Jeroen’s weblog

I’ve been fairly critical of the Virtual Server 2005 R2 plans, mostly because I felt it to be unreasonable for current customers to have to invest in a new license just to be able to use their $999 Virtual Server 2005 Enterprise license effectively with Microsoft’s own then current server platform. There have been some positive developments however, such as a substantial lowering of the price of Virtual Server (both editions have dropped 80%, the Standard went from $499 to $99 for instance) and the availability of updated additions to use with Server 2003 SP1 on the original edition of VS2005. Furthermore, participants in the Virtual Server 2005 R2 program have received a free Enterprise license of the final R2 release.

So all in all, it’s not as bad as it looked, but I still wonder if this new pricing strategy is the way to go. I mean, perhaps the original plan was to sell VS for $499 (Standard) and then just update it for a couple of years with free service packs. Somewhere along the way, SP1 turned into R2 and the strategy was modified from releasing lots of free service packs, to releasing lots of relatively cheap new versions of the product. In the end it doesn’t make such a big difference, because if you buy three $200 products or a single $600 product in the course of a couple of years, you end up spending about the same.

The good here is that you don’t have to commit to the entire lifespan of the product in the new scheme, since if you don’t like R2, you can skip the 2006 release and cut your losses. I just wonder if, from Microsoft’s perspective, it’s a smart idea for them to periodically remind their customers that their stuff needs to be paid for every once in a while instead of just getting the whole lot up front. Especially in this era of free software. Let’s enjoy it while it lasts.