It’s Official: Windows 7 is Overpriced, Cannot Compete With Linux

I remember checking out the Windows 7 release candidate almost a month ago and I was left unimpressed. Sure, there are small improvements in several areas and the RAM requirement is more lenient, but nothing major enough to make it a “must have” operating system, unless the price was drastically dropped. It turns out that Microsoft is still going to charge enormous fees for the OS and I am more disappointed now than I was when I played with the release candidate.

First, let’s take a look at how much the new OS will cost you, as quoted from the article in Neowin:

Upgrades:
Home Premium – $ 119.99
Professional* – $ 199.99
Ultimate – $ 259.99

Pre-Order Upgrades:
Home Premium – $49.99
Professional – $99.99

Full Retail:
Home Premium – $ 199.99
Professional* – $ 299.99
Ultimate – $ 319.99

Is Microsoft insane? Here we are in a global shift of interests (others call it a recession) and Microsoft still thinks people will flock to the store to pick up a retail license for as much as $319.99? Sorry, that’s not going to happen. Unfortunately, there is not enough value in Windows 7 to warrant spending over $50 on any version of it. Sure, the taskbar was changed, but that change is very minor in the grand scheme of things and there are only minor improvements throughout. In all fairness the improvements are all good but just not good enough for the amount of money Microsoft is requesting for this release.

Please don’t misunderstand me though. I am not saying that Windows 7 is a horrible OS. In fact, it’s pretty good. It has a lower RAM requirement and generally runs faster than what Vista did. However, if you are upgrading to Windows 7 just to get the speed increase that comes with it, you are wasting your money. There are plenty of other ways of speeding up your PC without buying an overly expensive Windows 7 license. For example, today I seen an 8GB memory upgrade (800mhz DDR2 no less) for $79.99 on Newegg.com! That will certainly speed up your machine for less money than you would spend if you purchased Windows 7. In fact, also on Newegg.com I seen a brand new Phenom 2 quad-core processor for $189.99 which is over $100 less than a Windows 7 Ultimate retail license and will speed up your PC quite a bit. Even Vista would run great on such a processor!

I will admit that the pre-order price for Home Premium is decent. However, remember that the pre-order phase is only temporary and the actual price of Home Premium is much higher. I really can’t bring myself to understand how Microsoft thinks that their new OS is worth as much money as they are asking. Linux does everything Windows can do and more, and it’s free. If you have Windows programs that you must run which have no open source equivalents, they will continue to run fine on the copy of Windows that you already have. Like I said, Windows 7 is good, but not $319.99 good. Maybe $50 for a retail license or free to all Vista users would have fit the bill better.

My prediction is that Microsoft will move some copies in retail, but nowhere near as many as they did with XP. In our troubled times the average user is not going to pay over $100 for anything on a computer, much less an upgrade to their operating system when the current one works just fine. Of course, Microsoft will move quite a few OEM licenses with new computers that are sold however credit goes to the sale of the computer itself, not to Microsoft. After all, the average computer user doesn’t care what operating comes with the machine as long as it works.

I have heard the arguments on both sides of this issue so I don’t want anyone to think I am playing the “anti-Microsoft card” too heavily and even though I disagree with the other side, I still give credit where it is due. Microsoft does employ quite a few talented programmers and engineers who worked tirelessly designing their new operating system and more than likely poured their hearts and souls into it. Windows 7 is a quality product, and the only concern is that Microsoft is asking too much money for it, plain and simple. I think we will see Windows fans sticking to what came with their computers, especially considering there are no “must have” features in Windows 7 at all that you can’t get anywhere else, or anything that justifies the price.

Regardless, Windows 7 just cannot compete with Linux in terms of overall value. Windows 7 is overpriced and Microsoft had a real opportunity to destroy Linux. All they had to do was practically give away Windows 7 for a very low price and they would watch their retail sales sky rocket to unprecedented heights. Instead, they are practically giving away their industry grip to Linux with one of the dumbest decisions I have seen in the industry. Windows 7 is going to be a hard lesson for Microsoft as they will discover that they can no longer sell their products for ridiculous premiums and will watch their retail sales plummet. Now that Microsoft has given Linux the upper hand yet again, it’s time for open source to shine even further.

Finally, it has been mentioned that Microsoft will end Windows 7 release candidate downloads come August 15th. In other news, Windows 7 release candidate downloads will continue indefinitely on Bit Torrent.