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Prices have dropped since Windows Vista

At last Microsoft has answered the one major remaining question about Windows 7 -- what the price point will be.  Today Microsoft unleashed a plethora of information, with Windows 7 retail pricing, upgrade information, launch details, and a preorder deal all disclosed.

Likely feeling the heat from competitor Apple's $29 price point for OS X Snow Leopard (set to release in September), Microsoft has reduced the price of its most popular edition -- Home Premium -- to $119.99 for upgrades and $199.99 for full retail copies.  Both price points are $40 less than Vista's original Home Premium price.

Prices for Business and Ultimate version will stay in line with current Windows Vista prices, with the Ultimate price being $40 cheaper than Vista's original debut price.  Please refer to the table below for easy retail and upgrade price comparisons.

Upgrade Retail Pricing:

Windows Vista as of 1/2007 Price Windows Vista as of 2/2008 Price Windows 7 as of 10/2009 Price
Home Premium $159.99 Home Premium $129.99 Home Premium $119.99
Business $199.99 Business $199.99 Professional $199.99
Ultimate $259.99 Ultimate $219.99 Ultimate $219.99

Full Retail Pricing:
Windows Vista as of 1/2007 Price Windows Vista as of 2/2008 price Windows 7 as of 10/2009 Price
Home Premium $239.99 Home Premium $239.99 Home Premium $199.99
Business $299.99 Business $299.99 Professional $299.99
Ultimate $399.99 Ultimate $319.99 Ultimate $319.99

With Windows 7 the version structure (follow the link for comparison of features) has been simplified slightly, which is part of why there's not more of a price drop for Business and Ultimate.  Each version is now a superset of the lesser version(s) below it.  With Windows Vista this was not the case.  So while you may pay the same amount for Professional or Ultimate, Microsoft says you'll get more OS for your money.

Like with Vista, upgrade or purchasing the equivalent of the previous OS version don't require a clean install, while those downgrading does (so a Vista Business to Windows 7 Professional install would not require a clean install).  All XP upgrades will require clean installs, and all 32-bit to 64-bit upgrades will require clean installs.

Microsoft has tried to extend an olive branch to the EU despite having been forced to exclude Internet Explorer from the OS due to antitrust accusations.  It is not going to offer Windows 7 upgrades in Europe, but will instead offer the full retail version at prices equivalent to the American upgrade prices.  Microsoft say that this was the best option, despite being less profitable, as it did not have time to test the functionality of upgrades without Internet Explorer.

From June 26 to July 11, while supplies last Microsoft will offer special preorder pricing.  It will be offering in the U.S. Windows 7 Home Premium for $49.99 and Windows 7 Professional for $99.99, a savings of $70 and $100 respectively (In the U.S. preorders are for upgrade versions).  Canada and Japan enjoy similar deals. 

Microsoft shows Europeans even more loving with Germany and France receiving Windows 7 Home Premium (€49.99) and Windows 7 Professional (€109.99) preorder prices.  The UK, also part of the EU, receives Windows 7 Home Premium (£49.99) and Windows 7 Professional (£99.99) preorder prices.  The EU preorders will be for full versions, and will likely be the cheapest available route to purchase a full retail version.

Microsoft also announced back-to-school upgrade bundle deals.  It will be working with OEMs to offer Vista PCs which come with a copy of Windows 7, ready to upgrade upon release.  Details will be found here.

Windows 7 will be released in 14 languages -- 14 languages: English, Spanish, Japanese, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Chinese (Hong Kong).

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Awesome
By corduroygt on 6/25/2009 10:26:41 AM , Rating: 3
$50 for Home Premium is a steal, and good thing that EU gets punished and has to buy the more expensive versions.




RE: Awesome
By wifiwolf on 6/25/09, Rating: 0
RE: Awesome
By wifiwolf on 6/25/09, Rating: 0
RE: Awesome
By Luticus on 6/25/2009 11:30:59 AM , Rating: 4
"forced to piracy", as if it's their god given right to own whatever software MS produces... Pfft... Look out, if I don't upgrade my OS then my computer will explode or become part of Skynet! I think it's sad that people think this way. I say everyone should buy atleast ONE legal copy of the OS if you're going to use it. If you can't even do that then you're in bad shape and should probably be putting your money toward food and not computer parts... but that's just my opinion.


