Microsoft Said to Cut Windows Price 70% to Counter Rivals
Source: Bloomberg
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is cutting the price of Windows 8.1 by 70 percent for makers of low-cost computers and tablets as they try to fend off cheaper rivals like Google Inc. (GOOG)s Chromebooks, people familiar with the program said.
Manufacturers will be charged $15 to license Windows 8.1 and preinstall it on devices that retail for less than $250, instead of the usual fee of $50, said the people, who asked not to be named because the details arent public. The discount will apply to any products that meet the price limit, with no restrictions on the size or type of device, the people said.
Stronger competition from Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google cut revenue last quarter at Microsofts devices and consumer licensing division, which includes Windows software, as the computer industry posted its biggest annual decline on record. By offering incentives for PC makers to sell cheaper models, Microsoft may be able to increase its share of the growing $80 billion tablet market and stave off Chromebooks, notebooks that run Googles operating system.
Microsoft, which named Satya Nadella as chief executive officer earlier this month, is seeking to speed up development and introduction of new devices. It wont require products that use the cheaper licensing to complete logo certification, a process that verifies hardware compatibility, one of the people said. Devices arent required to be touch-screen compatible, they said.
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Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-22/microsoft-said-to-cut-windows-price-70-to-counter-rivals.html
yourout
(7,532 posts)hobbit709
(41,694 posts)They'd have to pay me to install it.
jsr
(7,712 posts)jsr
(7,712 posts)Any luck? It's a zombie that keeps coming back and using CPU.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)I disabled a lot of garbage using regedit and services.msc.
loudsue
(14,087 posts)bit me on the butt.
ChairmanAgnostic
(28,017 posts)Social articles, and hated the name Regina. So I called her Regedit. She didn't bite, but she did nibble.
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)jmowreader
(50,562 posts)jsr
(7,712 posts)Crepuscular
(1,057 posts)I wish they would drop the price of Windows 7, too.
eppur_se_muova
(36,289 posts)Make that -70% (i.e. a rebate for using their product) and they might see some action.
CFLDem
(2,083 posts)Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)Math fail.
eppur_se_muova
(36,289 posts)which was the comparison I *thought* was being made.
Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)I see where you were trying go, but "selling" something for a negative 70% of your rival's price is such an awkward phrasing that it really undercuts what you thought would be a clever retort.
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)hobbit709
(41,694 posts)LuvLoogie
(7,028 posts)hobbit709
(41,694 posts)TroglodyteScholar
(5,477 posts)It's come so far so quickly...
sjdnb
(1,694 posts)That's what I do. I bought a very nice PC which, unfortunately, came preloaded with Win 8. I hate it. I will install a dual boot eventually, but in the meanwhile, when I want to get real work done, I go back and use my 8 year old Dell with Ubuntu.
awake
(3,226 posts)Other than the X-box Microsoft has been walking dead for many years, Google and Apple have been out preforming Windows for a long time.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)awake
(3,226 posts)hobbit709
(41,694 posts)A friend of mine has a Windows phone and loves it but he says there's no way in hell he wants it on a real computer.
awake
(3,226 posts)And for the record one could say most gaming is a wast of time. Also some people think that sony playstation is better than the x-box
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)awake
(3,226 posts)hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Between the UEFI BIOS trying to lock it into 8 and finding drivers for 7 and I would have to disassemble it halfway to swap drives, I just tweaked the hell out of it. It looks and feels like 7 now.
awake
(3,226 posts)for the recored PC magazine has said that the Apples are the best laptops to run windows on, so next time you can get a computer that allows you to install the OS you like with out being stuck with Windows 8. Enjoy you games in the meantime.
LiberalLovinLug
(14,176 posts)Back in the day the International Business Machines PC was the serious business computer, and as well was almost lauded for being contained in the wheelhouse of the specialist geek.
Apple was for years and years disdained as nothing but a "home computer". Not a serious work machine.
Now if all you want is to mainly play games on your computer, you go to the PC. If you want to get work done and not deal with constant permission windows and anti-viral cleanses etc....and want the fastest and best screen, you get a Mac.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)I don't have to do any of that on mine and I doubt that any Mac has a faster or better screen than my setup. And at a lot less cost.
SolutionisSolidarity
(606 posts)It's always Windows/Office computing platform. Some places there's been an apple machine around by request, but I see more old DOS based machines to run legacy software than Apple computers.
IDemo
(16,926 posts)A major flaw in Apple Inc software for mobile devices could allow hackers to intercept email and other communications that are meant to be encrypted, the company said on Friday, and experts said Mac computers were even more exposed.
If attackers have access to a mobile user's network, such as by sharing the same unsecured wireless service offered by a restaurant, they could see or alter exchanges between the user and protected sites such as Gmail and Facebook. Governments with access to telecom carrier data could do the same.
"It's as bad as you could imagine, that's all I can say," said Johns Hopkins University cryptography professor Matthew Green.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2014/02/apple-admits-products-vulnerable-to-hackers/
Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)Opened up all users to man in the middle attack while they believed they were securely communicating with their banks and all other secure web sites. Apple, not surprisingly, doesn't want to talk about it.
randome
(34,845 posts)[hr][font color="blue"][center]Aspire to inspire.[/center][/font][hr]
AllyCat
(16,222 posts)Think we are going Linux until I save enough shekels for a Mac
MyNameGoesHere
(7,638 posts)spewed forth by the fanboys of the other OS's. Seems like MS made a good one. I rate the hate at about a 12 on a scale of 1-10. Good job MS.
penultimate
(1,110 posts)Last edited Sat Feb 22, 2014, 06:19 PM - Edit history (1)
to add a legit start button and menu to the desktop is beyond annoying. We shouldn't have to go to third-parties for that.
