Windows Five Times the Cost of Mac OS X?


We've all heard of total cost of ownership. But here's an interesting perspective from Roughly Drafted. Here, the author develops a lengthy comparison of the cost of upgrading Mac systems with the various OS X releases, compared with the price of doing business with Windows 2000 through XP.

The article examines the 2000-2006 period, which takes in the original OS X 10.0 release through to the current Tiger 10.4.x OS. Here are the key points:

1. Mac OS X releases cost less the Windows. If you buy retail, OS X usually costs around $129 retail, versus XP Pro's $300 or thereabouts. Score one for Mac.

2. Windows viruses cost. Without even including downtime, the author has - somewhat controversially - added the software and labor costs associated with removing viruses and spyware. The estimate for "Spyware and security cleaning by Geek Squad" over 7 years at $200 per annum equals $1,400.

Then add 7 years' worth of Norton Anti-Virus at 50 bucks outlay for the 2000 edition plus $30 per year for an annual update. Grand total = $230.00 for virus protection.

By contrast, you could - but most likely don't need to - spend money on anti-virus software. Most likely no serious Mac user has done this since 1989 and System 6.

TCO for the OS software? Estimated at $1,800 for Windows and $400 for Mac. That's near-as-dammit 5x more expensive. Or 4 and a bit, anyway.

Quite apart from the fact that Apple doesn't restrict you from loading OS X onto as many Macs as you want, although legally it does. A 5-user family OS X license is most likely cheaper than a multiuser license for Windows as well.

Even if you got either OS with a new box, you still need to factor in A-V software and spring cleaning. Yes, we all know people who entirely abandon their PCs after 18 months when they're so riddled with spyware and viruses.

Are these figures realistic? Should more costs be racked up on either side of the ledger?