Originally Posted by
kempez
Perhaps why Bob is so erked is because him and his colleagues will maybe be FORCED to get retail Vista (or the company if they don't get some nice MS gifts), as they have to constantly do fresh installs for new and exciting products that us lot want to hear about...and it just HAS to be on the new OS as DX10's out and Crysis is DX10 only....
While I'm pleased to read the very supportive words in the rest of your posting, I would take issue with this little bit.
For myself and all my colleagues, the cost of Vista is a business expense so not really a personal issue at all (except for our own personal PCs, of course).
Why I'm hacked off is that:
a/ Microsoft is taking the Mickey - worldwide - over the high price of Vista retail.
Okay, prices in the UK are stupidly high, but they are high in the USA, too, it's just that the weak dollar makes UK prices appear especially high; though they are, of course, genuinely high nonetheless.
b/ I truly believe that far fewer people will upgrade their PCs to Vista than would have done had retail versions of the OS been fairly priced.
If that supposition is correct (and it won't be long now before we know), then a lot of people will be without the pleasures of Vista for months or years - and that's a crying shame.
It also means - and any form of business stupidity makes me angry (especially stuff that's so bleeding obvious even to an idiot like me) - that Microsoft will make far less from Vista retail than it would have done if it had priced the various versions more fairly worldwide.
Even Microsoft can't buck the market-proven general rule that high-price=low volume; low-price=high volume.
Now, it's possible that what Microsoft may have hatched up is some crafty ploy to aid the sales of PC hardware (and also get folk using versions of Vista that are tied to one particular PC).
If an ordinary user can buy a brand new desktop PC for little more than the cost of Vista retail (and that will be the case for most high-volume, low-priced desktop PCs from the likes of Dell and even the smaller system builders), why would such people consider buying the retail version to install on their current kit (and maybe have to pay out at the same time for extra RAM and a better graphics card)?
And, if it turns out that this is the reason for the high pricing of Vista retail (not that we're ever likely to find out), well that makes me mad, too.
Totally ignoring environmental issues (which we shouldn't do - too many PCs are already being put in landfills), that's because it's Microsoft once again spitting directly in the eye of the folk who, like many who frequent HEXUS, are active supporters of Windows (by their actions, rather, necessarily, than their words).
More than that, they are the very people whose interest in high-end hardware and peripherals (and willingness to buy them) is vital to the improvements enjoyed by the whole Windows community.
And, make no mistake about it, that means they're also critically important to all the companies that produce systems, components, peripherals, software and, of course, the Windows OS.
Microsoft even said as much when it recently changed the wording of the Vista retail EULA - PC enthusiasts' clamour gets major change in Windows Vista EULA.
This is what Microsoft' Nick White said,
Our intention behind the original terms was genuinely geared toward combating piracy; however, it’s become clear to us that those original terms were perceived as adversely affecting an important group of customers: PC and hardware enthusiasts. You who comprise the enthusiast market are vital to us for several reasons, not least of all because of the support you’ve provided us throughout the development of Windows Vista. We respect the time and expense you go to in customizing, building and rebuilding your hardware and we heard you that the previous terms were seen as an impediment to that -- it’s for that reason we’ve made this change. I hope that this change provides the flexibility you need, and gives you more reason to be excited about the upcoming retail release of our new operating system.
That being so, it seems all the more unreasonable and stupid that Vista's high retail price should strike hardest at the very people that Microsoft says it values so highly - the PC enthusiasts.
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luckily as a computer science student we get two copies of Vista Business entirely free hehe 
