Windows 8 Pro price slashed..........

The Windows 8 Pro upgrade price has inexplicably been slashed on Microsoft's online store.

Source -

Windows 8 Pro price slashed to £45 | News | PC Pro

 

[SIW2]

What do you mean maybe? LOL. Where have you been the past few months.

MS have a lot of stuff to push - Bing is one example. Bit of a coincidence there are Bing apps on the start screen - the very same start screen that keeps coming up at you just when you thought you were safe.

 

[BillWindows]

This is the problem Microsoft is having.

 

[mart4494]

Hi there
....virtually "Giving" away the OS they hope they will recoup by sales of hardware (Tablets etc) and licensed software subscriptions such as Office 365 or products from the store. Strip everything out of the OS (in future) and make users pay for everything that's now included as standard.


Cheers
jimbo

I could live with that - just boot up the PC and leave everything else to the user - skinning, internet explorer, windows explorer, etc, etc then the OS could be customised exactly as the end user desired. But wishful thinking on my part. LOL

 

[chrisa]

The main problem Windows 8 has concerning adoption is that the op sys has been tweaked to primarily handle touch and pen in conjunction with the ability to use a keyboard and mouse. For workstations that do not have this(note: pretty much all), Windows 7 is actually a better system.

Up until a couple weeks ago, I was firmly in the boat that i'd never upgrade to 8, and this is as a professional computer programmer. Then I heard about the Surface Pro 128gig and one arrived in the mail last week :>. Grabbed the Petzold book and all i can say is things make *a lot* more sense now. Its nice to be able to learn the system while not going all-in on the workstation.

As per Windows 8 Pro, I got the $15 deal(another $15 for the disk) just before it went offline at the end of February. I had bought a new computer in September so I was good there. I have the icon sitting on the desktop that can be activated some time in the future, but i'll probably stick with 7 for the short-term as i play with 8 on the Surface until i upgrade the desktop to some type of touchscreen/pen that actually utilizes 8 fully.

The interesting part about the whole situtation is that Microsoft is literally the only company at the moment trying to push to evolve the core competencies of the PC and mobile platforms, and not just on the mobile end. Apple and Google are too busy being playing games with the media and being obsessed with finding The Next Great Tech, to really worry about That Older On-Its-Way-Out Stuff.

It'll probably take at least another year for Microsoft to truly reach critical mass in evolving the tech(the all-in-ones were the first broadside), but when they do... a company like Apple will suddenly find itself hideously behind and not realize how exactly they got there.

 

[norepli]

I just talked to a MS rep and he said the original US deal was not simultaneously offered in the UK so this is a followup deal for UK only. Unfortunately, I can't use the UK software on my extra US laptop or I would get it. Maybe next time around.

 

[whs]

Interesting - they must be desperate. But even then, I am not going to waste another penny on that 'thing'. My last $39.95 are already collecting dust.

 

[DavidY]

I just talked to a MS rep and he said the original US deal was not simultaneously offered in the UK so this is a followup deal for UK only.

In the UK we could get the upgrade from any XP/Vista/7 PC for £25 and the upgrade on a new-ish Windows 7 PC for £15. This was from 26 October. Although the £15 isn't such a good deal next to $15 in the US, the rest of it was pretty close and as far as I know at the same time.

So I'm not sure what the MS rep means...

 

[SIW2]

I don't know what the age is for those who are most/least likely to buy 8.

My impression is the younger ones ( in their 20's ) who are possibly the least interested.

So I'm not sure what the MS rep means...

Aren't you? Presumably they had to come up with some sort of reply.

 

[norepli]

I just talked to a MS rep and he said the original US deal was not simultaneously offered in the UK so this is a followup deal for UK only.

In the UK we could get the upgrade from any XP/Vista/7 PC for £25 and the upgrade on a new-ish Windows 7 PC for £15. This was from 26 October. Although the £15 isn't such a good deal next to $15 in the US, the rest of it was pretty close and as far as I know at the same time.

So I'm not sure what the MS rep means...

Hi DavidY,

I can only relay what the online rep told me so it seems you UKers have an extra opportunity that was never afforded to your US counterparts.

Cheers

 

[SIW2]

Opportunity?

There are plenty online at Amazon and elsewhere at 45 quid that are taking a long while to sell.

If you are one of the few who actually wants one - then it must be galling you can't use it. Not clear to me why it won't work on your machine - you didn't specify.

Plenty have copies they aren't using and regret spending 40 bucks on - whs is one example.

 

[lehnerus2000]

I still haven't seen a win 8 tablet or lappie in the wild. Plenty of non windows devices to be seen on tubes etc.

I've seen one guy at my TAFE with a W8 laptop.

 

[SIW2]

You should have taken a picture and alerted the media.

 

[lehnerus2000]

WOW. You should have taken a picture and alerted the media.

It looks like he has a new laptop, but it might have been an upgrade.

There are 2 or 3 Mac laptop users too.
They seem to have the ultra thin version (Macbook Air).

 

[Coke Robot]

We have a problem Houston.

 

[Coke Robot]

Geez, it seems like they're REALLY doing whatever they can to get everyone and their technologically enabled cat on Windows 8...

Looks like the past days of Microsoft have been left behind for the present and future...

 

[SIW2]

They are finding it hard to sell. It is a fire sale.

Only Cokie cannot see it.

Let's hope they actually release something people want - that would involve a change of strategy - are they able to do that? We shall see.

 

[Coke Robot]

They are finding it hard to sell. It is a fire sale.

Only Cokie cannot see it.

Let's hope they actually release something people want - that would involve a change of strategy - are they able to do that? We shall see.

You know this how?

 

[SIW2]

On a related note, I have just found out from elsewhere about a podcast back in Jan.

Security Now! Transcript of Episode #388

Interesting bit:

Steve: ... the Windows 8 Pro special $40 upgrade offer ends on February 1st, and then it goes up to $199 .So if it...

Leo: I bet it doesn't. My prediction. Just going to make a prediction here.

Steve: Well, okay. It's a Windows blog. There's the link there.

Leo: No, they say it ends. I'm just saying, let's see what happens then.

Steve: Yeah, it's like...

Leo: Because nobody's buying this piece of c**p.

 

[Ray8]

When I had Windows 8 on my tablet, I tried showing it to everyone and no one was interested. When it comes to tablets, all they were interested in were iPads and Androids. These people just don't know anything.

 

[SIW2]

Yes it is the consumers. We are just either too dumb or too frightened. That must be it. It is all our fault.