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Canadians will have to pay a little bit more than their Southern neighbors, but everyone can pre-order Windows 7 now

Microsoft's much anticipated Windows Vista successor grabbed headlines yesterday when it was revealed that Windows 7 would retail for slightly less than analysts expected.  The Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate Upgrade packages will retail for $119.99, $199.99 and $219.99 USD, respectively, on October 22, 2009.

However, as part of a two week promotion, early adopters may order the Home Premium and Professional Upgrade editions for just $49.99 and $99.99 respectively.

Microsoft claims the Windows 7 pre-orders available today are part of a limited offer. Pre-orders appear to be limited at just a few hundred copies per store, though Microsoft isn't saying exactly how many they'll take at this time.
Home Premium Upgrade
Professional Upgrade
Canadian adopters may also participate in the pre-order, though at a slightly higher price.  Amazon.ca lists the Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade for $64.99 CAD, or approximately $56 USD.  The Professional Upgrade runs for $124.99 CAD, or about $108 USD.

In addition, Microsoft is also taking preorders of the Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade and the Ultimate Standalone Editions in the U.S., but without the cushy discount of the Pro and Home Editions.

Update June 26, 2009: Amazon has also decided to release Ultimate Upgrade and Ultimate Standalone pre-orders for Canada, though neither version offers a discount from the U.S. version or the final retail pricing.

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I never bought an upgrade before
By Totally on 6/26/2009 3:21:59 AM , Rating: 2
can you upgrade from

home prem to pro? or only home prem to home prem, etc.




RE: I never bought an upgrade before
By GoodBytes on 6/26/2009 3:23:57 AM , Rating: 2
How about Vista Ultimate to Win7 Pro?
Does OEM or Retail mater?


RE: I never bought an upgrade before
By Totally on 6/26/2009 3:40:04 AM , Rating: 2
I found the answer after googling, for vista users you can step up but can't step down, doing so requires a fresh install. So i suppose you can go with any upgrade like.


RE: I never bought an upgrade before
By imaheadcase on 6/26/09, Rating: 0
RE: I never bought an upgrade before
By AnnihilatorX on 6/26/09, Rating: 0
RE: I never bought an upgrade before
By just4U on 6/26/2009 7:44:25 AM , Rating: 2
What do you mean? Every single computer shop (that sells parts) sells OEM copies of windows. If it's not legal Microsoft wouldn't be shipping them boatloads of copies.

As to customer support.. Well hell, a good majority of us who build custom computers for others are also on call to support them if there's a problem so there is rarely a reason to even call Microsoft to begin with.


RE: I never bought an upgrade before
By callmeroy on 6/26/2009 8:15:34 AM , Rating: 3
quote:
Microsoft support can refuse to help you if you use OEM license on a custom PC. Not that I have had this experience.


You are right on the support part (and its not they "can" refuse -- they simply will NOT offer help at all once they learn its OEM its no "they might" kind of thing)....you are, however, completely wrong on the OEM legality issue with a custom PC. In fact that's actually what the intent of the OEM license program was --- for custom PC builders.

There are a few notes to keep in mind however:

1. OEM licenses are not supposed to be sold as a stand alone basis --- they are supposed to accompany new hardware purchases. The truth --- many online shops will just say "unless you buy another component we can sell you an OEM license" --- so folks will literally buy like a cheapo mouse and the shop will say "ok that's good enough"....if you want to take a very strict stance -- the hardware purpose is "supposed" to be a computer or at least a major critical component or components (mobo, hard drive, etc.).

2. You can't legally transfer the license around to various machines if it's OEM -- OEM is tied to the hardware you purcahsed it with.

Now do folks actually follow the two rules? The first rule, yeah mostly. The second rule --- yeaaaaah riiiiiiight!


By mmntech on 6/26/2009 7:36:31 PM , Rating: 2
I never knew about the support thing. Just another way for Microsoft to screw their customers since most builders can't/don't want to pay the outrageous prices for retail versions that are essentially identical aside from the single license thing.

