Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Microsoft Windows 7 for Rs 40 only.

Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009 and is available for a cost of Rs 40 - 250 in Lucknow city of Uttar Pradesh. The news is shocking and goes to show the amount of piracy that is present in the country. About 50,000 pirated DVDs of Microsoft Windows 7 are estimated to have been sold here since the official launch on Oct 22, generating unaccounted business of around Rs 50 lakhs (nearly $100,000). The legal version of the new operating system launched by Microsoft Corp costs between $150-$300 (Rs 7,500 - 15,000) in the international markets. The company, however, tagged its prices 20 percent below international rates in India, where it is available in the Rs 6,000-Rs 11,000 range through official channels.

Piracy has been a known curse and we are getting more and more into it rather than walking out of it. Well if you take the buyers side then you believe that if a person gets a software for 250 rs then why would he pay 6,000 for the same, I personally know lots of people who use pirated versions of Operating Systems. In practical life, if you go for assembled computers, a good configuration with cost you maximum of 25,000 rupees with all equipments. Now if a free copy of an Operating System is available with a friend, would you ever go to buy the genuine version for 6,000 or so?. The answer is pretty obvious and is 'NO'. What should be done to prevent piracy? is a mystery question and no one has an answer to it.

Windows 7 has a lot of new features and after looking into it you can easily make out the effort and cost that must have gone into building it. If they don't get the price they demand, it is actually harsh on them and is like asking too much for almost nothing. Let us hope that this piracy issue ends soon, but at the same time I am also worried realising the fact that I may have to pay close to 7,000 rs for my copy of Operating System in the future or I need to learn Linux ;).

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