Microsoft lost me at activation. I noticed you didn't list any
activation woes in there....you don't have to activate with *most*
flavors of Linux. (RHEL and SLES are going down that route.) 

Here's something I wrote awhile back on activation. 

How much money has Microsoft cost the USA since Windows XP has been
released? 

My co-workers and I were having a discussion the other day. They were
trying to figure out sysprep, the tool used by OEM's for Windows
activation. They spent 2 days working on trying to make a Windows image
that would not require activation. Of course, I informed them that it is
possible to work with Microsoft on creating such an image as long as
legalities are taken care of. But they still needed to learn sysprep and
it's options. Not because sysprep is a great tool for Out Of Box
Experience (OOBE), but because they need to understand how activation
works and what is involved.

But why? Why would people need to learn about activation and how it
works? That's right, Microsoft said so...and companies have followed
suit. 

I have refused to use Microsoft's operating systems since WinXP locked
me out for upgrading my computer too many times (yes, I called MS and
was told too bad). I gave Vista a try (work gave me a free *legal*
copy)...hoping that MS has fixed the issues. Nope, two upgrades later
and I'm locked out (although I could use the computer for limited use, I
didn't bother calling MS this time around. Been there, done that). 

So, I'm on Ubuntu Linux now....I find I don't need Windows. Anyway,
enough about me...let's talk about how much Microsoft's Windows
Activation has cost the world...specifically, let's talk about the USA's
cost.

Microsoft started activation to stop piracy...well, lessen piracy. They
wanted to stop the casual copier and wanted to make people more aware of
what they thought was a serious problem costing them millions of dollars
a year. So, they made the decision to include activation, and
consequently pass that millions in savings as costs to the end-user.

Don't believe me? Let's look at the facts.

Fact number one is: Activation takes time to learn by technicians. Yes,
people who need to build computers need to learn about Windows
activation. This means that every computer technician out there who
works on Windows needs to understand activation. Any technician involved
in building new systems must spend time to learn activation. With that
said, how many technicians are we speaking about and how much time are
we talking here? According to the Department of Labor, over 500,000
people are computer support specialists. Now, it would be irresponsible
to say that 100% of those people need to learn product activation...I
mean, there's at least 10% out there that don't touch Windows at all.
So, I am going to go conservative here and say that 60% of the people in
the field will know about Windows activation and how it works. That is
300,000 people. In order to understand sysprep and how it works, the
time to learn is about 2 hours. That is reading and understanding, not
testing and proving. So, 300,000 * 2 = 600,000 hours. Don't stop
there...we need to take that time to learn and convert it to dollars.
Again, I want to be conservative. Support desk personnel are the lowest
paid in this area. Yes, that is a fact. So, let's use their salary to
determine the LEAST amount of money Microsoft has cost the country. The
lowest wage reported on the DOL site is $25,290/year. Converted to
hourly rate, 40 hours/week * 52 weeks / year equals 2080 hours per year
(with no paid vacations). Now, divide $25,290 by 2080 hours and you get
$12.15 per hour. So, lowest cost for today's workforce to just learn
Windows activation: $7,290,000. Windows XP was released in 2001...it is
now 2008. In 7 years, Microsoft has cost the United States of America at
least $7.29 million. Wow. That is a lot of money to support another
company's method of piracy prevention. 

Fact number two is: Activation takes time. Yes, believe it or not, it
does take time. At some point in the process of building a PC and
loading Windows, the system had to be activated. There are workarounds,
such as activations tied to BIOS strings and so on...but those methods
also require time to develop, negotiate, and implement. Now, time can
vary significantly here. It can be as simple as 1 minute for online
activation to 10 minutes on a phone call with Microsoft explaining why
you need to activate your computer. For simplicity sake, I am going to
say 1 minute for every copy of Windows XP sold in the United States of
America. Remember, I'm keeping this limited to USA expense, not
worldwide. Worldwide would be much more time. Anyway, let's say 1 minute
for each copy of Windows XP sold in the United States of America. Let's
also keep in mind that Windows Server 2003, Server 2008, and Windows
Vista are not being included in these numbers. This is a bare minimum
estimate. According to Wikipedia, there are an estimated 400,000,000
copies of Windows XP in use as of 2006. That's not 400 million sold,
that's 400 million in use. That is also not 400 million in the USA.
Unfortunately, finding the magic number here is becoming difficult. So,
I'll go with 25% of the 400,000,000 to try and play it safe. Now, when
you multiply that out, that's 100,000,000 minutes for activation alone.
I want to be fair here. So, I'm going with minimum wage as the “price
point” for people's time spent on activating Windows. That is 5.75/hour,
or 9.6 cents a minute. Now, multiply that 9.6 cents by 100 million
minutes....*drum roll*....that is $9,600,000spent by people just to take
that extra step to activate. $9.6 million spent on taking the actual
step of activating. So, Microsoft has cost the United States $7.29
million plus $9.6 million, or $16.89 million dollars to protect their
product. 

Now, I am not going to go into the value of Windows XP...there are
arguments on both sides for and against the product. The argument here
is simple: Are you okay with Microsoft using $16.89 million of your time
to prevent piracy? Has their piracy prevention reduced cost of their
product as they originally intended? Was that cost passed to you, the
user?

I would love to say “Yes”...but that is simply not the fact. The fact is
that Windows XP has been at a steady price point for the longest time.
It has not come down in price, it has gone up. If piracy was to save the
consumer money, where did it do so?

Yes, large computer companies like Dell, HP, and IBM have negotiated
price cuts on Windows product. They can get the product as low as $25.00
a license. Heck, my brother even let me know that Microsoft negotiated
licenses at $17.00 a system for his workforce. Not a bad price at all!
But think about this: Does that make it to the end-user? If a computer
manufacturer negotiates a lower price for Windows, does the end-user see
the price break from the company? No, the company pockets more money.
You can experiment with that by going to any manufacturer's website and
configuring your own computer. Make a selection between Windows XP Home
and Windows XP Pro...do you really think the manufacturer is paying that
$100.00 price tag on Windows? No, they are not. Just take a look for
Windows XP Pro at sites like DirectDeals.com...notice the difference
between Home ($93.41) and Pro ($152.92). Is it $100.00? The answer is
no. The bottom line is that, no matter who argues it, the facts are that
Windows activation did not protect prices to the consumer at any point
in time. It only costs money...both in support and in participation, not
to even mention the amount of money in development.

Truly think about how much Windows activation has cost the world. In the
USA, the price is at least $16.89million. I am willing to bet that,
worldwide, the price goes over $100 million. And not one penny has been
passed to the consumer, it has been sitting in corporate pockets. Now, I
don't blame those corporations...they had to make some money. But when
you think about it all...the grand picture....activation has not lowered
the cost to the consumer as intended. 

And don't even get me started on how much Microsoft makes every year.
We, consumers, think there are no choices. For the average consumer,
there are literally thousands of choices. MacIntosh and Linux are your
choices. If you go the Linux route, you don't have to pay another
$100.00 for your office suite. But that is another story that involves
corporate ignorance leading to self-sabotage and forced overhead.
Someday, I will cover that story too...as activation plays a significant
part in that arena as well. 

Until next time, enjoy your Windows OS and remember that we, the people,
have been paying for it. (Didn't we make laws for that?) 

Sources:

Department of Labor – Computer Support Specialists and Systems
Administrators http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos268.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP

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