If you're a Microsoft reseller, you've heard the same age complaints for decades: Microsoft is evil and its products are too expensive and lack security.

The Microsoft Certified Professional Magazine aims to help worker bees who are confronted with those complaints in an story about "Dealing with Microsoft haters".

Let's skip the 'evil' and 'security' arguments for now and focus on the cost. The story quotes Microsoft partner David Wertz with PC Worlks Plus who claims that: "We do software and application development ourselves, so I know the cost of that. I haven't the foggiest clue what the costs are in developing [Microsoft] operating systems, but it must be incredible." Windows, he concludes, is "not just more money in Bill Gates' pocket."

03 Jul 2006

Wertz clearly has never looked at Microsoft's financial statement. The profit margin for the Microsoft business group representing Windows is about 71 per cent: $8bn profit on revenues of $11.2bn.

In a well functioning, competitive market, Microsoft would have been forced to lower the price of the software – given that the code is about five years old by now and is unable to stay up with advances in hardware development.

If the computer market would look anything like the game console space, Windows's market share by now would have plummeted to a sub zero level. But unfortunately there is no Sony or Nintendo in the computer market to keep Microsoft on its toes.

The $8bn in profit also fails to explain how Linux available free of charge while showing performance and security levels that are similar to those displayed by Microsoft.

Tags: Microsoft, pricing