http://www.pcworld.com/article/16787...nl_dnx_h_crawl

http://www.pcworld.com/article/16787...nl_dnx_h_crawl

Windows 7 Deals Rile Vista Users

Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
Jul 5, 2009 12:42 pm

Consumers running Windows Vista Ultimate, who have blasted Microsoft
for breaking promises to deliver a host of extras, are now knocking
the company's upgrade plans and discount pricing for Windows 7.

Users commenting on several recent Computerworld stories about Windows
7 have let Microsoft have it, especially over the limited-time
discount Microsoft is offering on pre-orders of Windows 7 Home Premium
($49.99) and Professional ($99.99).

"I think it's lousy that Microsoft is offering nothing during the
current short-term promotion in terms of a discounted upgrade for
Windows 7 Ultimate for customers who bought Vista Ultimate," said one
of many anonymous commenters. "Nice way to take care of your customers
who've already paid you the absolute most money..., folks."

"Hello everyone, my name is Dan, and I bought Windows Vista Ultimate
-- the upgrade," said another user named, not surprisingly, "Dan," in
another comment. "I was a fool. I not only bought Vista Home Premium,
I spent additional money on what I hoped was going to be a better OS
with some very unique added benefits. Fooled me once, Microsoft. Even
fooled me twice. Never, ever, again. At any price."

As the commenters pointed out, Microsoft has not cut the price of
Windows 7 Ultimate, which like the other retail editions, can be pre-
ordered from the company as well as some select retailers, including
Amazon.com. Instead, the top-end SKU is priced at $219.99 for an
"Upgrade" and $319.99 for the "Full" version.

Others complained about the price, discounted or not. Although
Microsoft dropped the suggested list price of Windows 7 Home Premium
by 8% to 17% when compared to Vista's price, it left Ultimate (and
Professional) unchanged.

"I find it simply outrageous Microsoft is charging me $219 to
'upgrade' to Windows 7," added an anonymous commenter who claimed he
was also a Microsoft stockholder. "This pricing structure makes no
sense at all and is already backfiring. As a stockholder I'm writing a
letter to the Steve Ballmer board to change this pricing before it's
too late. Heads should roll on this one.

"Those suckers that bought Vista Ultimate, myself included, are
screwed," said yet another commenter. "There isn't a chance in hell
that I am paying $219 for what should really be Vista SP2. We were
promised 'extras' which we never got, now we are being excluded from
the pre-order special. Anyway even at $49, it is still too much to
pay."

The extras that commenter mentioned refer to "Ultimate Extras," one of
the main features Microsoft cited in the months leading up to the 2007
release of Vista Ultimate to distinguish the operating system from its
lower-priced siblings. According to Microsoft's marketing, Extras were
to be "cutting-edge programs, innovative services and unique
publications" that would be regularly offered only to users of Vista's
highest-priced edition.

But users soon began belittling the paltry number of add-ons Microsoft
released and the company's leisurely pace at providing them. Just five
months after Vista was launched, critics started to complain.

Earlier this year, Microsoft dumped the feature, saying that it would
instead focus on existing features in Windows 7 rather than again
promise extras.

The furor over Vista Ultimate has even reached analysts' ranks. In
May, Michael Cherry of Directions on Microsoft urged Microsoft to give
Vista Ultimate owners a free upgrade to Windows 7. "It would buy them
a lot of good will, and I don't think it would cost them much," Cherry
said at the time.

Some of the commenters in the latest Computerworld stories about
Windows 7 echoed Cherry.

"I am running Vista Ultimate and feel ripped off by Microsoft
because ... [we] never received the extras we paid good money to get,"
said "Hellfire" in a long comment. "The very least that they should do
is offer a heavily-discounted upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate to those
that have lost money by purchasing Vista Ultimate."

I purchased Vista Ultimate Steal for $59.95 and I am well happy with it.

