Microsoft Cuts Price for Boxed Vista

Excite News ^ | Feb 29, 2008 | JESSICA MINTZ

[raybbr]

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) will cut the price of some versions of Windows Vista, the software maker said late Thursday.

The move came a day after court filings revealed internal dissent over which Windows XP computers would be considered capable of running the new operating system - and a feeling on at least one executive's part that the company had "botched" the marketing of computers as "Vista Capable."

Only copies of the year-old operating system that are sold in boxes directly to consumers are affected by the price cuts - not the versions pre-loaded on personal computers. The cuts will range from 20 percent to 48 percent.

The reductions are to coincide with the late March release of Vista Service Pack 1, a collection of security fixes and other improvements.

Microsoft said the new prices will apply to the Home Premium and Ultimate versions of Vista, in both their full editions and the editions that upgrade an older or more basic operating system.

Both versions serve the tiny percentage of users who install an operating system on their own; most people get the latest version of Windows only when they buy a new PC.

Windows Vista's January 2007 launch was plagued by delays. To keep consumers buying PCs in the holiday season of 2006, Microsoft and PC makers promised free Vista upgrades later to shoppers who bought Windows XP computers.

At the launch, Microsoft was widely criticized for offering too many versions of the operating system - including Home Basic, which didn't have the snazzy new signature look called "Aero" - and for setting the price too high for the high-end versions.

Brad Brooks, a corporate vice president for Windows marketing at Microsoft, said in an interview that the company has since tested lower prices and found "product was moving much, much faster."

Brooks said he expects so many customers to buy Vista at the new prices that the price cuts will increase Microsoft's revenue, not subtract from it.

A federal judge recently said consumers could pursue a class action suit against Microsoft for labeling PCs as "Vista Capable," even though many were not powerful enough to run all of Vista's features, including the Aero interface.

Company e-mails produced in court chronicle Microsoft settling on a plan to market a wide range of XP-based PCs as "Vista Capable" after company officials realized in early 2006 that 30 percent or fewer of computers on the market could run the full-fledged version of Vista with Aero.

That realization apparently caused computer makers like Dell Inc. (DELL) to worry that people would stop buying PCs for almost a year - until Vista launched.

The e-mails also showed Microsoft lowering the bar for "Vista Capable" to protect Intel Corp. (INTC)'s sales of some widely used chips that weren't powerful enough for the full Vista experience.

Microsoft employee Anantha Kancherla was particularly blunt in his March 2006 response to a question about whether a certain PC configuration would be considered "Vista Capable."

"Based on objective criteria that exist today for "capable," even a piece of junk will qualify," he wrote. "For the sake of Vista customers, it will be a complete tragedy if we allowed it."

According to the e-mails, Jim Allchin, the executive in charge of Windows at the time, wasn't involved in the decision to brand a wide swath of XP computers as "Vista Capable."

Upon learning the details, Allchin wrote, "We really botched this."

[Not A Snowbird]

I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. Vista works fine for me.

[Cold Heat]

As to static IP, I have only used one when all else fails. It takes some set up work, and there is always something to forget and it won't tell you what.

Dynamic at least keeps trying through the range until it gets a reply.

Do you by any chance have zone alarm? It can block your hookup by denying it. It will do so unless you tell it not to sometimes.

[roamer_1]

Yeah, that's about the time it takes for the router default timer to time out.

Yes, but assigning a fixed IP to the wireless card (as I did, temporarily) removes any lease issues, as DHCP is no longer used. It could have something to do with the encryption, though AFAIR, I had taken encryption completely off line, which also didn't seem to help.

My ACER came with a suite of programs called Empowering technology.

A good idea. My Acer 5570z came with the same- and a great utility suite, too. But I like a lean box, and had eliminated this and many more items from startup. I will let it crank up and see if it likes the nic any better... though I doubt it. As I said, network problems happen quite a bit with Vista.

This time I went from the standard 16bit security to the 26 digit 128 bit WEP and the problem miraculously went away.

Already running WPA(p). Changed encryption to no effect. It isn't the router. I have used several known good routers to no avail. It is Vista.

[RachelFaith]

I wouldn’t use PISTA if they gave it away !

[Cold Heat]

I now have something to relate that might help. I did the same thing you did and dumped empowering tech when I first unboxed the ACER. I could not get it to hook up to the network, and there were some other things not working, and a occasional lockup.

