[citation][nom]fausto[/nom]microsoft is so stupid, segmenting windows 7 was just moronic. they should make one product, one price. and be done with it.[/citation]
Its a good business tactic. I'm not a big fan of MS, but it makes good sense when you want to make lots of money. There are 3 main versions of Win7. Home, Pro and Ultimate.
For 90%+ of the home market, the feature set of Win7-Home will be more than enough. Win7-Pro has more business related tools and since its about $100 more and how companies work, they'll pay the extra price for it with a smile. Ultimate is for the geeks who don't have sex or married.
Giving a home user a Win7-Pro feature set will add complexity, more HD space used up, more icons, tools and programs to navigate around.
My only gripe is that MS shouldn't offer ANY "upgrade" version. Just 3 boxes on store shelves, all retail versions that can be used as a Clean install or upgrade on a single PC or a respectable "family-pack" version.
If I was MS and not a greedy monkey man, here is how I would sell Win7.
Basic = OEM only for limited markets and NetPC/Netbooks. Not available for retail.
Home = $80 - with 32/64 bit single user install.
Pro = $150 - Same as above. (I bet the MSRP will be $300)
Ult = $300 - Same as above.
Home 3 Pack = $150 = Single DVD with 3 licenses. A cute animal sticker.
Nothing more is needed. Rather then going to websites and ordering an OEM version of XP or Vista because its cheaper and is a "grey" area.
Vista HP Retail = $225, Upgrade = $125, OEM = $100.
Vista Business Retail = $280, Upgrade = $180, OEM = $140.
All should default to 64bit install (optional 32bit), Basic is 32bit.
But I don't own the worlds biggest software company.