Will Microsoft blow its netbook lead with Windows 7 crippleware?

Apr 21, 2009, 20:02 (4 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols)

[ Thanks to Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols for this link. ]

"Microsoft has been selling crippleware, software that's deliberately had features removed, for some time. The only real difference, for example, between XP Home and XP Pro, besides the price-tag, was that XP Home couldn't handle business domain or AD (Active Directory) networking. To get this one feature activated, millions of business users paid an average of $80 more per PC.

"Today, Microsoft continues to sell XP, but the company really, really doesn't want to do this. Why? Because Microsoft is losing money, especially on netbooks, when you buy XP. According to the Wall Street Journal, "the company takes in less than $15 per netbook for Windows XP once marketing rebates are taken into account -- far less than the estimated $50 to $60 it receives for PCs running Windows Vista."

"Actually, my friends at the OEMs tell me that it's not even $15. Try about $7 a copy. "

Complete Story

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