Paul Thurrott, a , said, "It is laughable. It's such a brazen play on their part to juice people for as much money as they can get."

This MBA textbook-style attempt to maximize revenue by divvying up features by customer segment is actually hurting Microsoft, said , an independent analyst.

He said Microsoft's decision to strip Active Directory features from consumer versions of meant that workers running Macs at home or on personal laptops have an easier time hooking up to their corporate network than many Vista users.

That is helping Apple gain the , Enderle said.

"In effect, this screwy SKU thing has given Apple an advantage in enterprises that Microsoft has taken away from itself and probably will be one of the primary things slowing Windows 7 adoption" should it come in multiple editions, he said.