Windows 7 Pricing : 4 Things Apple Can Teach Microsoft

Microsoft has just announced the pricing grid for its flagship operating system Windows 7 and it came without any major surprises although altogether we did see a slight reduction in the pricing.

However, Microsoft could learn a lot from the only other major software developer which sells shrink wrapped operating system, Apple, which is going to launch its next generation Mac OS X Snow Leopard in September.

And while we set aside philosophical questions and debates, we managed to find a few things that Apple could share with Microsoft when it comes to OS pricing.

(1) Price it low

The cheapest Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium OS will cost $199.99, rising to $319.99 when ordering the Windows 7 Ultimate version. You can expect to pay only $129 for the latest Mac OS X (currently v10.5.6 Leopard). True, you could possibly get OEM versions of Windows 7 but Microsoft does not explicitly sell those and you won't find them in high street stores.

(2) Respect the Exchange rate

Apple is also very careful when it comes to pricing in the UK and in the US, the price of the OS X Leopard reflects the current exchange rate at $1.55 per pound compared to $1.66 for Windows 7 Home Premium.