ie8 fix
madison

The Ed Bott Report

Ed Bott
Home / News & Blogs / The Ed Bott Report

Vista OEM prices finally appear

By | January 22, 2007, 9:56am PST

Summary: The official Vista launch event is still a week away, but online retailers have already begun selling single OEM copies of Windows Vista. The surprising news is that consumer editions are selling for roughly the same as their XP counterparts, although business buyers may see a slight price increase. The real question is whether PC buyers will pay up for the pricier Ultimate edition.

Over the weekend, I got an e-mail offer from an online retailer offering to sell me an OEM copy of Windows Vista. Although the official Vista launch isn't for another week, it looks like online merchants have jumped the gun.

Along with these announcements comes a hint of what OEM pricing will look like. I checked with two e-tailers I trust and found fairly consistent pricing for so-called System Builder products. At Mwave.com, the Home Basic (32-bit) edition is selling for $89.90 and Business edition (also 32-bit) going for $139.90. Mwave doesn't have prices posted for Ultimate or Home Premium yet.

Provantage.com has a full line-up of 32- and 64-bit Vista OEM editions for sale at the following prices:

These prices are good benchmarks of what new PCs will cost when they begin appearing with Vista pre-installed. Last August, I surveyed XP prices, including OEM editions, and found that XP Home was typically selling for about $90, with Media Center Edition (the predecessor of Vista Home Premium) going for around $120 and OEM XP Pro prices hovering in the $130+ range. Judging by this limited data set, prices for consumer PCs aren't changing much in the XP-to-Vista transition, but business buyers can expect to pay about $10 more per license.

The real question is whether Microsoft can convince Windows buyers to shell out the extra $80 or so for the upgrade to Ultimate edition from Home Premium when they purchase a new PC. If they can convince even 10% of PC purchasers that the upgrade is worth it, that will represent a major bump in revenue.

Last September, I called the pricing for Ultimate edition "price gouging." Now that the first wave of Ultimate Extras have been unveiled, I'm still not convinced that the premium price is fair or justified.

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily e-mail newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

More from “The Ed Bott Report”

Topics

Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications.

Disclosure

Ed Bott

Ed Bott is a freelance technical journalist and book author. All work that Ed does is on a contractual basis.

Since 1994, Ed has written more than 25 books about Microsoft Windows and Office. Along with various co-authors, Ed is completely responsible for the content of the books he writes. As a key part of his contractual relationship with publishers, he gives them permission to print and distribute the content he writes and to pay him a royalty based on the actual sales of those books. Ed's books written prior to fall 2011 have been distributed by Que Publishing (a division of Pearson Education) and by Microsoft Press. As of November 2011, Ed is a partner in the independent publishing company Fair Trade Digital Exchange, which exclusively publishes his books.

On occasion, Ed accepts consulting assignments. In recent years, he has worked as an expert witness in cases where his experience and knowledge of Microsoft and Microsoft Windows have been useful. In each such case, his compensation is on an hourly basis, and he is hired as a witness, not an advocate.

Ed does not own stock or have any other financial interest in Microsoft or any other software company. He owns 500 shares of stock in EMC Corporation, which was purchased before the company's acquisition of VMware. In addition, he owns 350 shares of stock in Intel Corporation, purchased more than two years ago. All stocks are held in retirement accounts for long-term growth.

Ed does not accept gifts from companies he covers. All hardware products he writes about are purchased with his own funds or are review units covered under formal loan agreements and are returned after the review is complete.

Biography

Ed Bott

Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications. He's served as editor of the U.S. edition of PC Computing and managing editor of PC World; both publications had monthly paid circulation in excess of 1 million during his tenure. He is the author of more than 25 books on Microsoft Windows and Office, including the recently released Windows 7 Inside Out.

30
Comments
Add Your Opinion

Join the conversation!

Just In

RE: Vista OEM prices finally appear
beijing2008 14th Sep
Thank you for the information. rolex watches uk
View in thread
0 Votes
+ -
The nice thing about offering customers choice
Michael Kelly 22nd Jan 2007
is that if the premium software does turn out to be price gouging, customers will wise up to this and stick with the basic versions. At least MS isn't forcing the premium software on everybody, even those who don't need it.

Now if $80 for the premium software gives the great customer value compared to third party offerings, and of course if that software is useful in the first place, then yes people will buy it and be glad they did.

For the record I think those are fair prices. I doubt I will buy Vista other than for testing purposes, at least for now, but I can't accuse MS of price gouging with that price list. What I am more interested in is the OEM Office prices.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Vista OEM prices finally appear
beijing2008 14th Sep
Thank you for the information. rolex watches uk
0 Votes
+ -
These are not OEM prices
ShadeTree 22nd Jan 2007
The prices quoted are for System Builders and not named OEMs. OEM pricing is never made public and not purchased from these same channels. Named OEMs deal directly with Microsoft and receive bigger discounts.
0 Votes
+ -
Contributr
System Builders are OEMs
Ed Bott 22nd Jan 2007
There are two categories of OEM software. Royalty OEMs are one, System Builders are the other. (I am a registered System Builder OEM.) Plenty of people buy computers with Windows preinstalled from System Builders. That's the whole point of the program.

