[Halfmanhalfamazing]

.........That all be true without it being true that Linux is taking over the low end........

Of course, of course.

The issue here surrounds price. a 100 or 200 dollar computer with a 300 dollar operating system on it just doesn’t make economic sense.

And yes, there’s a huge market out there for 200 dollar computers.

So it goes like this:

“yes, you can get a very cheap and inexpensive computer that has a ton of software on it to get all kinds of work done. granted, none of that software is anything you’ve heard of but the productivity is the important part. They all run linux, but linux has matured to a point to where you don’t need to know a thing about it. Just turn it on and use it.”

The question is ‘what’s the low end’. it’s 100 to 200 dollar computers. microsoft simply can’t exist on these for purely economic reasons. And btw, linux is easy to use.

[gondramB]

>>The issue here surrounds price. a 100 or 200 dollar computer with a 300 dollar operating system on it just doesn’t make economic sense.

And yes, there’s a huge market out there for 200 dollar computers.<<

Where the cost is that high is for individuals who custom build, Apple users who want to add Windows or people who buy a version of Windows and want to upgrade - Microsoft quoted me $200+ to upgrade a Vista home PC to Vista Premium...

And yet Dell has Windows PC every day from $329 and almost always has a model on sale between $259 and $299. It happens to be $279 today.
Dell Desktops

It looks like large manufacturers pay between $25 and $35 for Windows but apparently that is enough as Microsoft gets between 60% and 70% of their revenue from new PC sales. I think the high retail Windows pricing is a payback the big PC companies to keep people from upgrading older machines and thus not buying new ones. Microsoft and Dell/HP/Lenovo etc like a 2-4 year replacement cycle and they all work to keep that happening.

Vista sales and new PC sales are strong and thus the only reason Vista is a disappointment to Microsoft is that it was late to market. If it sux then they will just sell more of the next operating system.