What in the world is wrong with this guy?

@DeathByVisualStudio: Why do you hate the idea that Windows8 will be cheaper for not having to pay the licence fee for DVD codecs?

If it upsets you so much send me a cheque for $10 and I'll send you a link to VLC.

You seem very eager to find negatives everywhere. Try smiling and having a positive attitude a bit more. Who knows? Maybe you'll find that there's more stuff in Windows8 that you like than stuff that you don't, and then you'll be a more happy person inside.

Spending your whole life dwelling on how unfair life is must get dull after a while.

@evildictaitor: LOL! Not only am I smiling but I'm laughing. Thanks EvilD.

You'll need to send me more than $10. I'll need payment for tech support for various friends and relatives who will have to wade through OEM crapware when they want to watch a DVD or make one rather than point them to the built in stuff. Maybe I should be more like you and tell them to "just deal with it".

No doubt life is not fair but it doesn't mean Microsoft gets a free break because of it. You make excuses for Microsoft and I call them on it. Not everyone gets off on believing in unicorns and fairies.

And while on the subject of fantasy can you believe I do post positive things about Microsoft when they do something good? OMG! The horror!

4 minutes ago, DeathByVisualStudio wrote

Maybe I should be more like you and tell them to "just deal with it".

Maybe you should just send them a link to VLC: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

If you tell them that they saved $10 by clicking on that link instead of expecting Microsoft to bundle DVD codecs, maybe they'll buy you a drink.

And if they can't manage the complexity of clicking on a link, tell them to search the AppStore for "DVD player", and they can get one from there instead.

@evildictaitor: How about Microsoft just ship it in the box as others have suggested? Maybe they can throw in a DVD recorder too like W7 had. They're all great ideas.

13 minutes ago, DeathByVisualStudio wrote

@evildictaitor: How about Microsoft just ship it in the box as others have suggested? Maybe they can throw in a DVD recorder too like W7 had. They're all great ideas.

That would cost more, and most people don't use the inbuilt DVD player in Windows.

Microsoft is trying to drive down the cost of a product you're going to have to pay for. If I were you I'd be happy that they're putting dollars back in your pocket, rather than asking them to up the price.

It would be easier to agree with the cost cutting measures, if we could see how the SKUs are priced. My feeling is that Microsoft is going to have to achieve never-seen-before rates of deployments in order to bootstap the ecosystem. The best way, to my knowledge, to do this is with aggressive pricing.

-Josh

3 minutes ago, JoshRoss wrote

It would be easier to agree with the cost cutting measures, if we could see how the SKUs are priced.

DVD codecs cost money to ship with Windows. The only way shipping DVD codecs in Win8 would not affect the price to you, the consumer, is if Microsoft takes a hit in per-item profit.

@evildictaitor: That's all fine. But, if Microsoft strips out $2.00 of cost, then I want to reap the savings of the license and the markup-- which is looking increasingly doubtful.

-Josh

We're talking about $2. I'm sure Microsoft will find a way to justify $2 in additional profit...

6 hours ago, AndyC wrote

*snip*

Vista Starter - No DVD codec

Vista Home Basic - No DVD codec

Vista Home Premium - DVD codec included

Vista Business - No DVD codec

Vista Enterprise - No DVD codec

Vista Ultimate - DVD codec included

Sorry, Andy, but you're wrong about Enterprise. I've got Enterprise on my laptop here and not only does it have the DVD codec, it also has Media Center.

@Sven Groot: You know that if the B8 blog released an entry stating that they discovered, through telemetry data, that most of the Media Center users were just watching porn from the internet. You would hear nothing but crickets from the peanut gallery.

-Josh

14 hours ago, Sven Groot wrote

*snip*

Sorry, Andy, but you're wrong about Enterprise. I've got Enterprise on my laptop here and not only does it have the DVD codec, it also has Media Center.

Vista? What you're saying is true of Windows 7 but it certainly wasn't the case with Vista unless something changed at some point after the initial release.

I think this is a dumb decision. Let's say that DVD playback costs $5 per copy. A retail copy of Windows 7 costs $190. Is it really worth the savings, even assuming that MS passes the savings on?

Windows 8 better have some pretty outstanding pricing with all of the stuff they're stripping out of it. I'm thinking $30 upgrade, $50 OEM/Builder, and $100 retail.

As far as stripping out WMC, I'm okay with that idea if it means that WMC will get some updates. It really hasn't changed since XP MCE except for minor additions of digital TV and Netflix. I'm really hoping for a Live TV Metro App on  the start screen.

58 minutes ago, spivonious wrote

I think this is a dumb decision. Let's say that DVD playback costs $5 per copy. A retail copy of Windows 7 costs $190. Is it really worth the savings, even assuming that MS passes the savings on?

But what about all of the other things that are only $5 per copy that only 20% of people use? What if they can push Windows8 for $100 with you needing to install $20 of apps? You'll have an extra $70 in your pocket.

Or perhaps Microsoft should go the other way. Some people need AutoCAD software. Let's bundle that. And chuck in Norton or McAfee, and why not a few commercial games like Fable to go with Solitare. All of this functionality for just one easy payment of $800 for Windows8?

I haven't used a DVD in my laptop ever and yet I paid $5 for the privilege of having software that can do that. The world is moving away from DVDs to online, so why not making bunding DVD codecs optional to drive down costs? Is this really such a bad thing to do?

@evildictaitor: And while we're pulling numbers out of our arses why not say Windows will cost $10 because they stripped out everything that isn't common to all users usage.

I'm sorry you feel victimized by the idea that Microsoft will be stealing $5 out of your pocket if they were to include the decode license. It's a pity you are so cheap.

25 minutes ago, evildictaitor wrote

*snip*

But what about all of the other things that are only $5 per copy that only 20% of people use? What if they can push Windows8 for $100 with you needing to install $20 of apps? You'll have an extra $70 in your pocket.

Or perhaps Microsoft should go the other way. Some people need AutoCAD software. Let's bundle that. And chuck in Norton or McAfee, and why not a few commercial games like Fable to go with Solitare. All of this functionality for just one easy payment of $800 for Windows8?

I haven't used a DVD in my laptop ever and yet I paid $5 for the privilege of having software that can do that. The world is moving away from DVDs to online, so why not making bunding DVD codecs optional to drive down costs? Is this really such a bad thing to do?

I'm amused that you think MS or OEMs are going to pass the savings on to us.

@DeathByVisualStudio:

I'm sorry you feel victimized by the idea that Microsoft are removing something you can Google for, download and replace for free. It's a pity you are so incompetent.

DCMonkey wrote:

I'm amused that you think MS or OEMs are going to pass the savings on to us.

That's how business works. If the cost of making your product is high you must necessarily charge a lot for it. If you're competing with other companies on price you need to push costs down in order to reduce the price.

1 hour ago, evildictaitor wrote

*snip*

That's how business works. If the your not making as much money as Apple then cut your product costs and charge the same price or more as you have been. Your cost savings is instant profit.

Fixed that for you.