http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/21/5435152/windows-8-1-license-fees-cut-by-70-...http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2453835,00.aspBoth analyst say the same thing -- Microsoft will literally give Windows 8.x away to an OEM short term to stop the OEM from putting out a Chromebook or Chromebox.
Question becomes, do people really want Windows 8.x even at the price?
Microsoft is at the "do anything stage" to just stay alive for another year until they can come out with Threshold (which is supposed to fix all the various ills, right ....)
Look for the ads bars to pop up on the start screen and some other zero price at point of sale tricks to pop up in the free (or nearly free) Windows 8.x for sub-$250 cheapie laptop/boxes OS offerings.
Also look for MS to start changing things even more quickly, as when you are operating at loss leader pricing it focuses your mind wonderfully on what really counts -- making customers happy.
Ad bars will NOT make customers happy.
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Some numbers that have to change --- MS requires 4 gigs of systems memory (Chromebox needs two)
MS Win 8.x requires X86 quad core processor at at least 2 ghz to run worth a durn (or dual core at 3 ghz)
(Chromebox runs good on a two year old 1.5 ghz 28nm ARM dual core A-15, so you know it can really cook on the current crop of smaller lithography higher core count & better graphics ARM chipsets)
MS will require Intel to strongly loss leader price to all Microsoft's builder buds for all the extra motherboard components that are required to run an Intel chipset. Lawsuit food here, Intel has to give the exact same pricing to the folks doing Chromebooks and boxes with the exact same chips or get sued over it.
(ARM chipsets are fully integrated right on the microprocessor die itself)
If this is a battery powered device, Microsoft will still require a 25% larger battery than ARM does to get the same battery life.
OEMs will be very reluctant to accept a Microsoft Secure Boot chip in their products because people realize what it is now -- a can't get over it security hole in the base hardware of the device that locks you out of changing OSs at a later point in time. Customers should refuse all such offerings.
It will be harder this time for Intel and Microsoft to lie grossly about what they are actually selling, as the fairly quick and fairly complete outing of the last crop of lies has cost them considerable credibility with the OEMs, the ANTUTU test folks, magazine reviewers, the large retailers and computer customers.
Being sued by your own stockholders for hiding financial downturn results and large "scrap it charges" does that to you .....
The VERY LARGE FINANCIAL LOSSES suffered by several of the major OEMs will make them very reluctant to EVER do that sort of trust MS nonsense ever ever again.
The fired CEOs of 3 of these firms (4 if you count Microsoft, 6 if you count the head guy's "early retirements" over at Intel) act to reinforce that lesson. All the new guys DO remember how they got their jobs ....
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Unless you make it totally pain free and VERY VERY LUCRATIVE to take this sort of bad risk, forget about it.
A $15 discount per unit isn't gonna do it.
Hell, free might not do it, not with Windows 8.x as the incentive.