All in the Family Pack
Well, well, the Web is abuzz today with rumors that Microsoft may finally be prepping a Windows “Family Pack.” Some people preordering Windows 7 might feel gipped. Perhaps they should.Overnight, Kristan Kenny set off quite the ruckus about a possible Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack.
What’s you doing on your day off? Kristan lives in Nova Scotia, and yesterday was Canada Day. I guess he spent his free day mucking around the latest leaked Windows 7 build. He uncovered from the licensing agreement:
Family Pack. If you are a ‘Qualified Family Pack User’, you may install one copy of the software marked as ‘Family Pack’ on three computers in your household for use by people who reside there. Those computers are the ‘licensed computers’ and are subject to these license terms. If you do not know whether you are a Qualified Family Pack User, visit go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?Linkid=141399 or contact the Microsoft affiliate serving your country.
Whoa. A possible Family Pack would make sense of Microsoft’s pre-order deal for two Windows 7 editions.
The pre-order deal—50 bucks for Windows 7 Home Premium and 100 for Professional—baffled me from the first rumors. What was the real benefit for Microsoft offering the short-term promotion; short being June 26 to July 11. Microsoft doesn’t give much of anything away, at least when it comes to selling Windows.
Last week I tweeted:
Microsoft should have positioned the $50 Windows 7 preorder as a pseudo-family pack. Your family can get two for less than the price of one.
Now, I can see a reason why Microsoft didn’t take such an approach. The regular Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade price is $119.99. Based on pre-order pricing, it’s not inconceivable for Microsoft to offer a Family Pack upgrade for $149.99. Microsoft already offers a three-license version of Office, for the same price.
Ed Bott thinks pricing would be higher. If he’s right, people who pre-ordered Windows 7 Home Premium will have much less to gripe about. Ed writes:
I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that Microsoft prices the Family Pack at $189, which is $10 less than Apple’s Family Pack (although Apple’s license is good for five Macs in a single household).
Ed is right about current pricing. But Snow Leopard, which releases is September, will be available for $49, as Family Pack, for Leopard users. Earlier Mac OS X users must buy the Mac Box Set, which also comes with iLife `09 and iWork `09. The Leopard Family Pack currently sells for $169 No matter what Microsoft charges, anything more than $49 is lots more than Apple.
Ed pointed out after I posted that Apple will charge $229 for the Snow Leopard Family Pack (with iLife `09 and iWork `09). Apple is rewarding Leopard upgraders, while actually penalizing other Mac customers. They’ll pay more by every measure, whether buying a single license—granted with the other software—for $40 more than Leopard’s $129 price or $30 more than the Family Pack price. Ouch.
Microsoft is long overdue offering a Family Pack, whatever the price. The question everyone should ask: Will the discounted upgrade be available for Windows XP users? Based on past Microsoft licensing practices, the answer would be no. But the company is slowly changing its ways. Marketing is improving, as has Windows product development and management. A Family Pack for all would be refreshing and get the install base to move faster to Microsoft’s newest, safest operating system.
Do you have a Windows 7 story that you’d like told? Please email Joe Wilcox: joewilcox at gmail dot com.
at 12:02
But if the price is $150 it can combine with the MS Office Home and Student price for a $300 software package. Microsoft can even throw in Essentials, their new Antivirus, and even IE if it is in Europe for a Microsoft home family pack. With some real ambition they could include Songsmith and some other low cost consumer end software. Or the Zune software. Who knows what else.
at 17:47
I bet Microsoft are starting to wish they hadn’t done those ‘Mac Tax’ ads. I can see the Apple advertising department going to town on this.
Microsoft really do not want to compete on the price of their operating system. If they drop retail prices then OEM will have to drop too and that will spell disaster for the client revenues. Cheap XP has shown what an effect it can have.
at 20:16
If Microsoft was smart, which I sincerely doubt, they would offer 2 family packs. Pack one would contain Windows 7 and Office 2007 standard. The second pack would contain Windows 7 and Windows Home Server with an option to add office for a reasonable cost. Home users are getting more and more sophisticated and this would be Microsoft’s way to get more people to use and appreciate Windows Home Server. In my opinion the Bare Metal Restore, unattended backup and automatic backup management as well as cleanup are worth far more than the current cost of Windows Home Server.
at 18:22
I think you might be missing the bigger picture. From the accounts I’ve seen Microsoft is offering the family pack of Home Premium for $189. That’s good for three users. Someone else, somewhere else, not me, made the observation that you could buy three copies of Home Premium for $42 less than that. So Microsoft will actually make money on the family pack. Go figure.
Still fodder/low hanging fruit for Apple, but go figure.
at 04:55
The ‘price’ of the family pack is purely speculation. I think it is unlikely that they will price the family pack above buying 3 copies individually.
Are you comparing the discount price of Home Premium? Their pricing is so confusing I will not bother to work it out but I thought HP sold for about $100.
Also Apple allows you to install the family pack on 5 computers instead of 3.
at 07:27
I think that is the problem, Microsoft do not offer anything like iLife so the only software they can include is business productivity software. Home users are not excited by being able to make spreadsheets and manage a server.
For the cost of a Windows update, you can get an OSX update and a spare USB hard-drive to use as a Time Machine which is light-years ahead of Microsoft backup. Microsoft backup needs an entire machine whirring away in the corner of your house, Apple only needs a dumb drive and works much better. People need to think about using less electricity, not more.
What Microsoft really need to offer is good software that people want. Even Joe has swallowed his pride and bought an expensive MacBook because he cannot find an equivalent of iMovie or Garage Band. Offering him Office or Windows Home Server is not going to change his mind.
Maybe one of the Windows fans can explain what is so exciting about Microsoft software in the home. To get anything decent you have to go to many 3rd parties to get your software which pushes up the hidden cost.