Microsoft Cutting Windows OEM Licensing Fees by 70 Percent

With this and the new intel chips $99 x86 tablets for everyone!
 
I would imagine less than $500 would be a bit too much of a reduction at $15, but they could also do a tiered model to say $30 for the $250 - $500 range if they wanted. My guess is that large OEMs like Dell weren't paying $50 a device anyway so this probably doesn't effect a huge portion of their business.
 
I bought my Lenovo Miix 2 for 249 which was good drop that to 199 or better and its a steal.

Hands down best tablet I've owned between the iPad mini and both gen one and two nexus 7.

Full windows 8.1 is awesome to have in a small powerful device.
 
HisSvt76 said:
I bought my Lenovo Miix 2 for 249 which was good drop that to 199 or better and its a steal.
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Just because it's cheaper to make doesn't mean you're going to see devices get cheaper. I'd love to think this is going to take $35 off the price of a device, but in reality, it will most likely just put more cash in the manufacturers pockets, which I don't necessarily have a problem with. If you can increase the margins on lower cost devices, that means we'll see more of them, possibly at a bit better quality.
 
MS is losing the battle all jump ship :)

The only way MS is going to survive or grab marketshare on tablets it has to be free :) and even that is a hail Mary...
 
I see an opening for a stripped down (tiny drive and only 2gb ram but with a decent CPU) for $249. Upgrade the drive and add your own memory.
 
elzeus said:
With this and the new intel chips $99 x86 tablets for everyone!
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No thanks if I want a locked down walled off tablet with no customizability I'll just get an iPad that at least has apps and doesnt look like the order screen used by fast food employees
 
Demon10000 said:
Just because it's cheaper to make doesn't mean you're going to see devices get cheaper. I'd love to think this is going to take $35 off the price of a device, but in reality, it will most likely just put more cash in the manufacturers pockets, which I don't necessarily have a problem with. If you can increase the margins on lower cost devices, that means we'll see more of them, possibly at a bit better quality.
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I think there is sufficient competition in this marketplace for that to not be a concern.

The only lack of competition before was in OS licensing costs, because Microsoft has a virtual monopoly, so I would certainly expect reduced costs across the board to make it to the consumer.
 
DPI said:
No thanks if I want a locked down walled off tablet with no customizability I'll just get an iPad that at least has apps and doesnt look like the order screen used by fast food employees
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? an x86 tablet would run full windows 8.1 not boxed in by ARM limitations...In other words it's a full version of windows that you can install what you want software wise. I don't think you understand his premise.
 
Demon10000 said:
Just because it's cheaper to make doesn't mean you're going to see devices get cheaper. I'd love to think this is going to take $35 off the price of a device, but in reality, it will most likely just put more cash in the manufacturers pockets, which I don't necessarily have a problem with. If you can increase the margins on lower cost devices, that means we'll see more of them, possibly at a bit better quality.
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Exactly what I was gonna say.

Also, they should cut 70 percent off for all Windows OEM copies, such as the kind off Newegg :D
 
Ducman69 said:
Or the task bar turns into an ad-bar, ROFLMAO!
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They could, release windows home premium as a base OS then you have to pay one time fee ie normal cost of their os, to remove ads that appear in say spaces in explorer or the desktop background. Expand their ad network and overtake google in that realm.
 
MS needs to take a page out of Google's book on this one and pick a third party like Asus to make their own "Nexus" style tablet and phone to give a fast, cheap option to the public that would help get their tech into peoples' hands.
Cutting the license fee when you can get an Android tablet that does everything most users want cheaper and faster isn't going to make more people manufacture MS products, they need to carve out a market and MAKE demand.
 
so let me get this straight. if you make a piece of crap machine, microsoft will sell you software at 70% off. If you make a decent machine( $500-1000 ). you have to pay full price. way to incentivise Microsoft.
 