MyNameGoesHere
(7,638 posts)Start button is 1980. I cannot people buy into the claptrap about a stupid button I haven't missed it and I am pissed they brought it back because of whiners. They were correct in removing it.
Skittles
(153,193 posts)it is a classic case of a company not listening and paying the price for it
lostincalifornia
(3,639 posts)on Windows 8 than Windows 7. Yes, people can use accelerator keys, and shortcuts, but come on, the OS is trying to be two things at once, a touch pad type device and a desktop, and it fails miserably as a desktop
There is a reason a lot of companies are NOT upgrading from Windows 7.
The best thing Microsoft should do right now is implement a default solution, something like Start8, or the other programs that make it look and feel like Windows 7.
This is a total disaster, and I would argue, worse than the VISTA debacle. The plus they have is that Apple has not made a play for the business customers, and that they have replaced their CEO. Let's hope he gets them on the right path
lostincalifornia
(3,639 posts)Microsoft has that attitude.
Hopefully the new CEO will set things right.
MyNameGoesHere
(7,638 posts)Apple has the same mentality. Even linux to an extent. The notion that you matter as a consumer is a false marketing gimmick that a lot of gullible folks seem to buy in to. It isn't even close to the truth.
lostincalifornia
(3,639 posts)They are lowering the price for OEM bundles with cheap notebooks to compete against the chrombook
Chrombook is google's answer to the iPad, but it isn't a desktop replacement
Actually that is all MSFT needs to do for windows 8, during the install of the os give users the option to choose between windows 7 look or windows 8
They would have companies start jumping right on board for the enhanced security features alone
There are not many companies who want a desktop to have the metro interface, and require their users to do a lot of clicks just to go from point A to point B
The nurse, doctor , office administrator etc. wants to do their job most efficientltly, and windows 8 isn't conducive to that with a desktop environment
Incidently the market has decided, and that is why MSFT will change it. They screwed up on VISTA by releasing it too early, and released windows 7 which is what vista should have been. The same will happen with windows 8
Actually if Bill Gates came back he could straighten things out. Unfortunately it is very unlikely that he will do so, his charity work is the most important thing to him now
penultimate
(1,110 posts)If they got rid of it and brought something even better to the table, then it wouldn't have been an issue.
MyNameGoesHere
(7,638 posts)someone with a rageRoid avatar. I don't think you're sincere.
Iggo
(47,565 posts)JoeyT
(6,785 posts)most of the people that loathe it are using another Microsoft OS. When your own company is your most vicious rival, you fucked up.
Last I checked Windows 7 was gaining market share at a higher rate than 8 or 8.1.
MyNameGoesHere
(7,638 posts)PSPS
(13,614 posts)If memory serves, they followed this same path with the equally horrendous Windows Vista.
Ratty
(2,100 posts)Windows 8 was a marketing tool to push their phones and tablets. One familiar interface and all. You're used to it on your PC so you'll likely buy the phone and tablet too. As long as sales of Windows phones and tablets are successful they couldn't give a fuck what we think.
LisaL
(44,974 posts)I switched from MS to Apple about 10 years ago and I'll never go back. Although the fanbois of either drive me crazy.
JEFF9K
(1,935 posts)Looks like Microsoft got b**** slapped by the invisible hand of the market.
1000words
(7,051 posts)Knock off another 10% if you say something disparaging about Steve Jobs
The Wizard
(12,547 posts)defective software for years. The next purchase just might be Apple as Microsoft uses planned obsolescence to continue selling it's crap. I have Office and the Word program is designed to run a corporation with more bells and whistles than I'd ever use. Microsoft makes it necessary to buy and learn new software every few years and there's no real advantage to most users. It just wastes time and money being on the receiving end of their crapware.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)yurbud
(39,405 posts)ucrdem
(15,512 posts)Windows 8 could have been a contender but boy oh boy did they botch it. Epic train-wreck botch.
Chris Diesel
(17 posts)Anyone who runs Windows for very long knows you skip every other release
XP was good
skip ME it's bad
W2000 was good
Skip Vista it's bad
Win7 was good
Skip Win8 it's bad
When it comes to the world of engineering, like ACAD, Solidworks, Mastercam there is no substitute for Windows
When it comes to hard core PC gaming Windows rules
When it comes to building your own Desktop PC and running these programs again Windows is it. You can build something with twice the power and 1/2 the cost of any pre built Apple desktop out there.
Xithras
(16,191 posts)Win8 is a very good OS if you have a touchscreen. It sucks hard if you're stuck on a mouse. It was designed from the get-go to be a gesture driven interface, and mouse support was just sort of tacked on for compatibility.
The problem is that very, very few manufacturers are selling Win8 desktops with touchscreens. The manufacturers still sell touchscreens as a premium product, and consumers still see them as a novelty. People who are looking for budget computers aren't going to spend extra money on a premium novelty item.
For Win8 to be a success, MS would have to convince the OEM's to start selling touchscreens as commodity hardware and make them available as standard equipment for all PC's at all price points. That move would cut already borderline PC profitability, and isn't going to happen.
Without touchscreens, most Win8 users are stuck using the operating system with input devices that it wasn't really designed for, and which provide those users with inferior user experiences. A price cut isn't going to fix that.
MS banked the company on a hardware revolution that never came. It was a stupid move.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)Microsoft is starting to get killed in some areas already. Windows 8 (even he upgrades) I've heard pretty bad things about them. The discount is only for OEM installation on the cheaper end devices so they aren't risking that much. It looks like it might be a test for cutting the price for other versions eventually.
sjdnb
(1,694 posts)to be Android-ish and failing miserably, not only at that, but at being a user friendly operating system.