RE: Awesome
By postalbob on 6/25/09, Rating: 0
RE: Awesome
By SavagePotato on 6/25/2009 4:41:28 PM , Rating: 5
I am confused as to how you were forced into piracy by a virus.

Are you trying to infer that a virus somehow damaged your vista dvd making it so you could not install vista again? You do realize that even if that wasn't physically impossible, the only thing of value with any copy of Windows is the key right? The disc is meaningless.

What is it you are trying to convince people of here exactly?


RE: Awesome
By Samus on 6/25/09, Rating: -1
RE: Awesome
By jadeskye on 6/25/2009 10:21:55 PM , Rating: 5
I'm british and i find that offensive. I thought america had fought several wars to stop persecution of various groups. Yet here you are insulting 500 million people.

I'll also have you know i'm not anti-object orientated. I happen to enjoy my 6 PCs, my 50 inch plasma TV, my xbox 360 with over 90 games and my ever expanding wardrobe.

I think people like yourself forget that America is not the only country with money at it's core.


RE: Awesome
By Ryanman on 6/25/09, Rating: -1
RE: Awesome
By brybir on 6/26/2009 12:02:57 PM , Rating: 5
First, I dont know why the posts keep implying that the fines against US companies are somehow bankrolling the EU. The TOTAL fines from cartel actions (in the billions of Euros and primarily against Euro companies) as well as the fines against monopolies who are abusing their dominant position result in very small proportion of the EU budget.

Secondly, do we really want to be making Microsoft and Intel out to be the "victims" here. Intel has the following issues:

1)Investigated by the FTC at least twice for anti trust violations
2)June 8th, 1998: The FTC issued an antitrust ruling against Intel. The FTC found that Intel stopped providing important technical information about its products to Digital Equipment, Compaq Computer, and Intergraph after the three companies took legal action against Intel to enforce microprocessor patents they held. Intel also threatened to stop selling microprocessors to those companies, the FTC said.
3)Japanese JFTC determined Intel violated Japanese antitrust law
4) EU Raided Intel in 2005 due to anti trust concerns
5)Korean Antitrust regulators fined Intel in 2008 for antitrust violations.
6)EU filed anti trust charges and record fine against Intel
7)Now, New York Attorney General is investigating Intel for anti-trust practices.
See http://pcworld.about.com/od/legalissues/Intel-and-...

As to Microsoft, they were found to be violating US antitrust laws and were even ordered broken into two companies in 2001 if not for the appeals court reversal.

I dont feel bad for either company, as I think its a bit much to have "feeligns" for a corporation. It made a business choice to do business in the EU, it has to play by their rules and if it does not like their rules it does not HAVE to do business there. Its a business choice. And before it gets all about "they pick on US companies" they are very aggressive against European companies as well, with fines against cartels and price fixing being in the billions of euro's each year for the past few years.


RE: Awesome
By PrezWeezy on 6/30/2009 7:32:23 PM , Rating: 2
I agree neither company is perfect. Although I would contend that to be a company of much size you are probably breaking some law if they look hard enough. The real reason people are upset about is the blatant favoritism that the EU has shown against Microsoft especially. They actually wanted Microsoft to package their OS with other browsers. That decision shows an amazing lack of knowledge on the EU's part of how software works.

If Microsoft were to include Firefox they would also be charged with supporting Firefox as problem 1. Problem 2 is that in order to support it I'm sure they would have wanted to make Firefox change some things (security being top of the list as I'm sure we all remember FF being voted the least secure recently), which would have been tried again by the EU as anti-competitive. And 3rdly the ruling was made far too late for any actual change to the product to be made so it was very clearly a purposeful act by the EU to hinder Microsoft.

If they had made this ruling universal and Apple had been fined and ordered to ship other browsers as well as Sun and every OS shipping to Europe it would have been one thing. This was intentionally against Microsoft. The EU's rulings are not based upon competition they are based on size. Because Microsoft is a large company they are all the sudden a large target as well.

I personally thing they are shooting themselves in the foot as I can't imagine the taxes, jobs, and GDP that would be lost if Microsoft pulled out of Europe would be inconsequential; but that's a personal opinion not based on any fact digging.