These are a reliable indicator of prices, IMO.
0 Votes
+ -
No, not really....
techboy_z 22nd Jan 2007
These are reliable indicators of retail upgrade prices...not of OEM prices. The Royalty OEMs pay much, much less per license than these.
0 Votes
+ -
Contributr
You misunderstand
Ed Bott 22nd Jan 2007
I'm pointing out that because reatail AND Sytem Builder OEM prices have essentially not changed for consumer SKUs and are up a modest $10 for Business, that it is reasonable to assume the same will be true of royalty OEMs. I don't expect PCs to cost more when Vista ships, that's the point. And I stand by that conclusion.
0 Votes
+ -
Both sides are right
usrhlp 23rd Jan 2007
I see what the other people are saying, you have quoted these as OEM prices but people like Dell do pay a lot less.

However with your pricing indicators showing that system builders won't be paying anymore it is a fair conclusion that the big OEM giants will be paying a similar price for Vista as they did for XP although less than what System Builders would.

You just needed to explain yourself better. Some people are not too quick on the uptake!
0 Votes
+ -
When I buy a computer form Dell ...
mwagner@... 24th Jan 2007
... they do not pay MS anything close to $100 for it. How do I know that? As of a year ago, MS was charging it's own employees $35 for a copy of Windows XP Pro SP2 so I find it extremely unlikely that Dell is paying much more than that! Can it be much different for HP, or any other large OEM?
0 Votes
+ -
Buy a few million copies
frank_s 24th Jan 2007
I'm sure if you buy a few million copies, they'd give you a pretty good break too...
0 Votes
+ -
Millions?
schlicht@... 24th Jan 2007
I to am a Microsoft OEM, together adding up all the OEM's they probably do buy a few million, we still pay $89 for xphome.
0 Votes
+ -
No, you are a system builder.
ShadeTree 26th Jan 2007
if you think you get the same pricing or terms as Royalty OEMs then you are dreaming.
0 Votes
+ -
I suppose you think these are the best prices.
DemonX 9th Feb 2007
The best price to pay for Xp Pro upgrade is $8 and for Vista Business upgrade $10. Do these prices legally exist? Absolutely they do. happy
0 Votes
+ -
The only real question
DemonX 9th Feb 2007
is how much the consumer will be charged for any of these versions.
0 Votes
+ -
Vista may cost you more than listed !
intrepi@... 22nd Jan 2007
Although your lists may be accurate, they may well prove to cost consumers more than double the listed price. Consider this as a fact as Microsoft has limited Vista to 2 activations. If your motherboard needs to be replaced, hard drive, graphics card upgrade or any other major component has to changed or upgraded for any reason whatsoever, you will have to reinstall Vista and / or have it reactivated. Once these 2 activations have been used up, you then have to buy another license or copy of Vista. This makes the price lists somewhat obscure, especially for gamers or anyone that upgrades their system frequently. Buyers should be made aware of this before they buy ANY version of Vista. Funny how Microsoft only points out the good things and leaves the bad left for consumers to find out on their own. If you really want to help consumers, Post this fact as I won't be able to buy any OS with this kind of limitation.
0 Votes
+ -
You may be falling for the FUD flying around out there
John Zern 22nd Jan 2007
Last time I checked, all other versions of Windows had "Minimun System Requirements" printed on the side of the box, so why would you asume that MS would exclude that from the side of the box Vista ships in, so the "hidden hardware upgrade info" is a non issue.

as for the "2 activations" I just read this:

A Microsoft spokesman from the Licensing Dept told bit-tech that this would not be the case. He told us that Windows Vista will not require a system re-activation unless the hard drive and one other component is changed. This means that enthusiasts will be able to swap CPUs, memory and graphics cards out without any worry about having to re-activate with MS, either on the internet or by phone.

Should you change the hard drive and another piece of hardware - for example for a major upgrade such as a motherboard change that requires a re-installation - Microsoft will allow you to re-activate up to 10 times. You will not, however, be able to have more than one machine activated concurrently.
0 Votes
+ -
Contributr
Not true
Ed Bott 22nd Jan 2007
This license provision was in an early version of the retail (not OEM) license. It has since been removed completely. OEM software has always been locked to the machine on which it is first installed and cannot be transferred. My story about the license terms is here:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=166
0 Votes
+ -
Even on XP
mrjonno 22nd Jan 2007
If you swopped the motherboard you were required to purchase a new copy of XP (through you could get an OEM with the new motherboard).
The only difference in licensing between XP and Vista is this will now be enforced.

