"Microsoft still has the audacity to charge several hundred dollars for their OS."
That's really disingenuous, given that
1) the consumer versions of Windows traditionally cost less than $100
2) Microsoft doesn't make money on hardware, whereas the cost of Apple's OSes is priced into Mac hardware
You don't get to tut-tut Microsoft for an expensive OS (that runs on the consumer's choice of commodity hardware, cheap or expensive) when you pay a premium on a Mac all-in-one computer. You can justify Apple's OS pricing as being easy to stomach all you want - ultimately it's your choice to buy into the intended psychology of their pricing strategy - but don't try to paint that as a rational, fair comparison.
"Windows 7 Home Premium" is about $100, but if you want professional you must pay significantly more. "Windows 7 Professional" is $149. "Windows 7 Ultimate" is $199.
You can get OEM copies for less from places like NewEgg if you buy hardware, but never as low as the big OEMs pay.
When a decent computer was over $2,000 the cost of Windows + DOS was around $85-100. Now the same computer costs about $500 and Windows is as much as $199.
That's really disingenuous, given that
1) the consumer versions of Windows traditionally cost less than $100
2) Microsoft doesn't make money on hardware, whereas the cost of Apple's OSes is priced into Mac hardware
You don't get to tut-tut Microsoft for an expensive OS (that runs on the consumer's choice of commodity hardware, cheap or expensive) when you pay a premium on a Mac all-in-one computer. You can justify Apple's OS pricing as being easy to stomach all you want - ultimately it's your choice to buy into the intended psychology of their pricing strategy - but don't try to paint that as a rational, fair comparison.