This Pricing for Vista Seems a Bit Steep; Microsoft (and the Economy) May Pay the Price

….. and the restrictions pretty severe (links are in original):

Vista is taking this approach to extreme: not only you have to pay $399 for your copy of Vista Ultimate, you also cannot transfer that copy to another computer more than once (see UPDATE below — MS has backed down on the transfer restriction).

If you want to transfer Windows Vista again (or to another computer) you must buy another copy (another $400, I guess)? Somehow this does not sound like an incentive to upgrade. Besides, hardware requirements are outrageous, which means you would have to spend $500 getting a new computer and about the same for a new operating system. Basically shelling out $1,000 to edit your spreadsheets and write emails on translucent background? I don’t think so.

I was a bit exaggerating here as I was talking about Windows Vista Ultimate edition. New users would be able to get Vista Home Basic for $199 (which is still a lot), while it costs only $99 to upgrade.

….. So we are not going to see a wave of upgrades next year, nor shall we see quick proliferation of Vista (aside for new OEM machines that would have it installed right off the start). If Windows 98 took 8 years to die Windows XP would take even longer, unless the inflation catches up with Microsoft prices.

I would think that MS would want to do everything it can to get its security-deficient, virus-vulnerable, malware-loving Windows OS off of as many users’ computers as soon as possible. Not, gonna, happen. Because of the company’s predominant market share, anything that slows down the productivity increases of MS computer users, and slows down the adoption of presumably more powerful Vista-based applications, has the potential, ultimately, to slow down the economy. Not good.

Just a week ago, MS announced what I’m calling the Christmas Coupon debacle; now this. If there is another downturn in the works, maybe it should be called “the Microsoft recession.”

UPDATE: Information Week reported yesterday evening that Microsoft has backed down on the transfer restriction –

Last month, Microsoft was condemned for language in the Windows Vista license that let buyers shift the OS only one time after it had been installed on a PC. The phrasing was more specific than that used in the Windows XP license, which did not specify the number of allowed transfers.

“The first user of the software may reassign the license to another device one time. If you reassign the license, that other device becomes the ‘licensed device,’” read the original Windows Vista license.

The new language reads: “You may uninstall the software and install it on another device for your use. You may not do so to share this license between devices.”