The fact is the only people this will effect will be a few geeks (enthuisasts) who have home networks over over clocked , liquid nitrogen cooled AMD PC. I know this is hard to believe but a good estimate is

99.9% of people on these boards install operating systems
99.9 of people in the real world do NOT.

Vista like all Windows releases for good or bad will be new computer time
0 Votes
+ -
Contributr
t was enforced on XP
Ed Bott 22nd Jan 2007
For OEM copies of XP, if you reinstall a System Builder OEM copy on a different PC than the original, you usually have to reactivate via phone. The enforcement is the same with both XP and Vista.
0 Votes
+ -
True on OEM copies
mrjonno 22nd Jan 2007
but not on volume licensing (which was pirated in millions).

Microsoft assume that a very high % of people will steal if they think they can get way with it and guess what they are right.

You dont get shops letting people pay the correct amount without checking for the bread or the tv (yes i know there are a few but they are very closely monitored)
0 Votes
+ -
not necessarily true
Clewin 22nd Jan 2007
If Microsoft keeps their current activation scheme (same as XP), you can call the phone number listed on the activation screen and get it re-registered - you just can't electronically activate it. I had to do this when I had a series of IBM Deskstar (aka Deathstar) failures a few years ago and I'm sure plenty of OCers have needed to do the same. They asked me if I'd installed it on multiple machines or if I thought my license was pirated and I said no and explained what happened, then they told me they had re-enabled my key. Incidentally, they re-enabled it completely because not long afterward the drive got accidentally wiped (which was partially due to a bug in the installer for Microsoft Windows XP Pro that installed on the wrong disk after I changed it to a different one, so I woulda given them an earful if I had to call in again).
0 Votes
+ -
home volume license only on ultimate
Clewin 22nd Jan 2007
I don't think the Ultimate edition is worth the money, but looking at the requirements, my XP Pro is only upgrade-able to Ultimate (for $139), so if I do it, my hand is forced on which one I get (it's $199 for Home Basic to Ultimate and $159 from Home Premium to Ultimate). Since my hand is forced, I'll probably use Microsoft's volume licensing "deal" (scam) to upgrade my other two XP Home machines to Home Premium for $50 each (which almost offsets the cost of going to Ultimate, but only if you have 1 pro box and 2 Home edition boxes). My house is probably a bit more unusual than most, as I have 6 computers (2 windows, 1 windows/linux dual boot, 2 linux (web/build servers), and 1 mac).

here's the "deal"
a) buy or upgrade to a retail copy of Windows Vista Ultimate
b) buy up to 2 copies of Windows Vista Home Premium at the special price of $49.99 each.
offer is Jan 30 - June 30

the problem with that deal is most people don't have a pro box lying around, and if they have 3 home boxes, they probably don't want/need Ultimate and will save a lot more by just buying 3 licenses of Home Premium.
0 Votes
+ -
Need XP Pro-Home Premium
Bill Ward 23rd Jan 2007
While I can use Ultimate on one of my machines at home, I have XP Pro at home because XP Home was weak when I bought my XP copies (back pre XP-SP1). I only want ONE Ultimate, and even that is only because MS took out MS Fax from the Home editions, ultimately. I need at least four licenses, maybe five (depending on whether I upgrade the laptop).

I want Home Premium for the rest of my machines... which I can't go to because there is no XP Pro->Home Premium option. So, instead, I'll stay on XP instead of migrating to Vista... way to shoot yourself in the foot, Microsoft.
0 Votes
+ -
Contributr
Actually, you should qualify
Ed Bott 23rd Jan 2007
You qualify for upgrade pricing in going from XP Pro to Vista Home Premium. The only caveat is that you can't do an in-place upgrade. You need to back up everything and do a clean install.

This makes sense if you think about it. Because the domain networking features are in XP Pro but are not in Vista Home Premium, you would wind up having to remove features to do an in-place upgrade.

If you're seeing something different, post a link and I;ll check it out.
0 Votes
+ -
"upgrade..... from XP Pro to Vista Home Premium"?
Ole Man 23rd Jan 2007
You mean DOWNGRADE, don't you?

"domain networking features are in XP Pro
but are not in Vista Home Premium"

SOUNDS LIKE A DOWNGRADE TO ME!
0 Votes
+ -
Clean Install
martin23 23rd Jan 2007
I am surprised Ed that you've not commented adversely on the need to "back up everything and do a clean install". Just because Microsoft have changed the way they treat network domains. Makes you wonder why it works in Ultimate - a version that will also mostly sell to home users - but not the cheaper versions.

You would have though that Microsoft might have been able to automate the domain feature so people would not have to re install all their software find all their licence keys reactivate their applications re install their updates and then reload all their data (Microsoft claim if you buy Ultimate no re installation is needed). But then I have no idea why the amount of re installation you have to do in the Business version is also determined by your choice of including Windows Media Player or not!