þ

Earle

"Ablang" <(E-Mail Removed)> escribió en el mensaje de noticias
news:2bd62fcf-85d8-479e-8600-(E-Mail Removed)...
> http://www.pcworld.com/article/16787...nl_dnx_h_crawl
>
> Windows 7 Deals Rile Vista Users
>
> Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
> Jul 5, 2009 12:42 pm
>
> Consumers running Windows Vista Ultimate, who have blasted Microsoft
> for breaking promises to deliver a host of extras, are now knocking
> the company's upgrade plans and discount pricing for Windows 7.
>
> Users commenting on several recent Computerworld stories about Windows
> 7 have let Microsoft have it, especially over the limited-time
> discount Microsoft is offering on pre-orders of Windows 7 Home Premium
> ($49.99) and Professional ($99.99).
>
> "I think it's lousy that Microsoft is offering nothing during the
> current short-term promotion in terms of a discounted upgrade for
> Windows 7 Ultimate for customers who bought Vista Ultimate," said one
> of many anonymous commenters. "Nice way to take care of your customers
> who've already paid you the absolute most money..., folks."
>
> "Hello everyone, my name is Dan, and I bought Windows Vista Ultimate
> -- the upgrade," said another user named, not surprisingly, "Dan," in
> another comment. "I was a fool. I not only bought Vista Home Premium,
> I spent additional money on what I hoped was going to be a better OS
> with some very unique added benefits. Fooled me once, Microsoft. Even
> fooled me twice. Never, ever, again. At any price."
>
> As the commenters pointed out, Microsoft has not cut the price of
> Windows 7 Ultimate, which like the other retail editions, can be pre-
> ordered from the company as well as some select retailers, including
> Amazon.com. Instead, the top-end SKU is priced at $219.99 for an
> "Upgrade" and $319.99 for the "Full" version.
>
> Others complained about the price, discounted or not. Although
> Microsoft dropped the suggested list price of Windows 7 Home Premium
> by 8% to 17% when compared to Vista's price, it left Ultimate (and
> Professional) unchanged.
>
> "I find it simply outrageous Microsoft is charging me $219 to
> 'upgrade' to Windows 7," added an anonymous commenter who claimed he
> was also a Microsoft stockholder. "This pricing structure makes no
> sense at all and is already backfiring. As a stockholder I'm writing a
> letter to the Steve Ballmer board to change this pricing before it's
> too late. Heads should roll on this one.
>
> "Those suckers that bought Vista Ultimate, myself included, are
> screwed," said yet another commenter. "There isn't a chance in hell
> that I am paying $219 for what should really be Vista SP2. We were
> promised 'extras' which we never got, now we are being excluded from
> the pre-order special. Anyway even at $49, it is still too much to
> pay."
>
> The extras that commenter mentioned refer to "Ultimate Extras," one of
> the main features Microsoft cited in the months leading up to the 2007
> release of Vista Ultimate to distinguish the operating system from its
> lower-priced siblings. According to Microsoft's marketing, Extras were
> to be "cutting-edge programs, innovative services and unique
> publications" that would be regularly offered only to users of Vista's
> highest-priced edition.
>
> But users soon began belittling the paltry number of add-ons Microsoft
> released and the company's leisurely pace at providing them. Just five
> months after Vista was launched, critics started to complain.
>
> Earlier this year, Microsoft dumped the feature, saying that it would
> instead focus on existing features in Windows 7 rather than again
> promise extras.
>
> The furor over Vista Ultimate has even reached analysts' ranks. In
> May, Michael Cherry of Directions on Microsoft urged Microsoft to give
> Vista Ultimate owners a free upgrade to Windows 7. "It would buy them
> a lot of good will, and I don't think it would cost them much," Cherry
> said at the time.
>
> Some of the commenters in the latest Computerworld stories about
> Windows 7 echoed Cherry.
>
> "I am running Vista Ultimate and feel ripped off by Microsoft
> because ... [we] never received the extras we paid good money to get,"
> said "Hellfire" in a long comment. "The very least that they should do
> is offer a heavily-discounted upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate to those
> that have lost money by purchasing Vista Ultimate."

