Is the day of the paid OS over?

[wraith808]

In general, as time has gone on, the number of paid OSes has dropped.  From BeOS, AmigaOS, and OS/2, as MS Windows proliferation killed off the aspirants to the throne, they also had a side effect- that there were more free OSes, and less paid ones, as it became clear that Microsoft was the only OS that could make money off of this basic functionality.  The only other paid OS out there for a long time has been OS X.

Then, with Lion, they moved to a digital distribution, and with Mountain Lion, they dropped the price to $19.99.  Now, OS X 10.9 Mavericks has been released - for free.

This leaves MS as the only paid OS provider, and they have been making missteps left and right it seems.

Are the days of MS using Windows for a large revenue sink over?  Or will they prevail against the winds of change, continuing on as they have been?

As an aside, it is very apparent also that this is where the walled garden gets us- the vertical integration path where the profits can be made from other parts of the revenue stream rather than an up front cost.

References:
http://www.wired.com...pple-ends-paid-oses/
http://www.slate.com...aid_os_upgrades.html

[Carol Haynes]

Probably - especially if they don't start listening to users.

I certainly think Office (the old cash cow) is on the skids - can't say I have met anyone yet who is paying for an annual subscription to 2013 and precious few who have purchased a copy of it. I am still meeting people on a daily basis who are buying 2010 in preference on DVD (even at highly inflated prices), others just moving to OpenOffice or LibreOffice rather than shell out for any version of 2013.

I currently have a MAPs subscription (probably won't renew next May when it comes time to pay again) so I get latest versions as they are released but must admit even with free access to Windows 8 all my machines (apart from one laptop) are still on Windows 7/Office 2010 and I can't see me upgrading any more.

I need to start thinking about decamping to another system. Trouble is I am not sure what to move to - I don't want to lose my entire catalogue of applications and start from scratch. Linux doesn't seem to have the quality of apps I need for photo/video editing and digital recording/mixing/effects type software and moving to Apple would just feel like more of the same.

Really depressing.

[wraith808]

I've started with Apple a bit... it's depressing, but I just haven't had good experience with Linux when I tried it before.  I'm past the point of wanting to learn how to use something... I just want it to work.

[rgdot]

The Apple hype machine is way too strong. Mavericks is not far from a SP or an upgrade like 8.1, both free. I have checked many "what's new" articles (because admittedly I am not a user) and if you have paid for 10.6+ (for example), why should this NOT be free?

[wraith808]

The Apple hype machine is way too strong. Mavericks is not far from a SP or an upgrade like 8.1, both free. I have checked many "what's new" articles (because admittedly I am not a user) and if you have paid for 10.6+ (for example), why should this NOT be free?

-rgdot (October 23, 2013, 06:35 PM)

Actually, there's a lot new over mountain lion.

A good overview - http://arstechnica.c...e/2013/10/os-x-10-9/

24 pages.  And it's not fluff.

[Renegade]

My setup for the last while has been:

1) Desktop - Windows 7 - running VMs inside with various flavours of Linux
2) iMac - OS X
3) Laptop - Windows 7

I've been using my Linux VMs more, and am getting more comfortable with Linux.

I've also found that OS X isn't really any better than Linux. I still end up needing to drop to the terminal (which I expect on Linux, but did not expect on my Mac).

My next machine will be server hardware running a virtual environment then VMs with Windows, OS X, and Linux.

I've started with Apple a bit... it's depressing, but I just haven't had good experience with Linux when I tried it before. I'm past the point of wanting to learn how to use something... I just want it to work.

-wraith808 (October 23, 2013, 06:31 PM)

That's one of the biggest things, and one of the reasons I want to run a VE with shared storage. That way I can "get things done", but try to move over to Linux as much as possible with minimal inconvenience.

[mouser]

This gets us back to our discussions of how the entire internet is becoming an advertising delivery platform.

Apple can give away the OS because they make a fortune on the hardware and they can kill off any competition that is charging for the operating system.

