Next version of Windows will be cheaper. At least that is how I understand it after Windows 8 engineering team brought us nice DVD playback guide.
DVD playback has it's cost. And that cost was shared among all versions of Windows. Microsoft stated that $2 will get you MPEG-2 decoder. And frankly that is probably everything you need since PCM codec is available on every DVD for your stereo. Since Dolby codec is nice thing to have, let's say that it costs additional $2 (Microsoft didn't state cost).
My expectation is that next version of Windows will cost $4 less than Windows 7. If you are among those Windows users with lot of legacy MPEG-2 based media, you can upgrade your Windows for $5 (additional $1 is for covering distribution cost). I think that everybody wins!
And I am taking bets.
Who really thinks that Windows will be cheaper and that you will be able to buy DVD playback option for $5?