july 21, 2007I have four Intel-based notebooks at home. Two Windows XPs (one my wife's, one mine for those "cripes, this doesn't work in Linux?" moments), one Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0, and a "beater" notebook that I got free at the company hardware giveaway last year which runs CentOS 5.0.
Is there a certain greed about Microsoft's pricing? I know, most all of us get our Windows by default with a purchase of a new box (aka the "Windows Tax"). But, what if we have boxes that need OSes? Or if we want to upgrade? With MacOS X and CentOS there are no different tiers of software. RHEL has two options when it comes to desktops: Desktop and Workstation, the difference is in development libraries and servers. What you get is the full OS with all features. With Microsoft, there's Vista Home Basic, Vista Home Premium, Vista Business and Vista Ultimate. Vista Ultimate is the equivilent to MacOS X, RHEL and CentOS since it has all the features of the VIsta OS without anything disabled.
- MacOS X Tiger Family Pack (install freely on 5 machines) is $199. Not an upgrade, but full OS installs without any of the "activation" crap. Total cost of OS for four boxes: $199
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop is $80 per box annually. Keep in mind, the $80 per box annually is really paying for Red Hat support and not for the software -- this can be deduced by the fact that as long as you pay your support fees annually, you get to install whatever version of RHEL you want. Total cost of OS for four boxes: $320
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation is $179 per box annually. Again, you are paying for service and support here. With Microsoft, you get 90-days of support, then it is $59 per incident after that. Total cost of OS for four boxes: $716
- CentOS is free. CentOS is great if you don't need support from Red Hat, but like RHEL. Total cost of OS for four boxes: $0
- VIsta Ultimate is $399 for the full version or $259 for the upgrade. Total cost of OS for four boxes (two upgrades and two full): $1316
Is Microsoft kidding?
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