Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Apple, Leopard
Columnist: Microsoft could learn from Apple's Family Packs
Newsflash: Microsoft messed up. Yes, I know, that doesn't come as news to most of you (that's why you're here), but Joe Wilcox over at eWeek was surprised by the fact that while Apple's Leopard Family Pack pricing lead to some nice sales numbers, Microsoft instead decided to discontinue their family pack prices. Basically, you could buy OS X 10.5 as a single copy for $129, or a "family pack" (installations for 5 Macs) for $199. And a whopping 33% of Leopard sales were of the family pack version, even though OS X doesn't require any validation at all-- users could just have bought the $129 version and installed it five times.What's the difference? Wilcox says that Apple trusts their customers, and as a result, users who feel the family pack is worth it are willing to pay. Microsoft, on the other hand, demands validation from their users. Wilcox also quotes an analyst (which in this case is Latin for "he who states the obvious") saying that Leopard had a blowout launch, much better than Vista. But that's a big duh, so I won't even bother comparing OS X to Vista-- I'll leave that to the Mac commercials.
What else do you need to know? Clearly, Microsoft is just plain doing it wrong.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Leo said 6:18PM on 12-19-2007
I could have what!!!????
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MacUser said 6:18PM on 12-19-2007
Well, lets see. If MSFT didn't require any validation or even a serial number, they probably would sell even less copies than they do now. OS 10.5 makes up how much of the worlds OS's being used on computers? Probably ~1%. Windows on the other hand is way over 90%. When you have more computers than people on this planet using your product, you have to ensure someway that those using are paying customers.
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MacBookOwner said 6:24PM on 12-19-2007
"you have to ensure someway that those using are paying customers."
Yes. And in Apple's case, its called "trust".
LuminousNerd said 7:53PM on 12-19-2007
You clearly don't know much about the industry at all, or business in general for that matter. First off, Mac OS X inhabits roughly 7% of all computers, way above the numbers you pulled from your ass.
Simply look at the statistics.
1. Microsoft doesn't trust anyone at all, yet far more copies of Windows are pirated than are legally purchased.
2. Apple trusts their customers, and not only is very close to every copy of OS X legit, but people are actually willing to pay MORE for the exact same thing to do things legit, even though there is absolutely nothing stopping them from installing Leopard on multiple machines.
3. Along the same lines, there was a study recently which showed that Mac users are many times more likely to have a legally purchased music collection as opposed to Windows users.
People LIKE to do things legitimately, most people aren't crooks! But when a company mistrusts me so much as to case me inconvenience and troubles at installation time, it encourages me to pirate it since I already have to jump through hoops anyway, and I don't really feel like supporting the company anyway.
Luigi193 said 6:24PM on 12-19-2007
MS is smart for what they do... It wouldn't make any sence to do what the post implyed...
O and I install on multiple computers even though i don't have a family pack... oops... O well.
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Paul said 8:23PM on 12-19-2007
Considering you can't even spell the simplest words it's a miracle you even know how to turn on a computer, let alone install an OS.
Luigi193 said 8:24PM on 12-19-2007
Whats a CoMpuuTr??
I know, I have ATROTIOUS spelling...
Heres a tip me, USE SAFARI'S BUILT IN SPELL CHECKER!!! Genious...
Luigi193 said 8:24PM on 12-19-2007
Whats a CoMpuuTr??
I know, I have ATROTIOUS spelling...
Heres a tip me, USE SAFARI'S BUILT IN SPELL CHECKER!!! Genious...
Luigi193 said 8:25PM on 12-19-2007
Whats a CoMpuuTr??
I know, I have ATROCIOUS spelling...
Heres a tip me, USE SAFARI'S BUILT IN SPELL CHECKER!!! Genius...
That being said... excuse me for not having perfect grammar and spelling on an Internet blog...
Luigi193 said 8:26PM on 12-19-2007
HOLY CRAP!!! So sorry guys...
Its my stupid macbook keyboard, even after the update, it hits random buttons by itself like the return key. It just jumps EVERYWHERE....my bad
Microdot said 6:30PM on 12-19-2007
i could nto disagree with macuser more.
the overwhelming majority of windows sales are oem/on a new computer. retail sales account for a fraction of windows total sales.
you catch more flies with honey.....
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Quine said 9:03PM on 12-19-2007
not to disagree with your statements, but I just had to show this in response to "You catch more flies with honey"
http://www.xkcd.com/357/
Thomas said 6:37PM on 12-19-2007
You might say Apple trust their customers, but at the same time, Apple's customers are trustworthy.
That isn't an insult to Windows users, its just the fact its the default OS. Therefore people buy it because they think they have to.
OS X users have to make a proper decision to go Mac, and therefore this is where the trust starts.
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Alex McKee said 7:08PM on 12-19-2007
I'd high-five you if it was possible.
That's exactly what the situation is, and probably will always be.
Anthony said 7:08PM on 12-19-2007
I switched to OS X from Windows 2000 when I saw the WPA (Windows Product Activation) "feature" of XP. If a company is going to treat me like a criminal then I'm not giving them my $$$.
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LuminousNerd said 7:59PM on 12-19-2007
Here, here!
Battlefront II: I purchased the game, I played it, I had fun. I didn't regret my purchase. Until I went online, started playing for a few hours, and soon found myself kicked from the network and unable to return, saying I had a pirated serial! I took the game back, DEMANDED a refund (it was quite a hassle, they don't refund open software). Went home, pirated the game, have had no problems playing online.
CS3: Had problems about 6 months after purchase, with customer (dis)service telling me I was a pirate and when I insisted I was not, passing me on to tech support which would in turn tell me everything looked fine, and passing me back to customer (dis)service, who would of course tell me I was a pirate. I won't be buying CS4.
PSM said 9:07PM on 12-19-2007
Amen! Dealing with the WPA on XP using Boot Camp and Parallels is an absolute nightmare. Of course Windows gets confused a lot because virtualization makes it think it's running on different hardware. The MS website on this topic gives a dozen different reasons why your installation of Windows has shut down on you, not one of which assumes you're an honest person trying to legitimately use a copy of Windows that you paid for!
WillGonz said 7:23PM on 12-19-2007
The difference is: Microsoft does not make computers. Apple does, so to use the software you have to buy the computer. Apple could sell the software for $50 and they would still make a profit. Look at their server license. $999 for unlimited users. $499 for 10. Which is the better deal? duh $999.
Maybe one day Apple will buy Microsoft and then the frustration would ease.
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Anthony said 10:01PM on 12-19-2007
Maybe you are not aware but Microsoft gets money from hardware sold by multiple hardware vendors.
amazo said 7:35PM on 12-19-2007
given the track record of piracy and microsoft os's, if they didnt include validation it would be somewhat stupid. and lets be fair, the fact that there are no family packs is NOT why vista is failing.
apple currently has trusting customers and it serves them well. but the more that they become more mainstream and more people start adopting, its inevitable that they will actually feel the hurt piracy puts on them. so unless apple is content with what they have now and arent going to push themselves any further, validation will come. (and really, whats so bad about validation. you feel bad when you have to show ID?)
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