images in a cloud (because of Office and such) but you can bring your own device to connect to it!! Welcome to the 21st century! There 10 to 20 thousand deployed in the trial and real users are getting them now. Still a lot of license dollars to M$oft.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2014-02-23 21:27
    And for another bolt out of the blue, Ford Motor Company has announced that it is dropping Windows in Ford cars and will adopt Blackberry.

    I think we all have known that Blackberry is a good secure OS; it just got caught flat-footed by not having enough marketing dazzle to keep up. So this is a very interesting turn of events.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-22/ford-said-to-swap-blackberry-s-qnx-for-microsoft-in-sync-system.html
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-02-24 00:13
    From the article:
    In-vehicle technology is the top selling point for 39 percent of auto buyers.
    And there is me wishing I could not have all that expensive and complex computer junk in my car. Ever since 20 years ago when replacing the failed ABS computer on my car cost me nearly a thousand.. Needed to get through the vehicle test. That was a lot of money for a feature that was only ever called upon to work for real on one occasion. at which point it immediately failed!
  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2014-02-24 01:59
    There's a reason why M$ won't sell WinXP any more, even if everyone wants it.

    The sad fact is that the architecture in WinXP is just too outdated. It's a patchwork upon patchwork, and security is sorely lacking.

    Of course, with Win8 as the current OS we get the scenario that the cure is worse than the ailment...
    (but not as horrid as WinVista, though... )

    HP is still selling PCs with Win7 installed...
    At the office we currently buy DELL PCs, which I believe come with Win8 pre-corrupted...
    Not that I really care. We just do a network boot to automatically install win7 on them.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2014-02-24 04:04
    From what I understand, while Windows XP was an excellent version of Windows, the one flaw that MS was overwhelmed by was that MS sold licenses that just could not tie one license to one machine. It seemed that an OEM license was allowed to issue as many copies as they might need and pay for them on some sort of honor system.

    And so, in Asia and other parts of the world, 98% of the user base in Windows was pirated. Vista put a stop to all that with a rather big thud as MS tried to capture some of its lost revenue by imposing higher prices and tighter security features.

    In sum, everyone loved XP... mostly because they didn't pay for it. And may not have paid for MS Office either, or just about anything else that went on a Windows machine. It really drove hardware sales, and copies of Norton Ghost, and a huge illicit CD copy trade. Thus were the late 1990s.
  • RDL2004RDL2004 Posts: 2,554
    edited 2014-02-24 09:42
    If I could buy Windows 8 for $15 or even $50 I probably would, just to get a chance to try it. Unfortunately the consumer versions are still selling for way over $100.

    You can still buy Windows 7 by the way. I saw it on sale for less than $100 not too long ago. If you don't mind reinstalling it 3 times a year, you can just download it and run it for free (legally).
  • Too_Many_ToolsToo_Many_Tools Posts: 765
    edited 2014-02-24 20:43
    Loopy Byteloose wrote: »
    And for another bolt out of the blue, Ford Motor Company has announced that it is dropping Windows in Ford cars and will adopt Blackberry.

    I think we all have known that Blackberry is a good secure OS; it just got caught flat-footed by not having enough marketing dazzle to keep up. So this is a very interesting turn of events.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-22/ford-said-to-swap-blackberry-s-qnx-for-microsoft-in-sync-system.html

    Just saw that...that one is going to hurt..
  • Too_Many_ToolsToo_Many_Tools Posts: 765
    edited 2014-02-24 20:45
    Heater. wrote: »
    From the article:

    And there is me wishing I could not have all that expensive and complex computer junk in my car. Ever since 20 years ago when replacing the failed ABS computer on my car cost me nearly a thousand.. Needed to get through the vehicle test. That was a lot of money for a feature that was only ever called upon to work for real on one occasion. at which point it immediately failed!

    I have the same opinion.

    The more tech a car has the less I want to buy it.

    Imagine trying to work on those cars a few years from now...a nightmare waiting to happen.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2014-02-24 21:10
    heater wrote:
    From the article:

    In-vehicle technology is the top selling point for 39 percent of auto buyers.
    I seriously don't get that. Why saddle a car, which lasts years, with technology that will be obsolete in a year or two? My '82 Mercedes 240D is just a car. It gets me from point A to point B reliably. That's all a car needs to do. I also have a GPS for when I'm in strange surrounds. But it's not part of the car itself, nor should it be.

    -Phil
  • Peter JakackiPeter Jakacki Posts: 10,193
    edited 2014-02-24 21:27
    Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »
    I seriously don't get that. Why saddle a car, which lasts years, with technology that will be obsolete in a year or two? My '82 Mercedes 240D is just a car. It gets me from point A to point B reliably. That's all a car needs to do. I also have a GPS for when I'm in strange surrounds. But it's not part of the car itself, nor should it be.

    -Phil
    I don't get it either, but I see it as a cheap way for manufacturers to make their cars and to advertise them, they just talk about the airbags and console tech and most of the time all the smarts are wrapped up in your smartphone anyway. After the glitzy ads are done I still have no idea what the car can do. It's very easy to add that kind of tech to any vehicle, I think even an '82 240D Benz could be retrofitted in place of the rocker switches on the centre console! :)
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2014-02-25 01:01
    For many auto dealerships, their real profit center is their service department. Thus, by introducing a 'black box' that demands you return to the dealership for service or void their all too mysterious warrenty; the new car owner is tied to a series of visits and payouts.

    This is consumerism at its finest. You are locked into being a predicatable purchaser with no where else to turn.

    Cellular phones seem to want to lock one into regular monthly fees that are really out of proportion to the users income; cable tv wants to do the same; and so does your health club. The anti-virus software and registery cleaners for MS products took up the same calling.

    But the reality is a lot of us like items that are paid for and without later periodic fees. I try to keep my montly billed items to a minimum - rent, electricity, water, internet, cell phone, landline phone, laundry, heath insurance. The landlady provides cable TV for free.

    Sending out laundry in Taiwan is actually cheaper than visiting a laundromat and doing it yourself. And so, life is good, very good. I just handwash the disgusting stuff - socks and underwear.

    Motorscooters in Taiwan are now beginning to have an on-board computer. Not too sure this is a good thing. I bought a new Yamaha 125cc this year without the computer stuff, so I am set for awhile.
  • bill190bill190 Posts: 769
    edited 2014-02-25 08:36
    Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »
    ...Why saddle a car, which lasts years, with technology that will be obsolete in a year or two?...

    Right. I see the name Microsoft associated with a vehicle and think of NT, windows 2000, XP, etc. "no longer supported"... And say NO WAY WILL I BUY SUCH A CAR!

    (Not to mention having to run windows update every day, having to wait to shut off the car until the update is installed, etc. :-) )
  • rogersydrogersyd Posts: 223
    edited 2014-02-25 09:12
    I support a number of PCs for my friends and family. Since 2010, I use nothing but Linux on those devices.

    Windows for work, Amiga OS 3.0 for gaming, Linux (Xubunto) for everything else. I am interested in added a prop based control/data logging device to my old VW beetle - and yes, that will probably require daily code updates...
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