Even for a limited time!

Isn’t that a genius idea, I ask, as I contort my body trying to pat myself on my my own back?

Seriously, how hard is that for the Satya Nadella and his minions to grasp?

While I was OTG to Deepest Darkest, I read about another hare-brained scheme from Microsoft aimed at enticing XP users to switch.

<groan>

This time, the Mensas at Microsoft came up with the brilliant idea that they’d give folks who gave up their Windows XP machines by buying a brand spankin’ new PC up to a $100 rebate. If said new PC is valued over a minimum of $500.

I mean, who is the fucking moron at Microsoft who comes up with this shit?

Do you remember the Windows Vista Ultimate Extras?

Or the Windows Vista Buy A Windows Vista Ultimate License for $299 (or whatever it was) and get the opportunity to upgrade Windows XP for was it $99 or $199?

Or the stupidly-priced upgrade costs for Windows 7?

Again, I ask, who is the fucking moron at Microsoft who comes up with this shit?

Isn’t this nonsense priced to fail?

Aren’t the board members at Microsoft recipients of subscriptions to rags and glossies?

Give a rebate for a PC?

Seriously, are these idiots serious?

Isn’t the best option staring these fools in the face?

Obviously not, so let me help them:

Make Windows 8.1 FREE for legally licensed users of Windows XP

Even if it is for a limited time, say 6 months.

Furthermore, this free upgrade would contain hardwired and unchangeable Microsoft services attached as a condition of ‘free’!

This is such an easy answer, I should gloss myself ‘Simple Simon’.

I’m serious.

Listen, our studies have shown that Windows 8 runs just as fast, or perceptively faster on hardware used for Windows XP.

As a result, why shouldn’t Microsoft use that as Eve’s Apple in order to bring XP users into current-day computing goodness?

Such a decision will amount to a double win for Microsoft, whereby Microsoft gets incredible goodwill for throwing the cheap yum-yums who still run XP the proverbial bone. Moreover while free, the ‘free’ Windows 8.1 upgrade would help Microsoft bring oodles of potentially lucrative revenue, either in direct monies such as subscriptions, or in the form of mountains of monetizable data. or both.

Finally, such an offer carries with it a long tail of potential revenues for everyone in the PC ecosystem.

Think about it:

1. A substantial segment of the potential upgraders are going to have issues. Bring in the technicians.
2. A comparable segment of potential upgraders will find out that their PCs are really beyond EOL, either due to obsolete components, or really cheapo innards. They are going to need new PCs.
3. Peripheral manufacturers are going to sell a gazillion doodads. Ka-ching.

All this would be done because the misers did not want to upgrade their PCs in the first place!

Meanwhile, Microsoft would be in a cool catbird seat, having given away Windows 8.1 for ‘free’, and not squandering the good joss generated by the offer.

Seems simple, doesn’t it?

© 2002 – 2014, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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