Microsoft today opened their dedicated UK online store selling retail Windows and Office products.

This is a good news / bad news story.

The good news is you can now download at the point of sale. So if you need Office 2007 at 3am, well now you can.

The bad news is their online store prices are ridiculous.

Example: Microsoft Office 2007 Professional

Microsoft UK Online Store £449.99 for Download

However…..

Amazon.co.uk Boxed Retail Product is £349.98 (Sold by Amazon)

This is such a crazy world. The company that makes the software can’t sell it cheaper than a competing Internet retailer based on a non physical product.

Microsoft then have the front to charge you extra for shipping and handling if you want a backup DVD of your software.

I find it more or less impossible to recommend anyone purchase from the Microsoft online store based on their pricing model.

Pay more get less, this is borderline moronic.

No doubt there is some anti competitive shenanigans Microsoft has to observe, but really why bother. Another boxed ticked at Microsoft HQ I guess.

Link: https://emea.microsoftstore.com/UK/

PS

If you believe in conspiracy theories this news story is running in the the same news cycle  as Adobe announce a new online collaboration suite  over at www.acrobat.com

Check out this write up

Link: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/adobe_launches_online_office_suite.php

I’m not kidding about the conspiracy either I monitor several Microsoft UK employees blogs and each one of them posted about the Microsoft online store one after each other like dominoes.