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By Quentin Fottrell

The most surprising announcement at Apple's (AAPL) event Tuesday wasn't the new and thinner iPad or the revved up MacBooks, but rather the company's decision to give away the software that runs its computers. The Mac OS X operating system, for which in the past Apple has charged as much as $169, is now free.

But not exactly, tech analysts say. Even though Microsoft (MSFT) and other companies will now be under pressure to follow suit, all this free software will probably come at a price -- meaning that it will be baked into the cost of hardware and other services going forward. (Microsoft owns and publishes MSN Money.)

"Today, we're going to revolutionize pricing," Craig Federighi, who heads up Apple's operating systems, said of the new OS. Mavericks, as the software has been dubbed, will be faster and use up only the amount of battery the task requires, but critically -- it will keep computer users within Apple's ecosystem.

"It looks like Apple is trying to reinvent the economics of the entire industry," says technology analyst Jeff Kagan. "On the one hand, it's unsettling for its competitors. On the other hand, what the heck took them so long?"

It's a change of strategy for Apple, although it's not the first time the company has given away its operating system. The Mac OS was free from 1984 to 1991, and Apple first charged $95 for the 7.1 version in 1992.

But tech pros say the timing is critical. "It's a reverse of the Microsoft ecosystem, where Office is the cash cow and the margins on hardware are slim to none in some cases," says Mark Spoonauer, editor in chief at LaptopMag.com. "Amazon (AMZN) has come up in price a bit, but makes its money on content and Amazon Prime subscriptions, so it's also the reverse of Apple."

With Apple's announcement, this ecosystem has officially become more important than the operating system, says e-commerce consultant Bryan Eisenberg. Computer and smartphone companies are locked in a gold rush to supply consumers with their technology so they become a one-stop shop for everything from movies and music to books and garden furniture.

"Apple has basically established that there is more value than just an operating system," Eisenberg says. "It makes boatloads of money from the whole ecosystem. Give people a great experience and they will pay for extras."

Other companies already offer their software on a subscription model rather than licensing their products, says Offir Gutelzon, founder and CEO of Keepy, a digital file-sharing site. Adobe's (ADBE) Creative Cloud offers a range of software for $50 a month on a yearly contract, or $70 month-to-month. (Some popular apps like Photoshop and Premiere Pro can still be licensed for $19.99 per month on a one-year contract.) Similarly, Google (GOOG) Cloud offers the word processing software Google Docs and photo-sharing site Google Picasa for free. But, like Apple, it also charges for storage. "Over time, people will pay and pay and pay," Gutelzon says.

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Mac software isn't really free

October 23, 2013, 2:13 PM Apple's Free Software and Microsoft Apple just made OS X Mavericks and the iLife and iWork applications free. Fast Company speculates on how this will hurt Microsoft and its Windows franchise.

The largest benefit to Apple, however, could come through the disruption it might bring to Microsoft's business model. Last year, Redmond brought in $19.23 billion from the Windows division, with 65% of that coming from licensing its operating system to OEMs. With Apple offering its sleeker, better-reviewed operating system now for free, Microsoft's pricing for Windows--both to average consumers and enterprise customers, as well as possibly OEMs--will seem outlandishly high by comparison.

Apple also decided to make its iLife and iWork productivity suite free, another headache for Microsoft, which continues to generate significant revenues from its Office suite of products. Certainly, Apple's productivity suite doesn't have the adoption rates of Microsoft's Office and Excel programs. But by offering its suite for free, Apple--of all companies--makes Microsoft look greedy for deciding this year to start charging for Office 365 on an annual subscription basis: $99 per year. As Apple executive Eddy Cue snarked, "Others would have you pay a small fortune" to use their software.

More at Fast Company

I think it's a little too early to be writing Microsoft's obituary. But there's no doubt that these moves by Apple make its mobile and desktop platforms more appealing than Windows in terms of software costs.

We'll have to wait and see how things play out though to really know how much it will hurt Microsoft. They can't be happy about this in Redmond though, it's yet another smack upside their heads by Apple.

A Review of OS X Mavericks PCMag takes a look at what OS X Mavericks has to offer.

Year after year, Apple proves that it knows exactly what's needed in an operating system upgrade. Just like the last few upgrades of Apple's desktop-and-laptop operating system, OS X Mavericks (free) smoothly slots in a few hundred new features, but doesn't force you to forget what you already knew about OS X or send you on wild-goose chases for features that you used to rely on.

Once again, Mavericks shows that Apple got it right when it chose to create separate operating systems for computers on one hand and for phones and tablets on the other. OS X is the smoothest, most reliable, most convenient, and most manageable consumer-level operating system on the planet, and you'll need a very good reason to choose anything else.

OS X remains the best consumer-level desktop operating system, despite Microsoft's impressive catch-up in Windows 8.1. Top-notch, unobtrusive security is a major plus, as is tight integration with social media and the ability to run Windows applications through third-party apps.

Read more from the original source:
Will Apple's free software finally destroy Microsoft?

Microsoft: Not worried. Photo: Bloomberg

Apple's free software business model What Apple is giving away for free

Microsoft has brushed offApple's move to give away its software, claiming the iWork productivity suite from its rival was "lightweight" and "has never gotten much traction".

The reaction came a day afterApple unveiled its new line of iPadsand announcedmuch of its software and upgrades would be free, including iWork, which competes with Microsoft's top-selling Office suite.

"Since iWork has never gotten much traction, and was already priced like an afterthought, it's hardly that surprising or significant a move," Microsoft corporate vice president Frank Shaw said on the company's blog.

"So, when I see Apple drop the price of their struggling, lightweight productivity apps, I don't see a shot across our bow, I see an attempt to play catch up. I think they, like others, are waking up to the fact that we've built a better solution for people everywhere ... People who want a single, simple, affordable device with the power and flexibility to enhance and support their whole day."

Shaw also defended Microsoft's Surface, the tablet introduced a year ago which had little impact in the market and forced the firm totake a huge $1 billion write-downbefore revamping the device last month.

"Surface and Surface 2 both include Office, the world's most popular, most powerful productivity software for free and are priced below both the iPad 2 and iPad Air respectively," he said.

"Microsoft understands how people work better than anyone else on the planet. We created the personal computing revolution by giving people around the world a low-cost, powerful, easy-to-use device that helped them accomplish an unbelievable array of tasks."

Shaw said Surface "is the most productive tablet you can buy today" because of its Office suite, "more precise" inputs such as a keyboard and trackpad, and "the ability to use apps and documents side by side".

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Microsoft unfazed by 'lightweight' free Apple software

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