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Windows Vista Articles >> Windows Vista Pricing in Europe: Excuse me?

I fell off my chair. I was doing some research for an article when my editor asked me via messenger if I could add the latest prices for Windows Vista Ultimate to the report (I was writing a Vista review). So I went to www.preissuchmaschine.de which is a website that compares prices of a product across dozens of retailers...

I thought Microsoft must be kidding. The price for Windows Vista Ultimate is currently between 454€ (602 USD) and 579€ (767 USD). And did you know about the price situation in the US? Microsoft is selling the same product version there for 399 USD. Do the math. This price difference is simply outrageous. Even in other European countries this situation is not much different. The question is: Why?

I immediatelly called Microsoft Germany to ask about the situation. All they had to say was: “Sorry, we did not give out the official prices - that is up to the retailers”. Well, then I wonder how exactly the retailers did make those prices up? How can anyone logically explain a 200 USD difference between the prices?
I also called a couple of German retailers but they could not give me an answer and told me to write to their E-Mail adress. And, well, somehow I also doubt I’ll ever get a reasonable answer to this question.

Seems like Microsoft, for some unknown reasons, wants to raise the level of piracy over here. I truly believe that a price of 399$ for the excellent Ultimate Edition is justified - like the prices for all the other product editions. But who is willing to pay 454€?

Am I missing something here? What do you think? Shoot me an E-Mail! I will post the best comments on this page.