I was wondering how on Earth Walmart could be offering Linux computers for $200. Then I saw the retail prices on what passes for standard software these days and it began to make sense. Not that you’re going to pay full retail for a new computer bundle, but still… I’m not even sure I like MS Word better than OpenOffice Writer. While the one feature that I miss since my migration is the ability to do a Word Count on a selected portion of text, I quite like the ability to save directly as a PDF.
Microsoft Windows XP Professional 2002 – retail: $270.99
Microsoft Office XP Professional 2002 – retail: $579.99
Norton Antivirus Corporate Edition 2003 – retail: $69.99
OpenOffice 1.1.0 – download time for ~ 200 megs
So maybe the MS solution makes sense if you’re still on a 28.8 modem or something, paying by the minute for your download time.