I called ACER and they guided me through the fresh install process from the backup OS. It replaced everything. After that, It hooked up and things were running great. That empowering stuff must leave some residue, perhaps registry, or setting...I dunno. I never took it out again, and it does not use a lot of resources and has some nifty features that I occasionally use.

There is a way to find it in the backup OS listing. I can't recall though, if it as it's own install program. You can get it off the website as well. That works too, but I opted for the clean reinstall. This was over a year ago, so it must have worked.....:-)

[Knitebane]

Intel decided not to bother producing a WDDM video driver for the chipset, probably because they felt it wouldn't perform well enough to be worth the effort.

Ummm, no.

Intel produced a WDDM video driver for Vista. Then Microsoft changed the spec and refused to certify it.

Bait and switch.

[ShadowAce]

Sorry for the delay folks--my eldest is involved with FIRST Robotics and today was the first day of the regional competition. Tomorrow will be just as long, I fear....

[KoRn]

" Sorry for the delay folks--my eldest is involved with FIRST Robotics and today was the first day of the regional competition."

Congratulations Ace!! I'm sure you must be proud. I hope my kids, or at least some of them turn out to be fellow geeks. Some already seem promising as they already fight over the computer at such young ages, and tend to be fascinated by all things having to do with technology.

[CutePuppy]

At some point one of the video file extensions got linked to installed and later removed STUDIO.EXE. It’s easy to check and fix - check your WIN.INI file in \WINDOWS folder for “STUDIO.EXE” under “[Extensions]” section, and check your registry for video extensions (.WMV, .MPG, .MPEG etc.) that are linked to STUDIO.EXE and replace it with your favorite video player.

Another way to do it is to tell your video player to associate itself with these extensions (most usually ask this during install, but have the option to do it later) - it should do the above by itself.

Hope it helps.

[webschooner]

I just bought new brand new, very fast machines with Win XP factory installed, from Dell Outlet at bargain prices. And they even shipped the OS disks with the machines without me having to hassle them! We’ve had two machines with XP for years and have never had one problem with them, so we are now set for another 5-6 years.

I will be completely bypassing the “Visduh experience” over the next few years. It’ll be like driving through a war zone, but in my safe armored vehicle, LOL.

[Clara Lou]

I wouldn’t touch it with a 10 ft. pole at any price.

[ovrtaxt]

lol soon to turn up at a thrift store or Dollar General near you...

[amigatec]

But the funny part about, I was using an old P100 with a Linux Firewall OS on it for the router and as soon as I changed to the Linksys, the vista box stopped working.

[Caipirabob]

Will this “Vista” thing work in my VIC-20?

No, but it will make your Pentium 4 into one.

Worth reading the thread for right there - LOL!

[Gorzaloon]

You’ve got it. Most bad Vista experiences seem to come down to inadequate hardware. Give it 2GB RAM, a processor with a decent L2 cache and a good graphics card (less than $100 gets you enough bang for the buck) and it runs just fine.

In fairnes to Vista (grudgingly) I have seen quite a few problems with Toshiba Laptops sold by places like Best Buy, etc. that had FAR insufficient resources to run Vista. The machines barely booted. In one case, there was 512 Megs of RAM. I happen to like the Toshiba laptops, and we have a couple..it was not the computer, it was not the OS..it was the retailer's Special Great Deal.

In all cases, the computers were returned, and the people demanded XP or a refund. They got the refund because the "McDonald's" employees could not possibly have downgraded them, even if MS' license agreementss allowed it.

[Still Thinking]

At least in the old days when you got AOL floppies free in the mail, you could reformat and use the floppies.

[raybbr]

Will this “Vista” thing work in my VIC-20?
No, but it will make your Pentium 4 into one.

I don't care who you are. That's funny.

[antiRepublicrat]

If you read the letters, you see even Microsoft people are saying they got screwed by “Vista Capable.”

[Noumenon]

There’s a special place in Dante’s Inferno for Best Buy computer sales personnel. Eigth ditch, third bolgia. Best Buy is one of those needs must / need it right this second places. Otherwise, I avoid it like the plague.

[TChris]

Upon learning the details, Allchin wrote, "We really botched this."

Yes, much the same way in which the crew of the Titanic "really botched" it.

Bureaucracy kills good things.