While everyone seems to be weighing in on the price reduction of various flavors of Vista, the point is missed, as the premise is not clear. Microsoft seems to believe that hordes of people would flood every point of purchase if only the price was lower. This is absurd, as anyone who does even a small amount of research will be able to see that OEM versions of the software can be had, right now, for less than the anticipated price reductions would position the retail offerings.

The mildly knowledgeable might state that an OEM copy of any Microsoft operating system comes with no support, whereas the retail versions include support for 90 days. This sounds good, until one realizes what poor support is given, and the phone bills that can be accrued trying to get help. For most, it is simply easier and faster to get peer support for any non-server Microsoft product.

Another point that might be made by the unwashed masses is that an OEM copy of Windows cannot legally be transferred to another PC. According to the license, it is locked to the machine it is first installed upon. If you happen to be a stickler for adherence to the EULA, then you are so limited - I usually am very strict about adherence to law, but after a few fiascos with Microsoft concerning completely LEGAL actions, I tend to put Microsoft into the realm of “sometimes you gotta say WTF!” Besides, it’s not as if most people are going to be swapping machines that frequently  - those that do can buy retail versions, and hope that Microsoft doesn’t try  to limit them when they do switch.

The thing  that all the others making observations seem to be missing is that what is happening is that this is analogous to each buyer going to a purchase a car from a dealership called ‘Lemon Motors, Unlimited’ and signing a contract stating that the buyer will pay for the vehicle in full up front, knowing full well that every car they might choose has documented flaws, and the contract states that the purchaser cannot take the seller   to court for poor performance, and only has small assurances that the defects might be repaired sometime in the next 5 or so years, unless a new model of ‘lemon’ is called for, and, in that case, all work stops on the model the buyer purchased. Game over. No guarantee of fitness to a purpose is given, and as has been seen in the past couple of days, it is made clear that the seller holds the buyer in complete contempt. For all this, a small discount will be applied to the ‘deal’.

With this knowledge in hand, does Microsoft really expect people to flock to buy this ‘work’? Remember, it is impossible to put a shine on a road apple, no matter how dedicated the effort.

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Tags: vista, microsoft, discount, documented flaws, service pack 1, retail packages