OEM licensing differences in costs have always been BS to me. Is it really only $50 that they pay? Why does MS do something as stupid as charge loyal followers that upgrade or build their own PCs 2-4x the price. These are their best customers, the ones who don't cause trouble, fix their own shit etc.... And you go and screw them over on price.
 
rudy said:
OEM licensing differences in costs have always been BS to me. Is it really only $50 that they pay? Why does MS do something as stupid as charge loyal followers that upgrade or build their own PCs 2-4x the price. These are their best customers, the ones who don't cause trouble, fix their own shit etc.... And you go and screw them over on price.
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I used to build and sell back in the Win98 Win2000 days and I could get my OEMs as low as $10 in bulk if I wanted them under the terms of it being a "trial OS without an expiration date for the express purpose of learning."
There's ways around everything to get software cheaper.
 
SGA76 said:
I used to build and sell back in the Win98 Win2000 days and I could get my OEMs as low as $10 in bulk if I wanted them under the terms of it being a "trial OS without an expiration date for the express purpose of learning."
There's ways around everything to get software cheaper.
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I am not talking about a loop hole
 
Fooshnik said:
This is what happens when you have a product few people want.
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This is what happens when you build a solid product and people become jealous of their success. :D Microsoft thread comes out: MS Haters come out from under their rocks frothing at the mouth. :rolleyes:

What they are doing is called business and I am all for it. Unlike the other competitors tablets which are just throw away toys after a couple of years. Thankfully, [H] does not represent the majority of consumers nor are any of you successfully multi billionaires let alone multi millionaires.

Oh, and check again, the low end Windows devices are far better than most of the low end Android devices. Apple? Nothing there at all.
 
rudy said:
OEM licensing differences in costs have always been BS to me. Is it really only $50 that they pay? Why does MS do something as stupid as charge loyal followers that upgrade or build their own PCs 2-4x the price. These are their best customers, the ones who don't cause trouble, fix their own shit etc.... And you go and screw them over on price.
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Microsoft did provide a low cost upgrade path to existing customers at the launch of 7 and 8, but the upgrade market is much smaller than the new PC market and I doubt that lower permanent pricing would sell enough to make for the lower price.
 
Microsoft would be wise to get out of "devices" altogether, imo. I've often wondered how many people bought a cheap Chrome OS tablet thinking it ran Windows....;) More than I would likely believe possible, I'll wager--especially among n00bs looking for a good deal.

I don't buy or rate an OS based on what it costs--I rate it on how much 3rd-party software and hardware it supports, because that's what makes it useful. To me, anyway. At the moment, that means there is still no better deal than Windows--nobody else comes close.

Android? Ugh--from a security standpoint alone that would be like dropping back to Win95. Even free it's not cheap enough for me--very much like a Linux derivative. I guess giving the stuff away is the closest they can come to actually paying people to use the software...;)
 
heatlesssun said:
Microsoft did provide a low cost upgrade path to existing customers at the launch of 7 and 8, but the upgrade market is much smaller than the new PC market and I doubt that lower permanent pricing would sell enough to make for the lower price.
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Yes, because unlike Apple with the Mac, Microsoft doesn't require you to buy a Microsoft PC that acts as a giant hardware dongle to the OS...;) I feel sorry, sincerely, for the folks deluded enough to believe they are actually *paying less* for OS X than Microsoft charges for Windows. They have forgotten the OS X dongle--wherein the OS X premium runs from ~$200-$3,000, depending on which Mac a person buys!
 
WaltC said:
Yes, because unlike Apple with the Mac, Microsoft doesn't require you to buy a Microsoft PC that acts as a giant hardware dongle to the OS...;) I feel sorry, sincerely, for the folks deluded enough to believe they are actually *paying less* for OS X than Microsoft charges for Windows. They have forgotten the OS X dongle--wherein the OS X premium runs from ~$200-$3,000, depending on which Mac a person buys!
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Apple makes it's money on hardware sales and I imagine that if OS X officially support any x86 hardware that there would be a charge associated with it.
 
So Microsoft has finally acknowledged 8.1 Update 1 and the new pricing:

http://www.neowin.net/news/spring-update-for-windows-81-announced
http://www.neowin.net/news/confirmed-microsoft-to-cut-the-cost-of-windows-81-for-low-end-devices

Very interesting that 8.1 Update 1 is now officially supported with as little as 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage. It looks like Microsoft is taking aim at Android and even Chromebooks as now Windows should be able to run on the same hardware as many Chromebooks with on a slight increase in cost, though it will be intesting to see how well Windows 8.1 Update 1 runs on a 1GB/16GB device.
 
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