Google can give away its services and kill off all competition, as long as they are making huge profits off of forcing ads down our throats.

These corporations are always happy to make half their product free as long when doing so kills their competition and doesn't interfere with the way they are getting rich.

The real question I think we are going to be asking ourselves in a decade is, how can we get back to a world where we just PAY reasonable amounts for the things that we value.  Instead of playing this game where everything *SEEMS* free but in reality it's just a bait and switch or a delay until they become a monopoly.

I'm really starting to long for products and services that charge enough for each item/service to make a reasonable profit on that item/service.  What a crazy idea.

[wraith808]

I'm really starting to long for products and services that charge enough for each item/service to make a reasonable profit on that item/service.  What a crazy idea.

-mouser (October 23, 2013, 09:34 PM)

You are... but most people aren't.

Look at the new iPhone 5c(heap).  The phone itself is $100... you can get it for $50 at wal-mart.  But you have to get a dataplan.  The $15 a month plan is a joke... so you're looking at $25 for 2 years + your voice plan- all to pay for a $500 (or less) phone.

It's the mentality of consumers today that's causing the switch.  They'd rather the hand taking from their pocket under the table rather than just putting the money in plain view.

[Renegade]

This gets us back to our discussions of how the entire internet is becoming an advertising delivery platform.

Apple can give away the OS because they make a fortune on the hardware and they can kill off any competition that is charging for the operating system.

Google can give away its services and kill off all competition, as long as they are making huge profits off of forcing ads down our throats.

These corporations are always happy to make half their product free as long when doing so kills their competition and doesn't interfere with the way they are getting rich.

The real question I think we are going to be asking ourselves in a decade is, how can we get back to a world where we just PAY reasonable amounts for the things that we value.  Instead of playing this game where everything *SEEMS* free but in reality it's just a bait and switch or a delay until they become a monopoly.

I'm really starting to long for products and services that charge enough for each item/service to make a reasonable profit on that item/service.  What a crazy idea.

-mouser (October 23, 2013, 09:34 PM)

+1 for all of that.

The other way that companies/industries kill off competition is through legislation and regulation. e.g. It costs over $1,000,000.00 (one million dollars) to drive a taxi in New York. It destroys the ability of normal people to enter the market.

None of these things are good for us in end-user-land.

I'm really starting to long for products and services that charge enough for each item/service to make a reasonable profit on that item/service.  What a crazy idea.

-mouser (October 23, 2013, 09:34 PM)

I'm on the yes/no edge of the fence there. I'm willing to pay, but I'd rather go down the GNU GPL road, even if I'm paying. I'm more interested in using software that I trust, and the GPL gives a lot of credibility there. e.g. What is MS/Apple/Google doing under the hood? God knows. They've been complicit in dealing with the NSA, so we know that we cannot trust them. The GPL helps there.

[rgdot]

The Apple hype machine is way too strong. Mavericks is not far from a SP or an upgrade like 8.1, both free. I have checked many "what's new" articles (because admittedly I am not a user) and if you have paid for 10.6+ (for example), why should this NOT be free?

-rgdot (October 23, 2013, 06:35 PM)

Actually, there's a lot new over mountain lion.

A good overview - http://arstechnica.c...e/2013/10/os-x-10-9/

24 pages.  And it's not fluff.

-wraith808 (October 23, 2013, 08:29 PM)

Hate to be argumentative but I really see too much 'enhancement' (like 'scrolling was unacceptable before but now this and that') in those pages.
But like I said I don't want to sound like I want an argument/discussion on this

[wraith808]

The big things to me that make it seem a lot more than 8.1:

• Built-in tabs in finder
• Tags
• Energy Saving Features
• iCloud Keychain
• Multiple Processes in Safari
• Notification Center

Just those to me trump the upgrade that 8.1 is.  I'm still waiting rather than being an early adopter, but it looks like a legitimate upgrade to me.  Of course YMMV.