All in all for most people upgrading with a clean installation is going to be a pain. Perhaps its a good job you never suggested in your Mythbusters that upgrades would be simple.
0 Votes
+ -
Complete re-install is a good thing ...
chekmarx@... 24th Jan 2007
IMO

Upgrading from XP (either flavor) to Vista (any flavor) is best done by wiping the drive and rebuilding everything from scratch.

PITA? Absolutely, but well worth it for a major upgrade like what's being discussed here.
Otherwise you end up carrying over a bunch of crud-n-crap from the upgraded version of Windows.

chekmarx
0 Votes
+ -
You miss the point
martin23 24th Jan 2007
It may be that if you upgrade your machine without completely reinstalling you may get rid of some crud and crap left on your machine . But you may also loose some important files of have lost the disc for your key application if you have to delete everything. The post installation restore of your data will also probably mean all that crud and crap will come back onto the machine.

The problem I have is that Microsoft seem to be being less than honest about why people need to reload files and applications. It should be the users choice as it has been in the past from Windows 3 onwards (maybe you could even upgrade from 2.1 but I don't remember), as it is with most OS's to decide if the want a clean install or an upgrade.

If its not technically possible to keep files and applications the same should hold true for all versions of Vista. But if you pay Microsoft enough money and buy Ultimate it does not require you to reload files or applications.

Ed's argument for the Home version needing clean install because the domains concept has been removed from the home network does not hold water. A) it would not be a complex thing for Microsoft to write code to handle this issue automatically requiring the user to make simple changes at the end of the install process B) changing domains has no impact on user data on the machine or its applications its only the Windows environment itself that's affected.

The one that seems very odd is the business version which has different reload requirements dependant upon whether you order Vista with or without Media player, an option that the courts mandated be offered by Microsoft in Europe but which few people sell. As far as I can tell making people reload their applications because they choose Real Player is just someone at Microsoft playing games, there is no technical basis for the differentiation in requirements.
0 Votes
+ -
Ultimate pricing ...
mwagner@... 24th Jan 2007
... is still unreasonable in my mind. Becasue of the growing number of multiple computer households, it makes perfect sense to me to charge a significant premium for Ultimate if (and only if) included are one or two additional licenses of Vista Home (maybe two Home Basic Licenses, or one Home Premium license -- user's choice.)

If Microsoft wants people to upgrade to Ultimate, they have to make it worthwhile for users to do so ad I think that it is inreasonable for MS to force owners of multiple computers to have to buy three new OS upgrades (or threee new computers) at once.

By any measure, $100 for a Vista Home Basic upgrade is reasonable but $260 for an upgrade to Ultimate does not strike me a reasonable.
0 Votes
+ -
A Rip-off At Half The Price
Ole Man 26th Jan 2007
I wouldn't pay half as much for it as I did
for Linux......$0.00.
Might think about it if they got rid of the
activation crap and the DRM, but hey!, there
wouldn't be anything left. Should be free
like Linux then, or maybe a paid OS (they
pay me to use it).

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/12/a_cost_analysis.html

http://www.pcprofile.com/Hasta_La_Vista.pdf

p://www.channelinsider.com/article/Compatibility+Concerns+Hinder+Vista+Upgrades+IT+Pros+Say/199391_1.aspx?kc=CITCIEMNL012507STR1

http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html
0 Votes
+ -
BIG UPDATE - ERROR
intrepi@... 27th Jan 2007
Since posting this, I have made an error in regards to Vista's Upgrading & Activation. Apparently, Microsoft has relented, recanted and changed their limits on activation with respect to Vista. They have decided, due to so many negative responses, that they will not restrict Vista activation or the licensing to 1 physical computer. The NEW provisions make Vista's activation and upgrading remain the same as Windows XP so for those that are considering upgrading their computers, need not worry about license or activation restrictions providing they install their licensed version of Vista to ! physical computer and uninstall Vista on any previous computer or hard drive prior to reinstalling Vista. Sorry, for the error, my apology to one and all.......... intrepi

Join the conversation!

Formatting +
BB Codes - Note: HTML is not supported in forums
  • [b] Bold [/b]
  • [i] Italic [/i]
  • [u] Underline [/u]
  • [s] Strikethrough [/s]
  • [q] "Quote" [/q]
  • [ol][*] 1. Ordered List [/ol]
  • [ul][*] · Unordered List [/ul]
  • [pre] Preformat [/pre]
  • [quote] "Blockquote" [/quote]
ie8 fix
ie8 fix

The best of ZDNet, delivered

ZDNet Newsletters

Get the best of ZDNet delivered straight to your inbox

Facebook Activity

Blog Roll

Blog Archive

White Papers, Webcasts, & Resources
ie8 fix
ie8 fix