I just found a website where you can sign a petition against the high prices of Windows Vista in the UK. You can visit that site HERE. I don't live in the UK, but many people here on HWF do.
Some people will never be happy! Vista is the cheapest Windows by far. Im sure I remember seeing it for £60 or something. Better than £280 like XP was.
"There is a huge difference in the price that people in the US and the UK are paying for Windows Vista the new Microsoft Operating System. As an example of this, in the UK a full copy of Vista Ultimate would cost you £350, in the US it would cost you £195. The US version of Vista is exactly the same as the UK version. There is no difference. Therefore I can see no reason for there to be such a huge difference in prices between the UK and the US other than Microsofts belief that the UK customers will pay more than their US counterparts. I ask people to sign this petition in the hope that the Prime Minister will bring pressure to bear on Microsoft over their pricing as it is my belief they are simply overcharging the people of the UK and therefore are ripping us off." uhm.... meh? I don't see they can even get away with charging anything for a product which they have no responsibility for if anything bad happens!
Remember those fines the EU gave Microsoft? You think they're just going to roll over and take it? Another *possible* factor is import tarrifs. I know the US has import tarrifs on certain things, which adds to the cost of products. I would imagine a similar scenario for European countries.
Everything costs less in the US (pretty well) so its a bit unfair to single out Microsoft with a petition. Im sure there are petitions for the broader picture but they will never get anyware. Its just the way stuff works Yeah, im sure import taxes n stuff will come into it somewhere even if its just admin costs at the docks. Saying that it was cheaper for my dad to buy an air-con part for his land rover that had been made in the UK, sent to the US and then bought mail order and sent back to the UK. It was like half the price or something. The Minolta camera was the same, and my iRiver PMP140. I think I might sign that petition after all. I just checked the prices... its £72 (not £60) from overclockers and £140 in PC World. Theres shopping around for you! Thats Home Premium.
EVERYTHING IS NOT CHEAPER, its just like you said though, stuff manufactured there is cheaper for you, stuff manufactured here is cheaper for us, that why most people here drive American cars, in Europe european cars, in Japan japanese cars. Thats the reason why german cars are so sweet here, there are huge taxes on them, so they cause a boat load, especially the exotics. Yeah that was pretty off topic, and you do have your point, i'm not shooting you down, most things do seem to be more expensive in the UK.
