[dpark]

No way this is right. $100 for Windows 7 Starter Edition? Not a chance. W7 Starter probably wouldn't cost that much retail, and there's no way OEMs are paying that much. I've read that HP/Dell/etc pay more like $25-$30 for Home Premium, which is several tiers above Starter.

Just so you know, I work for Microsoft, but not on Windows. I have no inside knowledge of Windows OEM pricing, but I'd be very surprised if Starter cost an OEM more than $5-$10.

[mistermann]

the last place i worked paid $35 per desktop for office, so if they're actually paying $110 for windows, i'd suspect there's a kickback happening at the OEM level, not unheard of in many countries.

[yuhong]

Yea, keep in mind the Starter edition is targeted at netbooks, which typically cost around $300.