Is there a specific reason why Vista Home Premium (Retail) costs $ 229 (~€ 177) in the US and a Whopping € 360 in Europe (Based on Amazon.com/Amazon.fr prices)? Not to mention the Ultimate at $ 379.99 (~€ 293), against € 595 (~$ 771 !!!) in Europe. I mean, most things are slightly more expensive (about 20-25%) in Europe due to the strong Euro, but a full 100% (or more) price differential? This is an outrage! At least allow me to order it in the US then, but amazon won't ship outside US...

I am getting sick of being ripped off, and how is this helping to prevent piracy?...

*EDIT* oops, in my anger I posted this in the XP thread instead of Vista. Anger hasn't subsided yet, though...

I imagine the reason for the outrageous price is because Europe is making it difficult for MS to sell the OS in Europe. They have to make changes to the OS to comply with European law. Here is an article that talks about it. I'm not saying the price is justified, but it is what it is, and bitching about it isn't going to change it. I say just stick with XP.

With prices like that, Linux will become more popular for sure...and piracy.

All companies selling in Europe are using the lack of dollar-Euro parity to jack up prices, but that's extreme....Ipods sell for the same price in Euros as they do in dollars, meaning an instant extra 30% profit for Apple!

Sure is gonna make piracy shoot through the roof. In Bulgaria, Vista Business runs for 5 Euro... But again,, it's not a real copy.