OS and Software > Microsoft Help > Why must MS make multiple versions of Windows?

Why must MS make multiple versions of Windows?

This is a good question.. you are paying for the features, if you have less money to spend then you can pay for a version with less features. They're a for-profit company, this way they can make sales with those that have less to spend. As I said earlier, most people don't need the most expensive version, but there is also a psychological need for having the most expensive version and having no intention of using what they paid good money for.

Same is with hardware. You pay for a cheaper CPU you get lower speed, less cache, etc. A cheaper lower end motherboard has less features than its more costly higher end counterpart. If you really needed the horsepower/features you'd have paid for the higher end, but if all you do is twitbookspace then you can get the cheaper parts.
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Moe, I need your advice… See I've got this friend named Joey Joe-Joe... Junior... Shabadoo..

reply to floydb1982
Unless you need a particular version of windows to do something, you can always get away with a particular flavor of 'nix. And while MS is a for-profit company, those various flavors of nix can fill the void in most instances. The only real weak point is gaming, everything else is pretty much covered these days. Including apps, tools, and everything else. This isn't a flame war but long gone are the days of "it has to be this way or else" in the computing world. Well unless you're in a place that has a stick up their ass over something.

Unicode programing environments? Yep. Specific coding environments? Yep. OS specific coding environments? Yep. Memory levles and non-standard unicode environments? Yep. Dx related environments? hit or miss. DX/XNA? Probably not. OpenCL? Yes. Etc, etc, etc.

reply to floydb1982
What a naive question actually....same reason Honda has several models of vehicles, Levi's has several styles of jean's, McDonald's have several different burgers, books are sold in paperback or hardcover. I can just imagine you trying to decide what to order at Applebee's too...
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"Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them." Einstein

reply to izy
Not really....no reason why there should be 5 different versions. It's just a money grab. It's not like Honda or McDonalds. If Apple can make 1 version, so can Microsoft. I sure hope 8 comes in 1 version.

That said, having tried 8, not overly impressed, putting Mint back onto machine while we speak, typing on my MacBook, and will do a virtual box on my Windows 7 Laptop. Which oddly, was cheaper to buy new than buying a box set of Windows 7....go figure.
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If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough. - Albert Einstein

reply to J E F F

reply to redxii
That's true, but all versions are basically the same except for the services that might be available, but each version is 90% the same.
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If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough. - Albert Einstein

reply to floydb1982
I think there is a simple reason why. Microsoft must keep prices as low as possible for some users and suck as much money as possible from others. It is basically these two questions: Question "how much does it cost?" Answer: "How much money do you have?" When you work under this model, you have to make exceptions which result in flavors (Home, Pro, Ultimate) and favors (OEM versions, volume licensing, etc). It has worked for Microsoft for decades and they are an extremely profitable company, so I am not going to pass judgement. I just have to wonder whether life really has to be that complicated.

reply to floydb1982
Because you'd get upset if they charged you for a lot of enterprisey features you had no use for, but which are worth real money to business customers.

reply to floydb1982
What I don't understand with windows 7 is why they sold windows 7 64bit preinstalled with computers, but you have to buy windows 7 32bit, shouldn't it have been the opposite way around?

Why? Today's computers are 64-bit. Microsoft wants everyone to rely on Windows. Making them pay extra for a version of Windows that actually supports their hardware is not a good 'customer base continuation' strategy.

Besides which, it's the computer vendor hat decides which version to install. Computer vendors want to sell you as much hardware as possible - which means more than 4GB RAM, which means 64-bit Windows.

reply to floydb1982
How much for the stool?

reply to izy

reply to The Pig
I'm not sure why you would need or 'have to' buy 32-bit, but keys are good for both 32-bit and 64-bit, you just have to figure out how to get a hold of the install media. Win 7 Ultimate retail has both discs included.
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Moe, I need your advice… See I've got this friend named Joey Joe-Joe... Junior... Shabadoo..

reply to JohnInSJ

reply to floydb1982
There is just one version of Windows 7. Different features are unlocked in different versions.