RE: Awesome
By MrPoletski on 6/28/2009 7:37:43 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
And I'll tell you, personally, that these sham trials have definitely generated negative feelings towards the EU from myself and many other people who keep up with the world news.


We've had to deal with the shinnanigans coming out of your federal government for YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS.


RE: Awesome
By croc on 6/25/2009 10:57:52 PM , Rating: 3
I remember 0s/2 very fondly... True multithreaded OS, great apps, and real unix under the skin... Still have 2.11, warp 3 and warp 4 in my library, alongside NT 3.1, 3.5, and 4 (with service pack 5...).


RE: Awesome
By Alexstarfire on 6/26/09, Rating: 0
RE: Awesome
By Oregonian2 on 6/26/2009 6:51:01 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
And if what you say is true and only the key is useful then Microsoft would just allow anyone to download the OS discs for free. I mean, it's useless without the key right? Try not to kid yourself here.


That doesn't really follow.

Since locks are useless without a key, why not have Schlage or MasterLock give away free locks and then charge only for the keys (yes, it would cost Microsoft something to provide free downloading of their install disks)?

Possession of the CD/DVD is a "key" of sorts as well as the install-key being a key. Dual-keys if you will, which are better than a single key.


RE: Awesome
By callmeroy on 6/26/2009 8:41:03 AM , Rating: 2
Actually I think it would be pretty bad ass if you just paid for the software license and you could download the OS whenever you want to any system you want (within the limits of the licensing terms you paid for of course)...the only thing is -- right now it wouldn't be such a hot idea because as fast as broad band is....its still a tad slow to make that download model a good solution. I think years into the future after we get faster and faster broadband the model would make great sense --- pretty much you have to be at speeds that would allow you downloading the complete OS in 30 minutes, for people to tolerate it as a real solution.

The advantages are enormous:

- Microsoft could easily manage licensing (since they would allow access to the download)

- Customer woulnd't need to care about losing a s/n or the media, its all obtainable online through an account you setup prior to the download --- but don't forget your username / password...that would suck.

- Archived copy....since its stored on servers, even years down the road you could download a copy if you needed to.

as aside note --- I was about to download a 5.5 gb file lastnight (a game) in just 2 hours....I don't download huge files a lot...but I do remember the days that would have taken 8 hours (or more).....nice to see we are progressing...


RE: Awesome
By Spivonious on 6/26/2009 9:45:27 AM , Rating: 2
lol, I remember when the entire internet was 5.5 GB and no one would have ever dreamed of downloading it.

It would take about 14 months to download that at 1200 baud.


RE: Awesome
By Oregonian2 on 6/26/2009 6:26:54 PM , Rating: 2
Although from a fast server like Microsoft's usually are, a 5.5Gb download might not take me terribly long either (20 Mbps FiOS), there also are broadband ISPs with data caps.

Think one has a 5Gb limit (per month), and I think the new owner of my FiOS (will be Frontier) had been thinking of one at one of their current locations.

ISP's are trying to cut off large downloads, not encourage them. Not a good trend.


RE: Awesome
By Boze on 6/25/2009 4:03:08 PM , Rating: 5
I won't lie, a long time ago when I was a kid, I only had one legal copy of Windows 95 / 98, but I assembled and fixed computers at a Mom & Pop computer shop, and I'd get a lot of free parts, so I had several systems.

Twelve years later, I can program in C and C++, and I can fully appreciate all the hard work those people put into making a great product - and make no mistake, Microsoft does make great products.

I must have 7 or 8 OEM copies of XP lying around, and two of Vista Ultimate. I absolutely cannot wait to pick up several OEM copies of Windows 7 for my laptops and desktops. I have never been more impressed with a Microsoft operating system. They have really outdone themselves.


RE: Awesome
By jtesoro on 6/25/2009 11:47:22 AM , Rating: 4
I don't get it. MS is offering the full version at the upgrade price. Are you saying that a better version at the same price will force people from the EU to piracy?


RE: Awesome
By wifiwolf on 6/25/2009 4:09:13 PM , Rating: 2
Oh come on. The initial article did say that EU countries would have that penalty because of the recent fighting with MS, then it was re-edited. Did you people see the time we've posted those 2 posts? After update I just written that in case it would happen that way, (not me but many) people will pirate software, not because it's their right but because they don't think it's fair to them this penalty and piracy would be the easy way.
Would I invent such article or such case? Just grow up.


