It’s free – it came with my computer
Love them or hate them Microsoft are effective in business. One of their methods of peddling their product is to ensure that all dealers supply their product by default and bully the dealer if they try to supply a competitors product. When Dell hinted that they would offer their shoppers a choice of operating system, Microsoft weighed in with threats that they would increase their price to Dell. Dell gets a favourable OEM price from Microsoft and any increase would impact the prices of all their products. I’ve seen enough gangster movies to recognise this behaviour.
I tend to buy hardware from a UK supplier called Novatech as I can purchase hardware without an operating system pre-installed. This suits me as I can install Ubuntu or whatever Gnu/Linux flavour I am currently using. Other users have successfully claimed a refund of the Windows Tax. While checking prices on Novatech this week I noticed the prices of Windows. They provide a price for the laptop without an operating system but provide a drop-down menu for those who wish to purchase the laptop with an operating system. This menu gives some indications of the cost of Windows 7.
The figures below show how much it costs to have Windows 7 included with your laptop/desktop:
| Windows 7 Version | Price | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Home | £90.00 | Win7 Operating System without WinXP mode or ability to join domain |
| Professional | £120.00 | Has XP mode and can join domains, network backup and restore |
| Ultimate | £150.00 | Bitlocker, language switching |
Features obtained from: differences in Windows 7 versions.
Somewhat annoyingly companies are pushed to purchase at least the Professional version to avail of joining to a domain (for which they have already paid the license fee for a Windows server). Same Windows with features unlocked? I would compare this to buying a performance car and having to pay a premium to have a speed limiter removed. For the Ultimate experience you can pay two-thirds again for the ability to encrypt disks with BitLocker.
Next, the prices to add Office 2010 to your laptop:
| Office 2010 Version | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| Home/Business | £170.00 | |
| Home/Student | £75.00 | |
| Professional | £249.00 |
Of course, students get MS Office on the cheap to ensure they develop an addiction and the price can be pushed up later.
Choice
So if you buy from a supplier who includes Windows 7 by default and hides these additional costs from you, you can end up paying one-third to two-thirds more for your fix of MS software. For me this is an issue of choice. Surely capitalism should encourage competition and choice? The only choice you can exercise in this case is to purchase from a supplier (such as Novatech) who supplies without an operating system. You are then free to install an operating system such as Ubuntu Linux/Linux Mint which already come with office productivity software (LibreOffice) and for a price tag of zero. This is the only choice you get while you wait for competition authorities to get up off their asses.
