Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 22nd Dec 2008 22:26 UTC, submitted by rexstuff
Windows Vista has been out and about for a while now, and it has already been updated with a service pack, with a second service pack on its way. Vista's successor, Windows 7, is also getting closer and closer to release, but despite all that, Windows XP is still going strong, and demand for the operating system remains high. Because of that, Microsoft has yet again extended Windows XP's lifetime for OEMs and resellers.
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Member since:
2007-02-07
Speaking of cost, there's price, and then there's release cycle.
You pay for XP (2001) and for Vista (2007). ==> 2x
Meanwhile, you pay for Cheetah(/Puma) (2001), Jaguar (2002), Panther (2003), Tiger (2005) and Leopard (2007). ==> 5x
However, both OSs come installed, and most non-techie Mac/Windows users that I know (ie. rep. of majority of market), never bother upgrading their OS, until they buy their next machine.
The point above, to some extent, deals with the issue of customer confusion as well. Also, I believe only three editions of Vista are available off the shelf, not that hard to choose from, and still upgradeable at any time.
Of course a single version is preferred, but Microsoft is marketing it's product to a much larger base, so they can make a few more bucks by having different price ranges.
Edited 2008-12-23 00:05 UTC