I’m looking at a print advert right now which is telling me that Vista Ultimate in a retail box will cost me £369.99 inc VAT. Meanwhile, if I want the bells and whistles, top of the range Office Ultimate 2007, that’s another £599.99.

Amazing. Two pieces of software, on which Microsoft hang half of their turnover, and to attract buyers to the top of the range versions, nearly £1000 needs to be lifted from their pockets. Even the Standard versions of both will relieve over £500 from your bank account if you pay full whack.

Is it any wonder, then, that already many stores are offering OEM copies of the software at much, much cheaper prices. Of course, to benefit from the OEM price the software can only be sold with requisite hardware, and it’s tied to one machine only. Microsoft are believed to be cracking down on OEM software being sold openly, yet that plan already seems to be failing. Is it any wonder that prospective early adopters, the loyal customers who surely Microsoft should be looking after, are being tempted by prices closer to 40% of the full retail price?

Yet even that’s not going to tempt many, I fear. With reports coming in already of driver problems, and with the pricing surely unrealistic in a market where computer pricing has been sliding down, how long before Microsoft have to offer some genuine incentive to encourage take up of their OS?

Both products are real, marked improvements. But neither is worth that kind of money.
WIll you be buying them?