Like one of the others said, I thought they were going to offer the full versions as well. I guess I'll pick up the cheap upgrade pack for my laptop but I need to do a full clean install for my desktop. I guess I'll have to wait for the OEM copy to come out. I want pro for both but the price is still a little too rich for my blood. Maybe I'll just keep Vista on my laptop since I rarely use it anyway.


By namechamps on 6/26/2009 8:43:33 AM , Rating: 5
Got a link to a <$49/$99 OEM pricing?

OEM pricing will be less than full retail but based on Vista & XP OEM pricing it will be more than $49.


RE: I never bought an upgrade before
By Spuke on 6/26/2009 9:51:07 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Does OEM or Retail mater?
I'd like to know this too.


RE: I never bought an upgrade before
By xKeGSx on 6/26/2009 5:58:04 PM , Rating: 2
I would imagine OEM and retail does not matter or else they would be isolating everyone who has bought a computer from Dell, HP, etc. ie everyone except for us. What I would like to know is why Windows 7 Ultimate is not a part of this deal. I manage to take advantage of the ultimate steal because I was a qualifying student and enjoy having the ultimate version. I would pay $120 for it assuming it would roughly follow the same trend as the other two versions.

P.S. I know the ultimate version of Vista turned out to not have all the promises made for it realized, but for $65 it was my cheapest option.


By initialised on 6/26/2009 8:19:44 PM , Rating: 2
Free OEM Deal in the US: http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/LandingPages/win7/

And £10 in UK: https://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/LandingPages/wi...

No Basic to Starter
Premium to Premium
Business to Professional
Ultimate to Ultimate

Clean installs will be available with the UK discs due to EU regulations. I'm not sure if upgarde install will be possible for EU customers.


Disappointed :(
By myhipsi on 6/26/2009 10:28:40 AM , Rating: 2
I was hoping that MS would offer a discount on the Full Retail version for pre-order. Unfortunately it's only on the "Upgrade". Windows 7 Professional is listed as $329.00 for pre-order on amazon.ca. Way too much, IMHO. Windows 7 Home Premium is listed as $224.95 which is not too bad, but not great either.

I was hoping for some pre-order discounts on the full versions, or at the very least some volume discounts (I have 4 PCs at home I'd like to put Windows 7 on). Even for the home premium version, I'd have to spend over $1000.00 when you include taxes/shipping to outfit all my PCs. I guess when the RC dies in June of 2010 I'll have to revert back to XP or vista.

Bummer.




RE: Disappointed :(
By Spuke on 6/26/2009 11:50:12 AM , Rating: 3
Why would you revert back to Vista or XP when both products qualify for the upgrade?


RE: Disappointed :(
By namechamps on 6/26/2009 2:30:24 PM , Rating: 3
Asumming you have a legal version of XP or Vista why would you buy the full version.

The "upgrade" is capable of a full clean install. It isn't crippled in anyways (limited to upgrade installs only).

The only problem would be if you have neither a legal copy of XP or a legal copy of Vista (even if you pirated one but not the other you would be fine).

If so why would expect anyone to care or cry for you?


RE: Disappointed :(
By myhipsi on 6/26/2009 3:44:19 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
The "upgrade" is capable of a full clean install. It isn't crippled in anyways (limited to upgrade installs only).


Oh, I was under the impression that you had to have a copy of xp or Vista already installed on your machine for the upgrade version to work. Is this not the case? I just didn't want to go through the hassle of installing two OSs everytime I performed a clean install on one of my machines.

quote:
The only problem would be if you have neither a legal copy of XP or a legal copy of Vista (even if you pirated one but not the other you would be fine).

quote:
If so why would expect anyone to care or cry for you?


For starters, where in my post did I mention anything about pirating the software. The fact that I was complaining about the price should tell you otherwise (a pirate wouldn't be concerned about the price). And, secondly, where in my post did I plea for sympathy or for someone to "cry" for me, all I stated was that I was disappointed in the pricing.

You started off your reply being somewhat helpfull and curteous, and ended up sounding like an a-hole. Here's a tip for you, try not to make assumptions about people before you even know what the hell you're talking about.


Incorrect Links
By ExarKun333 on 6/26/2009 8:52:30 AM , Rating: 2
The Newegg links direct you to Amazon, not Newegg.com.




