lopes@cogsci.ucsd.EDU (alann lopes) (02/15/91)
In article <1991Feb14.023744.14888@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> dmk8r@plaid.cs.Virginia.EDU (Darrell M. Kienzle) writes: >Correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it, anyone who qualifies as >"a computing professional" qualifies for Excel 3.0 for $129. I have a friend >who received this offer from Microsoft simply because he was on the right >mailing list. Coincidentally, being a REGISTERED OWNER of Excel 2.1, I was >offered the exact same upgrade price! > >I am also a very loyal owner of Microsoft Word 5.5, and was told that it >would cost me $150 to upgrade to Word for Windows. I now read on this >newsgroup that any owner of any competing word processor qualifies for a >special $129 price! > >Needless to say, I am not at all pleased with these developments. Gone >are the days of free minor upgrades - now Microsoft charges big bucks for >what are often bug fixes. > >I understand that upgrading software can be expensive, but this is getting >a little ridiculous. They have managed to completely alienate a formerly >very loyal customer, and that never makes good business sense. > >Is there anyone else out there that is feeling equally dumped upon ? > >Darrell Kienzle (a poor graduate student who can't afford an update a month) >dmk8r@Virginia.EDU Darrell, I absolutely agree with you. I have spent thousands of dollars on Microsoft products in the last few years, and now they want a loyal customer to pay as much for w4w and excel BUG FIX upgrades as the average Joe who owns a spread sheet and/or a word processor. I called MS with this question, and all they could say was, "I'm sorry but this is the decision of our product marketing team, I can't do anything about it". Well, I will do something about it. I will stop buying MS products until they develop a more equitable upgrade policy. I urge others with similar views to call Microsoft and let them known how you feel. Thanks -- alann -------------------------------------------------------- alann lopes: alopes@ucsd.edu -- internet Programmer/Analyst lopes@cogsci.ucsd.edu -- internet (619) 534-7417 ALOPES@UCSD -- bitnet ...!ucsd!alopes -- uucp --------------------------------------------------------
altman@sbpmt.cs.sunysb.edu (Jeff Altman) (02/15/91)
In article <1991Feb14.023744.14888@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> dmk8r@plaid.cs.Virginia.EDU (Darrell M. Kienzle) writes: > >I am also a very loyal owner of Microsoft Word 5.5, and was told that it >would cost me $150 to upgrade to Word for Windows. I now read on this >newsgroup that any owner of any competing word processor qualifies for a >special $129 price! > [deleted some stuff] > >I understand that upgrading software can be expensive, but this is getting >a little ridiculous. They have managed to completely alienate a formerly >very loyal customer, and that never makes good business sense. Cool down, a bit. First, of all as a Word for DOS owner you too qualify for the special $129 upgrade offer. Word for DOS is listed right after WP, WS, MM, and DW. Now regarding upgrade costs. Do you feel that you have received the value of the software you have purchased? Do you need the additional features? If not, then don't upgrade! As far as preferrential treatment goes, do you believe that you should always be guarranteed a better price simply because you bought the product once before. You could also think of it this way, now you have the opportunity to upgrade from your current Word Processor or spreadsheet to whichever company has the best one around at the time. This is because the cost of Ami Pro, WfW, and WPfW are all going to hve the same price for people that already have one. If you want incremental upgrades every few months go to WPCorp. That is their policy. The cost is either a flat fee per year to be put on a automatic upgrade mailing list, or $10 per incremental release. And then when there is a major release they hit you for the big bucks. MS charged $10 for the C6.00a bug fix upgrade. MS charges $20 for the latest Windows bug fix upgrade (only if you can't convince them that you need it.) [* I received Excel 2.1D, Win 3.0a, all for free because I was able to explain to MS Tech Support what the problem was that the incremental upgrade fixed. They usually shipped it OVernight FedEx. *] What is the problem? -- - Jeff (jaltman@ccmail.sunysb.edu)
burgoyne@eng.umd.edu (John R. Burgoyne) (02/15/91)
In article <1991Feb14.023744.14888@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> dmk8r@plaid.cs.Virginia.EDU (Darrell M. Kienzle) writes: >Correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it, anyone who qualifies as >"a computing professional" qualifies for Excel 3.0 for $129. I have a friend >who received this offer from Microsoft simply because he was on the right >mailing list. Coincidentally, being a REGISTERED OWNER of Excel 2.1, I was >offered the exact same upgrade price! > >I am also a very loyal owner of Microsoft Word 5.5, and was told that it >would cost me $150 to upgrade to Word for Windows. I now read on this >newsgroup that any owner of any competing word processor qualifies for a >special $129 price! > >Needless to say, I am not at all pleased with these developments. Gone >are the days of free minor upgrades - now Microsoft charges big bucks for >what are often bug fixes. > >I understand that upgrading software can be expensive, but this is getting >a little ridiculous. They have managed to completely alienate a formerly >very loyal customer, and that never makes good business sense. > >Is there anyone else out there that is feeling equally dumped upon ? > >Darrell Kienzle (a poor graduate student who can't afford an update a month) >dmk8r@Virginia.EDU Upgrades for academic editions cost more than the orinal cost for some products also. Like the saying goes "Make hay while the sun shines". Microsoft can afford to charge high prices for their upgrades because windows is hot and people are willing to pay for it. 2 years ago, people weren't. 2 years from now, maybe they won't be. But, MS will have a big cash cushion to fall back on. Final note: Microsoft stock prices (Approximate) MSFFT, NASDAQ 5/1/90 58 No formal Windows announcement 5/20/90 78 After the " " 2/13/91 105 Selling lots of windows stuff now. Robert
