When it comes to the great Microsoft vs Apple debate, a common gripe is that an Apple laptop is just way too expensive.
After all, you can find a fully loaded Windows laptop for about half the price.
That is true.
And you can enjoy that cheap laptop – until a new operating system comes out. But then they’ve gotcha.
Upgrading Your Operating System
Right now on Amazon.com I can pick up Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium for a whopping $183.05 (retail $199.99) for ONE LICENSE. The upgrade price weighs in at $107.69 ($119.99 retail).
Now imagine that you use a desktop at home, a laptop for work, maybe your spouse has a laptop that needs an upgrade, and perhaps a few kids in high school with their own computers.
That upgrade is going to cost you a lot of money.
Compare to Mac OS X Lion
Apple is offering Mac OS X Lion for a mere $30 and you can install that on all your various Apple laptops or iMac computers at no extra charge.
To me – that is smart business.
Making it easy for all of your customers to run the latest operating system has a lot of advantages for a company like Apple or Microsoft.
Advantages
- keeps everyone current on the latest security issues
- exposes the entire customer base to the latest features
- creates customer loyalty
- recognizes the fact that nowadays people will often have more than one computer and households will have multiple computers
- encourages people to buy more computers if they know that maintenance costs are low
OS X Mountain Lion
Apple recently announced that the next version of their operating system OS X Mountain Lion is due out at the end of the summer.
They also expressed an intention of coming out with a new version once a year.
To me, that translates to $30 per year to run a current operating system on every Mac my family owns.
Of course I will do the upgrade.
Why I Care
You are probably wondering why I even care about the cost of Windows 7, when I am a Mac user.
Recently I purchased the Nova Development bundle that included Parallels, software that makes it possible for you to run Windows on your Mac.
I am kind of enamored by Windows Live Writer – a program that, unfortunately is for Windows only.
So I opened the door a little, and thought that maybe it would be worth installing Windows on my Mac.
And then reality hit.
I use both a MacBook Pro and my desktop to write posts – so I would need two copies of Windows 7 to make that happen. Close to $400 right there.
Not to mention that my husband who uses Windows, wouldn’t mind having a Mac that runs Windows. And I won’t even talk about the kids.
And if Windows 8 is released sometime this year – another $200 plus to upgrade?
I don’t think so.
Apple is a Bargain
In light of the cost of upgrading – an Apple computer is looking like a bargain.
It might cost more initially, but you can keep it current for many, many years to come – at a reasonable price.
Haven’t Upgraded Yet?
