Microsoft up to its old tricks with Windows 8 versions
Linked by David Adams on Fri 2nd Mar 2012 15:55 UTC, submitted by sawboss
Windows By all early reports, Windows 8 is going to be a good operating system. Microsoft's hegemony may be crumbling in a mobile computing onslaught, but its core empire remains undimmed. However, whereas Windows 7 had three versions, Windows 8 will apparently be ballooning to 9 versions.
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ilovebeer
Member since:
2011-08-08


Why on earth would they offer one singular version? First of all, they don't have customers with identical needs. For people who need less, why wouldn't you offer those people a trimmed down version...


The "everybody has different needs" is a crap excuse. It's not rocket science to provide a custom install which lets the user choose only what applies to there different needs. This excuse belongs in the field scaring birds away from the crops.

You wrongly assume that all features are pluggable. What you're failing to realize is that some feature may require core changes in order to function properly, and that may require other changes to prevent breakage in unrelated areas.

I will tell you right now, the different Windows versions are not simply builds with different build configuration arrangements.

For me the question is more about what happened to cost+reasonablemarket. Why does the market allow this to be cost+asmuchaswecantakeyoufor? Especially in the software market where all scarcity is artificial. Once development costs are paid back, your looking at 0 cost per unit plus 1$ for distribution media and packaging, less if you stick to digital distribution. They could easily make development costs back plus reasonable profits after that. But no, we need to pay $100+ for an OS. (and some thought 40$ for a Dos install was high markup)

I'm not sure why you think there's $0 cost per unit and $1 for distribution and packaging. Running a business in the real world costs money, even after the cost of development has been recouped. Believe it or not, Windows pricing is not outrageous. They are not 'raping' their customers at point-of-sale.

If nothing else, we live in a world that revolves around economics. The idea of everything being free or absurdly cheap is very alluring. But, it's far from realistic.

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