Dell now charging $150 for XP "upgrade" (formerly $99)

[Force Flow]

For a long while now, dell has been charging an additional $99 for an XP "upgrade" on their machines. Now for whatever reason, they bumped that up to $150.

http://www.obsessable.com/news/2008/...-a-price-hike/


I just checked a few models on their site, and it is indeed the case.

[shadowpr]

Damn.

[Petef56]

Sounds like the demand for XP is still very high.
High demand usually translates to higher prices.

I also wouldn't be surprized if Microsoft was somehow behind this price increase.

---pete---

[windsleeper]

Despite having built my last system, I decided to make my next buy a Dell with XP installed just to save myself some time. I got so fed up with the limits on what models could have XP and the stupidly increased cost, that I gave up and decided to build again.

I don't mind paying a little more, but I really hate feeling like I am being taken advantage of.

I hope whatever deal they have with MS to hype Vista is worth it, because I'm sure I'm not the only sale they lost due to their lack of XP support.

[EzyStvy]

XP is going away

I still and 3 or 4 shrink wrapped retail copies of XP Pro and hope someday to sell em for several hundred dollars each

[Panama Red]

You can do what I do when a customer wants XP on a Dell. Go to the Dell.com/outlet and look at the business machines. Sort the operating systems to show those with XP Pro with Vista upgrade. That way you get XP Pro installed and it comes with a Vista disk and COA on the case. Plus, buying thru the Outlet store saves you bucks too cuz they're refurbished units.

[Petef56]

Originally Posted by EzyStvy XP is going away I still and 3 or 4 shrink wrapped retail copies of XP Pro and hope someday to sell em for several hundred dollars each

It might be some time before XP becomes extinct. With the current state of the economy, people are choosing to repair their old XP computers as opposed to buying a new one. Plus the fact that Vista is generally not accepted by so many consumers. I believe XP will become extinct after all those old computers either die or become so obsolete that they won't run most off the shelf software or peripherials.

Right now I hear that XP holds about 78% of the XP/Vista market.
My guess is that XP will still be quite popular for a few more years.

See chart.. Windows OS market share
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows

68.11 % XP = 78%
19.29 % Vista = 22%
---------
87.40 Total


---pete---

[glc]

You can still buy obsolete Microsoft operating systems. The only thing I'm worried about is if they shut down their activation servers.

[Petef56]

Originally Posted by glc You can still buy obsolete Microsoft operating systems. The only thing I'm worried about is if they shut down their activation servers.

I don't think we need to worry about the activation servers being
shut down unless MS goes out of business. MS will be forced to
support their customers if they intend to keep them. If the
economy is so bad that people can't afford to buy new PCs with
the next OS and a large percentage of people are still on XP, then
MS will keep those activation servers working for fear that they'd
lose millions of customers.

On the other hand, if the percentage of XP users falls to very low
percentages, I'm pretty sure we won't want to be using XP at
that point in time. This is why I'm not too concerned about MS
shutting down support or the activation servers for XP.

Long Live Windows XP!

---pete---

[juppy]

Originally Posted by Petef56 MS will be forced to support their customers if they intend to keep them. If the economy is so bad that people can't afford to buy new PCs with the next OS and a large percentage of people are still on XP, then MS will keep those activation servers working for fear that they'd lose millions of customers.

I have to respectfully disagree with you on that, because I don't think companies worry about losing too many customers, especially when they're one of the "big" providers.

Case in point....I have a 1985 Ford Mustang GT as my car. One day a few years ago, it started running kinda rough. Mechanic diagnosed it as being this little silver box with a circuit board in it, behind the passenger side kick panel that had gone bad. We tried the jobber shops, they couldn't get it, said "Try Ford". Tried our Ford dealer and they said "Nope, Ford don't make that part any more....it's too old." Too old??!! I replied that my car wasn't going to run worth a darn without this thing and asked him what I was supposed to do. His reply? "Uh....buy a new car?". Yeah, right! Buy a whole new car because Ford stopped making an $80 controller box? I don't think so! After searching salvage yards, the third one finally found ONE used one that he could get out of Illinois for me. So we got that one and the car's still running.

So apparently Ford wasn't too worried about losing me as a customer. They were more interested in forcing me to buy a new car by ceasing to make replacement parts for my current one. Somehow, I don't think Microsoft is above this practice either.

Plus, you have to take into account that for however many customers they lose, they're going to gain customers that are ticked off at a competing company because that company did the same thing to their customers. Kinda like Directv and Dish Network. People get mad and Dish, so they switch to Directv. At the same time, Directv ticked off somebody and that person ends up at Dish Network. Customers just go in circles between companies. As always, just my 2 cents.

[Patch]

This is the ideal environment for Microsoft.

Think about it. Here are the only ways MS can't make money from a particular computer user:
1) She gets a new build and puts Linux on it. (Still a chance she'll dual boot with windows).
2) She buys a Mac. (Still a chance she'll dual boot with windows).
3) She keeps her current Windows computer and doesn't upgrade the OS.

On the other hand, every time someone buys, builds or upgrades with Windows they sell an OS. They don't really care if they sell you XP or Vista. In fact, if they sell you XP odds are you'll upgrade to Vista in the next few years. Now they've sold you 2. Then, you'll finally let go of 32 bit and they'll sell you 64 bit. Wow, 3 OS's in just 3 years? Cha ching! That's why they won't make Windows 7 just come in 64 bit. Why just sell you one OS when they might be able to sell you two?

They don't want to sell you the "perfect" OS. That would be shooting themselves in the foot. Constant upgrades are their lifeblood. If you use the same OS for 10 years they won't make any money off you for 10 years.

