Re: De-Vistafying a new PC - Charges?

Ian wrote:
Something that won't concern you corporate guys so much, however I
guess there must be some of the smaller retailers and installers in
here - When supplying a new computer, just as an idea what would
you consider a reasonable surcharge over the normal
sale/installation price if you the customer wants you to remove
Vista and replace it with XP? (Which most in fact do!)

I've heard of one outfit which charges nearly half the price of the
computer, for example 300UKP ($600) extra on a upmarket laptop.
This seems a bit OTT.

I tend to charge a couple of hours bench time plus the licence, at
which rate I'm probably selling myself short - finding all the
necessary drivers, etc. on the Internet usually takes a good deal
more than this.

DL wrote:
Well since the retail price for WinXp Pro is in the region of
225UKP then 300 is not such a big deal

Mario Schmidt wrote:
But for what? Vista is slower, heavier, needs more recent hardware,
wastes memory and resources...

Who needs an OS that needs more than half of your complete RAM for
its own? Just for a little funkier start menu and these poor new so
called glass effects? Vista is a programmers accident, nothing more.

You may want to go to youtube and search for "compiz-fusion" example
videos. THAT's real funky effects and at a WAY LOWER cost of
resources.

DL wrote:
I made no comment on the choice of o/s

Mario Schmidt wrote:
Sure you did, you propose to spend the 300 which is for Vista I
assume.

Following the conversation above - I believe you have misread something,
Mario...


Original Post: How much do I charge to get rid of Vista and put XP on a new
system?

First response: Seems like Windows XP will cost XXX, so XXX +
your_service_charge = Amount you should charge - reasonably.

Next Response: Comments on how Vista is resource hungry.

Next response: What? Where'd that come from?

Next response: Mention of incorrect assumption - as the words "WinXP Pro"
were used to designate what the money was for in the first response.

In short - it was pointed out to the OP that the retail price of Windows XP
+ a little for the effort needed to get drivers/etc for the system would be
a reasonable price to charge someone for the service. I am unsure why there
would be a need to argue of the resource needs of an OS that this whole
thread is about getting rid of. ;-)

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html


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