

Microsoft to Vista Owners: You'll Pay for Our Mistake - newacc
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/167434/microsoft_to_vista_owners_youll_pay_for_our_mistake.html

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zngtk4
It suggests that $120 is an outlandish price to pay for an operating system,
but it doesn't seem so outlandish to me, if it's a good piece of software.
People will spend that price, per month, on a cable or satellite bill (even in
our current economy), so why wouldn't they spend that much for an upgrade to
the software that all of their computer software runs on.

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wyday
Vista is a good operating system. Much better than XP. Windows 7 is better
than both.

This article is just another in a long line of "I heard Vista sucks (but never
tried it) and 7 is good (but never tried it)" articles.

It's a cliché argument with a predictable conclusion. There's not a single
interesting, unique, or insightful thought in this article.

~~~
DarkShikari
Why is it that the entire internet is covered with opinions mirroring this,
dismissing everyone who doesn't like Vista as "having not tried it", but
whenever I actually ask people in real life, the _universal_ conclusion of
_everyone_ who has tried it is that it was terrible?

These people who think Vista was a great step forward seem to only exist on
the internet and nowhere else.

~~~
wyday
_> seem to only exist on the internet and nowhere else._

Is this a metaphysics question? I exist outside of the internet.

 _> dismissing everyone who doesn't like Vista_

I wasn't dismissing every argument against Vista. Just this guy's.

There are several valid arguments against Vista. Namely, it has heftier memory
requirements (at least 2 gigs) and needs a decent video card ($150+). These
are real concerns, and problems XP didn't have.

However, this guy made the blanket statement "Vista bad, 7 good". There's no
subtlety or analysis.

~~~
stratomorph
"Existing on the internet and nowhere else" is a typical way to categorize
people, given the existence of global communication. Having never met either
of you (as far as I know), you only exist on the internet to me, and to each
other. The rest is opaque.

As for Vista, we're not dealing with it as it is, but as it is reputed to be.
And it has a terrible reputation. The technical merits versus XP can be
argued, but its poor image is hard to contest:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Windows_Vista>.

We take that as a premise, because the technical bits don't matter any more,
in the presence of Windows 7. The meat is the use of price as a tool to drive
better initial reception of 7 than Vista. There's no need to analyze "Vista
bad", because it is already widely believed to be bad.

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jackchristopher
In a dark room brightened only by the flickering of a monitor, Bill Gates' eye
dart to a private video feed secretly monitoring all Vista users.

Fire glints his glasses. Anger sparked heat burns a hole in his pumped fist.
He squeezes and breathes fire: "You'll pay for our mistakes."

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dc2k08
The cheap 'two week sale' upgrade option is only available for certain regions
which notably excludes the EU (apart from the UK). Due to the action against
Microsoft concerning browser bundling, EU users will need to preform a wipe
and clean install to get Win7.

[http://www.itwriting.com/blog/1552-windows-7-cheap-prices-
bu...](http://www.itwriting.com/blog/1552-windows-7-cheap-prices-but-painful-
upgrade-for-eu.html)

~~~
azbob
They can thank their governments for that stupidity.

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natch
If you live in China, maybe they'll give it to everybody for half price during
the week of National Day (Oct. 1st) as they did with Office last year to
_celebrate the "liberation" of the country by communism._

Why don't they offer the same deal for July 4th in the US?

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TweedHeads
Years ago, when computers were $1000 or more, it seemed plausible to charge
$200 for an OS.

Nowadays, with netbooks around $250 it is not such a good idea.

Much worse during a recession.

~~~
socratees
And with so many free alternatives especially Ubuntu, its going to be a bit
tough for Microsoft. We might see a considerable amount of people willing to
try Ubuntu or other alternatives.

~~~
azbob
You people really do live in your own little world, don't you? The average
person hasn't a friggin' clue what Ubuntu is, never mind thoughts of
installing it on their computer. LMAO.

