Ross:
I think the price of PC's has recently dropped because of competition from products like the $500 Mac Mini, which has half as much ram, and no upgrade options. :-)
I think another part of the reason is Microsoft is afraid of Linux. Places like Wal Mart want $500 PC's to sell, and Wal Mart gets what they want. Microsoft on the other hand was charging too much for Windows XP, and it was preventing this price point from being reached. So Wal Mart was talking about using Linux instead. Microsoft probably quickly reduced the cost for OEM's to put XP on systems so that they could reach the price point Wal Mart wanted.
Do you have Wal Marts in the UK? Do you have many of them? Maybe that is why your prices havan't dropped as much?
I think the price of PC's has recently dropped because of competition from products like the $500 Mac Mini, which has half as much ram, and no upgrade options. :-)
I think another part of the reason is Microsoft is afraid of Linux. Places like Wal Mart want $500 PC's to sell, and Wal Mart gets what they want. Microsoft on the other hand was charging too much for Windows XP, and it was preventing this price point from being reached. So Wal Mart was talking about using Linux instead. Microsoft probably quickly reduced the cost for OEM's to put XP on systems so that they could reach the price point Wal Mart wanted.
Do you have Wal Marts in the UK? Do you have many of them? Maybe that is why your prices havan't dropped as much?