RE: Incorrect Links
By 16nm on 6/26/2009 9:13:22 AM , Rating: 2
Yes, it does, so I bought mine from Amazon. They have free shipping.

$49/$99 - ya can't beat this price.


RE: Incorrect Links
By Screwballl on 6/26/2009 9:26:23 AM , Rating: 4
or you can just go to www.newegg.com and right on their front page they have a link for it... I prefer to give Newegg my business as they are the only tech parts company that I have NEVER had a single problem with as far back as I can remember.


Sold
By gmyx on 6/26/2009 7:30:48 AM , Rating: 2
There goes 65$! I have the RC on my MSI Wind U100 and runs great.




RE: Sold
By tallcool1 on 6/26/2009 12:11:43 PM , Rating: 2
Can you use the discouted upgrades on the release canidate build to fully authorize it?

Otherwise I was hoping for the full version to be available at the discounted price.


RE: Sold
By namechamps on 6/26/2009 2:31:59 PM , Rating: 2
No. The RC time limit is hardcoded. You can use an upgrade or full version license to keep it running.

Remember the "upgrade" version can used for a clean install.


Feeling stupid
By Proxes on 6/26/2009 10:17:02 AM , Rating: 2
Since it's not saying 32bit or 64bit on the pre-order links, I'm assuming it comes with both versions?




RE: Feeling stupid
By eddieroolz on 6/26/2009 6:25:35 PM , Rating: 2
I'm not sure, but I heard that the disc ships with both 32bit and 64bit on the disc.

Not sure how you'll switch from 32bit to 64bit without a reinstall, though.


RE: Feeling stupid
By mixpix on 6/28/2009 1:40:43 AM , Rating: 2
Yep you'd have to reinstall. 64bit is the way to go.


Vista Basic
By Slaimus on 6/26/2009 2:12:46 PM , Rating: 2
How come Vista Home Basic cannot be upgraded? All of the XP Home machines sold were given free upgrade to Vista Basic. However, XP Home can be upgraded to Win7 apparently.




RE: Vista Basic
By namechamps on 6/26/2009 2:49:19 PM , Rating: 2
Says who?


RE: Vista Basic
By Slaimus on 6/26/2009 5:54:41 PM , Rating: 2
You're right, I misread the press release. The restriction is that if you buy a new PC with Vista Home Basic, you are not eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 7. These retail copies can upgrade any Vista/XP edition to whatever edition you buy.


RC to Home Premium?
By smackababy on 6/26/2009 8:41:17 AM , Rating: 3
If i have the RC installed, do I have to reinstall Vista or find my Vista disk to use the upgrade? I've never used an upgrade before, except for once and I ended up calling MS to get a new product code. Strangely enough, they gave me one over the phone. I think I will end up buying this.




$10 Less at MicroCenter
By Slaimus on 6/26/2009 10:16:55 AM , Rating: 3
And you don't even have to pay now. You just bring the coupon to get the discount when it is out.

http://www.microcenter.com/storefronts/microsoft/w...




By KITH on 6/26/2009 1:35:27 PM , Rating: 2
Newegg.com has Vista OEM with tech guarantee upgrade coupon for windows 7.

Get Vista now at current low OEM prices and upgrade to Windows 7 for free when it is released.

If you need upgrade only get the $49 pre-order price. If you need full install you can use the Vista OEM at $109 at least at newegg.com

link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...




woot!
By Russell on 6/26/2009 3:53:10 PM , Rating: 2
I have my two copies on order. Can't beat this deal!

As for 32 vs 64 bit, my understanding is that the Windows 7 DVD's contain both versions on the same DVD, unlike how Vista did it.




Ordered Mine!
By mixpix on 6/28/2009 1:37:05 AM , Rating: 2
I ordered 2 copies this morning from Future Shop.




By zavias on 6/29/2009 3:12:23 PM , Rating: 2
I have a little bit of an issue here. I received my Dell Latitude D820 pre-loaded with Vista Ultimate and I want to upgrade it to Windows 7, but I don't want to pay hundreds of dollars to get the Ultimate Upgrade. Is it possible to go from Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Home Premium?




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