René Kåbis Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 Just curious. What would people pay for an official, unlocked copy of MacOSX for their platform, straight from Apple? For example, I have an AMD Opteron 142 system, with 2Gb of ECC Reg. memory and 1.5Tb of space across 6 drives (yes, I am a data packrat), and I would easily spend between $CDN300 and $CDN500 for a legit copy of the 64-bit version of MacOSx86 straight from Apple. I am fed up with Windows. XP is a decent OS, but it is riddled with security holes, attacked by viruses worms and other nasties from all sides and far behind the MacOS in the technology department. I would like to install MacOSx86 as my primary OS, and move XP to a computer that I would only use to help customers with (as a support computer for when I work on client computers). So, if you were able to get a legit copy of MacOSx86 straight from Apple, that was able to run unfettered on any hardware you own, how much would you be willing to pay? (If you are not from the US, please use your country code in your $ figure. I am from Canada, so I use $CDN###) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bofors Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 Good question. But let me put it too you this way, given the price/performance differential between Apple hardware and generic at the moment, if I had to pay $250 for OSx86 to sell a "legal" x86 Mac Clone ready to go, I would still make a killing and I would not have to worry about getting sued by Apple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vniow Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 The same price as OS X goes for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamb10 Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 $150 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medici Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 $200 easily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bofors Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 The same price as OS X goes for now. Right now, OS X (PPC) lists for $129. An x86 version is worth more because you would not have to use it on overpriced, underperforming Apple hardware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhLilDoggi Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 I'm guessing it would be $500 tops...I'll pay $400 when it goes lower Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bofors Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 Here is a related question, in your country are EULA's legal? I mean, if you buy a copy of a "universal" OS X which Apple will be selling next year for $129, is it legal for you to run it on your PC while otherwise "agreeing" to Apple's "click-through" installation contract? In the USA, this is somewhat controversial, but so far these EULA have basicaly been upheld. I think they are illegal in the EU, though I really do not know. To the extent that this certainly will be legal in lots of places, this means people could lawfully sell x86 Mac Clones with OS X pre-installed, so long as Apple is payed for a copy of OS X. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
René Kåbis Posted August 12, 2005 Author Share Posted August 12, 2005 To the extent that this certainly will be legal in lots of places, this means people could lawfully sell x86 Mac Clones with OS X pre-installed, so long as Apple is payed for a copy of OS X. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yeah, but who except the most greedy would buy just one copy? I would try to work out a volume license with Apple before doing something like this; but then again, I'm a real Machead. I use the OS for the love of it, not because of its price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bofors Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 I meant selling one copy of OSx86 with every machine, in additon to installing it and providing whatever patches that would be necessary to make it work on the non-Apple hardware. My point is that this may be perfectly legal in many jurisdictions outside the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 I would certainly be willing to pay for it, if it’s at a sensible price (say the same as the current PPC version). It’s a brilliant piece of software and anything to liberate me from windows or the excessive complexities of Linux. I personally think apple can sell OS X to pc builders and retail out lets with out harming their hardware sales. At least they would make much more from the software than they lost in hardware sales. Increasing the OS market penetration would eventually increase their hardware sales as using windows becomes less of a given for the average user. As long as they maintained their usually excellent quality and market "apple PC's" as a presume product. After all the margins are so small in the cut throat world of low cast pc (dell and the like) they couldn't survive there anyway. Charlie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ph43drus Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 $200 US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proculo Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 The same I paid for my copy of Tiger, 129.00 € :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binarynova Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 I'd pay the regular price of Mac OS X Tiger (or maybe a bit more ) *imagines triple-booting WinXP, Gentoo Linux, Max OS X Tiger* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghw9132 Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 I'd be willing to pay $300 for a family license Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaunC1000 Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 I would be willing to pay $200.. I like OSX.. I just hate Apple hardware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iLeader Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 I'd pay $129 bucks for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missile Command Kid Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 Easily $150. With good third-party support (including MS), up to $300. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coretext Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 I wouldnt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghw9132 Posted August 14, 2005 Share Posted August 14, 2005 coretext, you're the reason why Apple may never realease a generic version of OSx86 that would run on any hardware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_Delish Posted August 14, 2005 Share Posted August 14, 2005 $199 US for a 5 user Family Pack ! :mellow: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winston10 Posted August 14, 2005 Share Posted August 14, 2005 The same price as OS X goes for now. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> But there are this stupid little problems with the driver! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riso Posted August 14, 2005 Share Posted August 14, 2005 It needs to be priced lower than Windows for market penetration. And I certainly, wouldn't buy it, if it were more expensive than Windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squeeky Posted August 15, 2005 Share Posted August 15, 2005 I'd say 200$ is the limit. Since there is not distinction between a home and a pro version (like wiindows) I guess the price should be close to that of the home version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJx Posted August 15, 2005 Share Posted August 15, 2005 no more than $200, and it has to support ALL the hardware that PC can Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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