Ever since the 1990's the norm has been a new operating system every 2-3
years. Get used to it. The 6 year development time for Vista was extremely
abnormal.

--

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience


"stew2" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> I use Ultimate 64bit and the only way i will use windows 7 is if they
> give me it for free. I bought Vista as soon as it came out and only 2
> years later they are releasing windows 7. That work should have gone
> into a service pack for Vista.
>
> To say im ****ed is an understatement. Theres no way im buying a new OS
> every 2 years and id advise everyone who bought Vista to do the same and
> skip windows 7.
>
>
> --
> stew2
>
> Tutorial -' *Setting Up Vista for Speed Guide*'
> (http://www.vistax64.com/windows-upda...eed-guide.html)

Hell, I'm thinking 'bout formatting my hard drive and reintalling XP.

James

"stew2" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> I use Ultimate 64bit and the only way i will use windows 7 is if they
> give me it for free. I bought Vista as soon as it came out and only 2
> years later they are releasing windows 7. That work should have gone
> into a service pack for Vista.
>
> To say im ****ed is an understatement. Theres no way im buying a new OS
> every 2 years and id advise everyone who bought Vista to do the same and
> skip windows 7.
>
>
> --
> stew2
>
> Tutorial -' *Setting Up Vista for Speed Guide*'
> (http://www.vistax64.com/windows-upda...eed-guide.html)

Richard Urban wrote:
> Ever since the 1990's the norm has been a new operating system every 2-3
> years. Get used to it.

Yeah, do like Dick does and every time Microsoft says "jump", Dick asks
"How high?".

> The 6 year development time for Vista was
> extremely abnormal.

2-3 years is a long time compared to Ubuntu and other open source
operating systems. Course, the fact that Vista is a FLOP shows how good
six years of development did for Microsoft.

Alias

"JamesJ" <jjy@darwin_roadrunner.com> wrote in message
news:uTN43v6$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hell, I'm thinking 'bout formatting my hard drive and reintalling XP.
>
> James
>

Why not roll back to Win 95?

Camper.

Camper wrote:
>
> "JamesJ" <jjy@darwin_roadrunner.com> wrote in message
> news:uTN43v6$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Hell, I'm thinking 'bout formatting my hard drive and reintalling XP.
>>
>> James
>>
>
> Why not roll back to Win 95?
>
> Camper.

because then nothing on his computer would probably work! HA!

Besides, no one says you HAVE to buy the latest version of Windows when
it comes out, its not like they are holding a gun to your head and
forcing you. Sheesh, some people just like to complain just to do so.

I'll go back to WinMe
And pray that my pc boots.

"Camper" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:enm79Z7$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "JamesJ" <jjy@darwin_roadrunner.com> wrote in message
> news:uTN43v6$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Hell, I'm thinking 'bout formatting my hard drive and reintalling XP.
>>
>> James
>>
>
> Why not roll back to Win 95?
>
> Camper.

I'm being sarcastic.
Believe me, the way I abuse my computer... Vista has pulled my ass
out of the fire many times.

James

"milt" <theatreguy_dunspam_@miltsweb.com> wrote in message
news:OrhpAn9$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Camper wrote:
>>
>> "JamesJ" <jjy@darwin_roadrunner.com> wrote in message
>> news:uTN43v6$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> Hell, I'm thinking 'bout formatting my hard drive and reintalling XP.
>>>
>>> James
>>>
>>
>> Why not roll back to Win 95?
>>
>> Camper.
>
> because then nothing on his computer would probably work! HA!
>
> Besides, no one says you HAVE to buy the latest version of Windows when it
> comes out, its not like they are holding a gun to your head and forcing
> you. Sheesh, some people just like to complain just to do so.