And then I got to the price. . .
$200 for "Home Premium," and $319 for "Ultimate?" Seriously, Microsoft?? SERIOUSLY?!?
THE VERY NEXT DAY, It was announced that the much-vaunted Windows 7 "Genuine" software protection had been cracked and beaten. Curious, I tried it out and it worked like a charm. So potentially, my out-of-pocket cost (along with millions of others) for Windows 7 is absolutely $0. Fortunately for Microsoft, I'm a Mac user, so it's irrelevant in my case.
But it got me thinking about the constant back-and-forth battle between Microsoft and the countless software hackers out there trying to beat their "Genuine" software protection. It's been going on since the days of Windows 95, and it looks like it's never going to end. Fortunately, I have a solution:
The way for Microsoft to virtually eliminate all this back-and-forth with hacks, cracks, patches and updates is to. . . are you ready for this. . . LOWER THE FRAKING PRICE!
I gladly shell out $129 for a single copy of Mac OS X Leopard (or $199 for a 5-pack) because it's so inexpensive! And that's not some "upgrade" copy either - it's the FULL VERSION.
How about $149 for a single copy of "Home Premium," give us a break and say $199 for a 5-license pack, and perhaps $249 for the "Ultimate" edition? You already own 90% of the home and business computer market, and by lowering your prices you allow more people to legally purchase your products. And don't even get me started on the "umpteen" different versions of Windows you're putting out there to artificially segment the market: Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise, Ultimate, "E" edition (now replaced by a version that lets you pick your web browser to satisfy European Union regulators), Smack Yo' Mama Edition, Nerd Edition and the always fun Pimped Out Edition.
Sure, there will always be a very small minority who insist on having things for free, and there will always be hackers out there who do it for fun, but if you stop TREATING people like criminals, maybe they'll stop ACTING like criminals.
And think of how much smoother and faster Windows would be without all the crap you've stuffed in to look for hacked copies and keys?
Will you, Microsoft, take my suggestion and make it into reality? Probably not. And so the battle continues, with me looking on from the distance as I happily pull out my debit card and pay the $30 upgrade fee for Apple's "Snow Leopard," making my entire out-of-pocket cost for Apple's latest and greatest OS a whopping $159. And it's all legal.
