14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has increased the prices associated with per-incident support for Windows and Office. The Redmond Company failed to issue a public notification as it boosted up the support fees across the board for its two flagship products.
"An expanded pricing model will be available for assisted support incidents to provide more personalized support options based on customers' technology usage. Different levels of support will be available to customers based on the technology supported and the implementation scenario. This includes general assistance inquiries across all supported product versions for Personal, Office, and Windows products," revealed Microsoft, informing that the new pricing model is valid as of January 30, 2007.
Microsoft introduced the changes to the support pricing model concomitantly with the commercial availability of Windows Vista and the 2007 Office System. In this regard, support for Windows Vista and Windows XP has been bumped up to $59 from $39 per incident, while support for Office was raised from $35 to $49, also per incident.
The Redmond Company explained that the pricing model expansion is in concert with the new technologies introduced on the market. "The new fee-based support options account for new technology usage and customer implementation, which is paramount as Microsoft customers rely more on integrated technology solutions. Microsoft is launching expanded support options for home users in an effort to route customers to the right engineer more quickly based on the customer's technology scenario. Support incident prices have not been increased for many years and Microsoft will continue to make an investment in services for home users," stated Microsoft.
However, the Redmond juggernaut also overhauled the support policy to include the new retail versions of Windows Vista and Office 2007. These modifications are designed to deliver a 90-day timeframe of free support.