Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 16th Sep 2009 18:01 UTC
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Member since:
2009-08-21
I'm not sure how many people realize that. They are sold to system builders but literally anyone can be a system builder. The only difference is that there's absolutely no end user support from Microsoft.
For example in single pack/license + media, Vista Home Premium is $99 at newegg.com and other places. Volume licensing pushes that down toward the cited $50 range. Most people I know and most users at hardware sites never buy the retail version (again, there's no difference besides support). Windows 7 will be priced the same. So I myself will be paying that $100 for the OEM version rather than $200 - $250 for retail. Or opt in to a group buy or contact some local shops who purchase volume licenses for less.
And this funny pricing structure sometimes applies to other software as well. Walk into a retail store and you'd have a choice of a single user license MS Office 2007 Home for about $130 or Pro for about $300.
Yet, you can buy a 3 PC license version online for $109. This used to be relegated to the OEM version of Office but for some reason MS shifted it to the retail version now.
Edited 2009-09-17 12:40 UTC