I'm not complaining. They are in business to make money. In fact, as a consumer I much prefer this business model to the alternatives.

Why? Because here are the alternatives:
1) Charge a monthly or annual "user" fee to keep using the "perfect" OS with constant upgrades "included". Yuck.
2) Sell access to the OS in ways that the user is forced to only use officially "sanctioned" hardware and software. Hmm......isn't that going on somewhere?
3) Have governments supply us with universal OS's as our "right" as citizens....

No thank you. I prefer that Microsoft constantly try to find ways to convince me to upgrade and switch.

[Petef56]

Originally Posted by juppy I have to respectfully disagree with you on that, because I don't think companies worry about losing too many customers, especially when they're one of the "big" providers. Case in point....I have a 1985 Ford Mustang GT as my car....

One of the major points in my post has to do with the power of consumers in large numbers. MS will be forced to support XP as long as the number of XP users is a substantial percentage of MS customers.

In your case, as a 1985 vehicle owner, you do not represent a large percentage of Ford's custromer base so it makes sense that don't respond to your needs. Power comes in numbers. If you had contacted Ford posing as the president of a Ford classic car club which had a few hundred thousand members, you might expect to get some response.

See my point?
Consumers have great power in large groups.

---pete---

[Valdeam]

Wow... $150 is unacceptable.

I bought a machine for my mother not too long ago and paid the $99 and was even pissed about that.

Valdeam

[glc]

If it's unacceptable, deal with Vista or buy XP yourself and install it. You can still buy XP Home OEM for about 90 bucks, just make sure XP drivers are available for the computer.

[EzyStvy]

Or build it yourself and see what it costs to order both softwares at the same time.

[rjfvillarosa]

Originally Posted by juppy Case in point....I have a 1985 Ford Mustang GT as my car.

juppy. If you find yourself stuck for a part again give these guys a try www.rockauto.com I have found some really obscure parts on this site, plus, they even answer the phone, and on a Saturday afternoon as well......

sorry FF not trying to highjack your thread honest...

[juppy]

Originally Posted by Petef56 In your case, as a 1985 vehicle owner, you do not represent a large percentage of Ford's custromer base so it makes sense that don't respond to your needs. Power comes in numbers.

Apparently you're not aware of just how many Mustangs are out there. The Mustang and the F-150 have always been two of Ford's top sellers, so to say it doesn't represent the same "large percentage" of their sales is ridiculous. The point was to relate how a company *can* quit supporting their product. They are not *forced* to support anything just because alot of people own it. And even if you want to stay within the same company.....back in the day a crapload of people owned Windows 95, but, uh, last time I checked, Mickeysoft had dropped support on that one totally.

rjf > Thanks for that link. I'll be sure to save it, just in case.

[glc]

Back in ye olden days when I was in the auto repair business, all the manufacturers had a "10 year" policy. They only supported vehicles 10 years old or less with replacement parts. Anything older was a crapshoot or aftermarket only.

[not important]

Originally Posted by glc Back in ye olden days when I was in the auto repair business, all the manufacturers had a "10 year" policy. They only supported vehicles 10 years old or less with replacement parts. Anything older was a crapshoot or aftermarket only.

I'm still somewhat in the auto repair business and that hasn't changed. Even the better salvage yards are adopting the "10 yr." rule.

[glc]

Even the better salvage yards are adopting the "10 yr." rule.

Anything over 10 years gets crushed?

[juppy]

Originally Posted by glc Anything over 10 years gets crushed?

That's what a salvage yard guy told us back when my mom hit a deer with her '89 Buick and we were trying to find replacement parts for her right headlight assembly. His reasoning wasn't just a "phasing out" type though.....he said with all the plastic and rubber stuff on cars anymore that any car that's been out on their lot over 10 years probably has nothing but brittle plastic parts on it because of the damage from sunshine.

[windsleeper]

Originally Posted by Patch ... They don't want to sell you the "perfect" OS. That would be shooting themselves in the foot. Constant upgrades are their lifeblood. If you use the same OS for 10 years they won't make any money off you for 10 years. ...

Companies that try to make poor products intentionally to screw customers almost invariably go out of business. The reason is that if you don't make the "perfect" product, someone else WILL.

The only reason MS has been able to engage in these types of customer-unfriendly tactics is the dreaded "monopoly".

Even a die-hard MS-hater like me has to make some serious compromises if I want to remove all MS software from my computer. I've gotten rid of IE, outlook, Office, but there's no great substitute for Windows yet. Soon, though.

I think the current recession will create a tidal wave of corporate demand to cut IT spending, which will finally lead to widespread adoption of Linux on the desktop at some major coporations. This may finally get the market penetration necessary for hardware vendors and software developers to make the supporting drivers and popular applications necessary for Mom and Pop to feel comfortable picking up a Linux-installed PC from Walmart, and knowing it will work right out of the box and be supported down the road.

JMO of course.

[not important]

Originally Posted by glc Anything over 10 years gets crushed?

That's been the norm for the larger salvage yards in my area for the last several yrs.

[passn_thru2]

http://www.pcmech.com/article/window...ied-today-rip/

[glc]

I doubt the price will go up. The price has never gone up before on old unsupported versions of Windows, there will be a secondary market for many years.

[Panama Red]

Looks like Dell has dropped the price back to $99. At least that's what I saw while configuring a laptop in the Small Business side of Dell's site. When you think of it, this isn't a bad deal. You get XP Pro installed, a Vista Business coa on the case and the Vista disk to install Vista when you desire.

edit: Well, that $99 is right for the Business area but not for the Home users. The price is still a $150 adder in the Home User area.