Major upgrades, such as Leopard, are pay-to-play. Usually $129.
Minor upgrades, released every couple of months or so, are free.
You can tell by the version numbers... 10.3 to 10.4 would be a major upgrade, while 10.4 to 10.4.1 would be a minor upgrade. Going to Leopard will be 10.4.x -> 10.5, and a major upgrade.
And no, there is no 'upgrade price' vs. 'full price'. You buy the full version with the Mac, *all* later upgrades are at upgrade price.
When steve Jobs announced that Leopard would provide the complete package. Did he mean eveything? Including iWork '07 (pages, numbers, charts and keynote). Thoughs?
chirho, just to add, it's similar with the iWorks/iLife bundles, except you have to pay for major versions of those instead of major upgrades. (e.g. 2.x->3.x is a version change that you have to pay for)
wrt upgrade price, in the past I believe (I could be wrong) there was such a thing as a cheaper, upgrade version. But this has not existed for a long while, now. Bear in mind, however, that Apple's pricing is generally very reasonable, and comparable to what other similar software would sell for with upgrade discounts.
The only discounted rates that Apple usually offers are volume pricing. For example, instead of buying 2 copies of iLife at $79 a piece for your two home computers, you can get a "family pack" for $99 that gives you 5 licenses. Note that these licenses are only for computers in the same residence.
Because the extra cost is reasonable, I'm one of those people that will actually pay for the "family pack."
The only discounted rates that Apple usually offers are volume pricing. For example, instead of buying 2 copies of iLife at $79 a piece for your two home computers, you can get a "family pack" for $99 that gives you 5 licenses. Note that these licenses are only for computers in the same residence.
Because the extra cost is reasonable, I'm one of those people that will actually pay for the "family pack."
Comments
Minor upgrades, released every couple of months or so, are free.
You can tell by the version numbers... 10.3 to 10.4 would be a major upgrade, while 10.4 to 10.4.1 would be a minor upgrade. Going to Leopard will be 10.4.x -> 10.5, and a major upgrade.
And no, there is no 'upgrade price' vs. 'full price'. You buy the full version with the Mac, *all* later upgrades are at upgrade price.
wrt upgrade price, in the past I believe (I could be wrong) there was such a thing as a cheaper, upgrade version. But this has not existed for a long while, now. Bear in mind, however, that Apple's pricing is generally very reasonable, and comparable to what other similar software would sell for with upgrade discounts.
Because the extra cost is reasonable, I'm one of those people that will actually pay for the "family pack."
The only discounted rates that Apple usually offers are volume pricing. For example, instead of buying 2 copies of iLife at $79 a piece for your two home computers, you can get a "family pack" for $99 that gives you 5 licenses. Note that these licenses are only for computers in the same residence.
Because the extra cost is reasonable, I'm one of those people that will actually pay for the "family pack."
I agree. Apple software pricing is awesome.