[kbolino]

The end user doesn't pay for the software and so is not even a part of the market at all anymore. The target market of Windows is OEMs and Microsoft's "business partners", with a shift lately from the former to the latter.

Windows is no more sold to your mom or mine than it is to either of us. It's sold to people who aren't even users.

[BlueTemplar]

I see your point, but technically the cost of Windows does get passed on by the OEM to the store and then the consumer.

And that's why when you buy a computer with pre-installed Windows on it, you can now ask the store to remove Windows and give you back that money.