aaron@jessica.stanford.edu (Aaron Wallace) (02/16/91)
In article <294@cogsci.ucsd.EDU> lopes@cogsci (alann lopes) writes: >In article <1991Feb14.023744.14888@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> dmk8r@plaid.cs.Virginia.EDU (Darrell M. Kienzle) writes: > >Darrell, I absolutely agree with you. I have spent thousands of dollars on >Microsoft products in the last few years, and now they want a loyal customer >to pay as much for w4w and excel BUG FIX upgrades as the average Joe who >owns a spread sheet and/or a word processor. Waitaminute. The bug fixes for Excel (2.1c, d) were quite cheap if I remember; maybe even free. The "bug fix" for WfW was $7.50 (1.0->1.1). These are certainly in line with the policies of WordPerfect or samna, for instance. Excel 2.1d->3.0 is not a bug fix; this is a major upgrade. If you don't think it's worth $129, no one is forcing you to pay. In my article that started all this, I quoted the word "upgrade" for a reason. Microsoft's new pitch is not a true upgrade policy. Going from Word 5.5 to WfW is not a mere upgrade; it could probably be called a change of lifestyle! Okay, so those with MS products may feel slighted by the fact that anyone can "upgrade" for $129, but this was the upgrade price before this new "upgrade" plan (at least). For those who want to get a few real Windows applications, this is a good plan. >I called MS with this question, >and all they could say was, "I'm sorry but this is the decision of our >product marketing team, I can't do anything about it". Well, I will do >something about it. I will stop buying MS products until they develop a >more equitable upgrade policy. I urge others with similar views to call >Microsoft and let them known how you feel. That's your choice, and if enough people do complain, they'll probably change things. Don't expect many complaints from those upgrading their antedeluvian copies of WordStar or MultiMate, though... Aaron Wallace
hp0p+@andrew.cmu.edu (Hokkun Pang) (02/16/91)
... actually, you should feel lucky to have been offered any upgrade! can you upgrade your books? :-) no, your borland software is *not* a book.
db3l@ibm.com (David Bolen) (02/20/91)
In article <298@cogsci.ucsd.EDU> lopes@cogsci.ucsd.EDU (alann lopes) writes: >I do believe that Microsoft's upgrade pollicy for MSC 5.1,6.0,6.0a has >been fair, and that some of their other Developer's tools have been >reasonably priced. Well, I have to admit that I was VERY disappointed that Microsoft had the audacity to charge $15 or so for the set of fix diskettes for MSC 6.0a. MSC 6.0 as shipped was worthless to me - its bug list was truly amazing, and many of the bugs simply prevented me from trusting any of my development to it. So I had spent a good deal of money on a worthless compiler (from my point of view). I didn't return it immediately - after all, this was a new compiler, and I figured Microsoft would fix the problems. So they did, and came out with the set of fixes making 6.0 usable, and they wanted to charge me for them??? These weren't just some minor bug fixes or enhancements - these were *necessary* fixes to create a usable compiler (in my view). I figured Microsoft owed all owners of 6.0 the update. It may not have been in the best interest for Microsoft economically to provide the update for free, but not doing so sure lowered this customer's opinion of them. Initially, they even wanted to have me buy a copy of the update for each copy of the compiler I had! - something they eventually dropped. I understand having costs for a product update, especially when that update provides new features. I think Microsoft dropped the ball on the 6.0-6.0a update though as it was more than just an update to an existing product - it was a required set of fixes to create a usable product. Their charge was just like bumping the price of the 6.0 compiler. -- -- David -- /-----------------------------------------------------------------------\ \ David Bolen / | Laboratory Automation, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center | / P.O. Box 218, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598 \ | - - - - - - - - - - - - M i t h r a n d i r - - - - - - - - - - - - | | Internet : db3l@ibm.com | Bitnet : db3l@yktvmv | | Usenet : uunet!bywater!arnor!larios!db3l | Phone : (914) 945-1940 | | /---------------------------------------------------------------\ | \-( All comments/opinions are mine and don't represent those of IBM )-/ \---------------------------------------------------------------/
omh@cs.brown.edu (Owen M. Hartnett) (02/20/91)
How do you get the upgrade for MSC6.0? I think I've got the non-a version. Also, is there an upgrade for SDK? Thanks, Owen Owen Hartnett omh@cs.brown.edu.CSNET Brown University Computer Science omh@cs.brown.edu uunet!brunix!omh "Don't wait up for me tonight because I won't be home for a month."