Microsoft Readies 50% Prices Cut for Windows Vista

Microsoft is cooking healthy price cuts for its latest operating system, Windows Vista. The price tag for the Home Edition of Vista will be cut in half. But the additional editions of the platform will not be overlooked by the discounts. While the piece of news was not confirmed directly by Microsoft it apparently came from 8844.com, a Beijing Federal Software online software distributor, according to Interfax. The only catch to the Vista price drop is that it will be valid only for China. And while Vista Home Basic will be sold at half the price, the remaining editions of the operating system will apparently receive 10% off.

"Microsoft is going to announce the price drop this afternoon," revealed Zan Xiaoqin, a representative of 8844.com. "The home edition of Vista will now sell at RMB 499 ($66), about half the previous price. Meanwhile, the prices of the business and ultimate editions will also drop about 10 percent."

Microsoft's move comes on the heels of the largest takedown of a software counterfeiting syndicate located in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. Backing efforts from the FBI and China's Public Security Bureau, Microsoft applauded the shutdown of a global bootlegged software manufacturing and distributing business worth an estimated $2 billion. And while sales of pirated copies of Windows Vista are increasing, legitimate licenses of the operating system in China are gathering dust on store shelves.

In this regard, 8844.com sold just 100 Vista copies in the first week following the January 30 launch. Worldwide, Microsoft revealed that it shipped in excess of 60 million Vista licenses in the first six months. However, 8844.com and its parent company retailer Federal Software only contributed to the 60 million licenses with a modest 4,000 sold genuine Vista copies.

"We expect Vista sales volumes to sharply increase after the price drop," Zan added. "Previously, only one in five copyrighted Windows application systems we sold were Vista, the others were Windows XP. Now that the price of Vista is close to XP's, it is very likely that Vista will grab XP's market share."