Is it wrong for Microsoft to announce that the new operating system will be free?
Of course, it's not wrong. Although Microsoft is late to announce this, it's better than nothing. After all, Microsoft still has some of its core products. If Microsoft had made the operating system free, they might be able to do the same thing as the Daqian.
But the problem is, Microsoft made a generous decision, but they also made a stingy decision.
That was, they would not refund the money of all the users who had spent money on the original Windows Vista system.
Let's say you're a legitimate user. You just spent 199 USD to buy a Windows Vista product that others think is a waste of money. You're spending money on your feelings.
But the next day, Microsoft announced that Windows Vista will be free, and everyone can download the original operating system. How will you feel?
If Microsoft knows how to behave, they will refund all the users who had bought the original Windows Vista. Anyway, the total cost is less than 2 million USD. Although Microsoft is short of money, it is not short of 2 million USD.
But Microsoft does not want to give up 2 million USD. I am selling it openly, and why should they refund me?!
In the end, Microsoft's fans, who were still willing to fork out money, were heartbroken. They immediately changed their Windows Vista to the latest Hongmeng operating system and bid farewell to Microsoft.
Then, did Windows Vista attract free users as it wished?
The answer is: Yes, but not a lot. Very few.
This is Microsoft's second mistake. They did not prepare beforehand and announced that Windows Vista will be free.
This caused the distribution channels to be unable to catch up.
Everyone knows that if a software is free, the offline distribution channels will be cut off. This is because no merchant will be willing to sell a free software without any profits.
That's why the free software can only be downloaded online.
But Microsoft is too hasty and did not consider these two problems.
After Microsoft announced that Windows Vista will be free, all the distributors are shocked. In the past, more than 95% of Microsoft's software is sold through offline distribution channels. They rely on CD to install the software. This way, Microsoft has lots of offline distribution partners.
These business partners wanted to reap profits directly from the discs. In the end, when Windows Vista became free, all the discs that were sold offline immediately became trash. It was impossible to sell them.
These offline channel merchants who had spent money to obtain the goods were all dumbfounded. After all, they had paid a lot of agent fees in order to obtain the right to sell the Windows system. In the end, the Windows system was completely free. They had nothing to earn from it.
The angry sellers could only return the goods immediately.
Although less than 10,000 copies of Windows Vista were sold, the distributors thought they could sell more than 1 million copies. That's why the distributors had paid for the discs, but they could not sell the discs. They could only ask Microsoft for a full refund.
Microsoft had wanted to refund Feng Yu's money. But when Microsoft checked his account, all the money was gone!
Yes, the money collected from the dealers was gone. After careful investigation, it turned out that the money was used to make up for last month's salary.
The distributors want to refund the money, but there is no money in Microsoft's account. Microsoft cannot refund the money.
In fact, there was a way to solve the problem at this time. That was to appease these dealers and tell them to go through the process. After four to five months, they would be able to refund the money.
After that, the distributors can use all kinds of financial means to get over this crisis. When the free Windows Vista is established, the distributors will be able to repay the money.
But Microsoft's new CEO made an epic decision that will be recorded in history.
That is to change the sales policy of Windows Vista. Digital version and Deluxe version will be introduced. The digital version will be free to download online, and the offline Deluxe version will still be sold at 199 USD.
Of course, to show that this is the Deluxe version, the offline version of Windows Vista will come with a Microsoft coffee mug, a signed photo of all Microsoft R&D team members, and a Microsoft badge. There are a lot of these items in the warehouse, and they were accumulated from the past few years.
Oh, the offline version of Windows Vista can also unlock Microsoft's 3D Pinball games. The online version of Windows Vista does not have any games. These are the benefits of Windows Vista, and it is worth 199 USD.
After that, Microsoft will tell those offline distributors that they had made a mistake. The offline version will not be free, and they can still sell it. So, there is no need to return the discs. It has nothing to do with Microsoft if the discs are not sold!
Then, you can imagine the anger of these offline sellers.
Have you ever seen a deluxe version where the peripherals are not packaged in a box, but in a self-sealing plastic bag. Later on, the peripherals will be delivered to various offline sellers, and finally, a packaging bag will be attached to the packaging box?
Who is willing to spend 199 USD on the offline Deluxe version when there is a free online version?
No matter if you believe it or not, Microsoft believes it. But the distributors do not believe it. So, all the distributors started to create a ruckus in front of Microsoft. In the end, all the distributors sued Microsoft. This matter blew up, and Microsoft's news is all over the news for a period.
Actually, Microsoft's actions are not stupid. On the contrary, Microsoft is very smart.
First, Microsoft does not need to repay the distributors more than 100 million USD. This is very important to Microsoft, which is short of money. If Microsoft needs to pay 100 million USD, they will have to sell themselves.
Secondly, Microsoft is not afraid of offending the distributors because they do not need distributors. Next door, Hongmeng, is the same. 99% of Hongmeng's games are downloaded from the internet. Other than the steam game stores and some PC stores, there are no other places in the world that sell Hongmeng CD-ROM.
Since Microsoft does not need distributors, it is only natural for them to take advantage of the distributors.
In the end, this matter became very popular, and the media started to hype it up. Without spending a single cent on publicity, the news of Windows Vista being sold for free on the Internet spread all over the world through the media. This was textbook negative marketing!
Although negative marketing had a bad reputation, negative marketing was still marketing. Back then, when Origin God had just been released for beta testing, the more the players scolded the game, the worse the reputation of plagiarism was, and the better the current Origin God was.
Now, even the junior marketing students know that it does not matter if it is positive or negative. As long as there is news, it is good marketing.
This is Microsoft's victory!
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