RE: Awesome
By SeeManRun on 6/25/09, Rating: -1
RE: Awesome
By corduroygt on 6/25/2009 1:24:51 PM , Rating: 5
The article was edited after I posted...


RE: Awesome
By donjuancarlos on 6/25/09, Rating: -1
RE: Awesome
By Totally on 6/25/2009 10:37:59 AM , Rating: 5
Read the Article


RE: Awesome
By FoundationII on 6/25/09, Rating: 0
RE: Awesome
By DrLudvig on 6/25/2009 11:11:03 AM , Rating: 4
What are you talking about? We in the EU don't have to buy the more expensive versions? We get the FULL RETAIL versions, at the prices of your UPGRADE versions? So it's actually kind of a win for us.. Read the entire post next time..


RE: Awesome
By rudy on 6/25/2009 11:27:10 AM , Rating: 1
Yep I would rather have the EU deal personally you can bet their will now be a huge market for ebay sellers selling EU full retail copies in the US.

Personally I think that the ultimate for 100$ on preorder is a nice deal and I hope to grab a couple. I have some older XP machines I would like to upgrade. The release is to soon for me though I did not get my 5 years out of my vista purchases yet.


RE: Awesome
By Spuke on 6/25/2009 12:37:31 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
It will be offering in the U.S. Windows 7 Home Premium for $49.99 and Windows 7 Professional for $99.99
I will be there bright and early tomorrow morning. If I only knew where there was.


RE: Awesome
By Murloc on 6/25/2009 11:44:51 AM , Rating: 2
yes it's a win for the europeans, now we get the retail version at same price of the upgrades.

Who would buy the upgrade?


RE: Awesome
By chick0n on 6/25/09, Rating: 0
RE: Awesome
By JasonMick (blog) on 6/25/2009 12:23:49 PM , Rating: 2
That is not correct, actually.

While the upgrade version has the same features as the retail version, the upgrade version is only available legitimately for pre-existing computers with Windows Vista/Windows XP.

Your solution is effectively the same as piracy. Basically you didn't pay for the previous product, but you're trying to trick the OS into that you did, giving yourself a lower priced upgrade. The only difference between that and piracy is what % of the full retail price you're depriving Microsoft of. Its certainly not legal, and is kinda morally questionable (considering the work Microsoft put into the OS).

There's a lot of scenarios where you would need the full retail version -- if you were building a new PC, if you were creating a partition on your Linux machine (which didn't previously have an XP/Vista partition), if you're installing it on your netbook that ran previously on Linux, etc. ...

And the EU gets the cheapest full retail version both at launch and for the preorders (the preorder discount applies to upgrades in the U.S.).


RE: Awesome
By namechamps on 6/25/09, Rating: 0
RE: Awesome
By JasonMick (blog) on 6/25/2009 1:19:25 PM , Rating: 2
True, but only upgrades are only legal if you have a legit version of XP/Vista, which is what I just said. If you do, obviously you can legitimately use an upgrade.

What he said though was this:
quote:
did I say that the CD/dvd does NOT have to be legit? :)


He was essentially suggesting exactly what you infer -- using a pirated version of Vista/XP or borrowing one from a friend to deprive Microsoft of revenue.


RE: Awesome
By omnicronx on 6/25/2009 1:23:12 PM , Rating: 2
Mick hes right, many people think an 'Upgrade' means you have to install Vista and then install Windows 7, but that is not the case. If you own a real copy of Vista all you need to do is pop it in the DVD during the install as the OP mentioned.

I for one will be doing exactly that, no reason to buy the full retail version, and I will not be merely upgrading but doing a clean install.

He's wrong for making the piracy comment, but right in saying it is essentially the same if you have a Vista DVD, as you can still do a clean install.


RE: Awesome
By corduroygt on 6/25/2009 1:26:26 PM , Rating: 2
Would the Vista CD that came with your computer count as a legit copy? Or does it have to be a retail version?


RE: Awesome
By wifiwolf on 6/25/2009 8:21:11 PM , Rating: 2
as long as it's windows xp/ vista it's eligible. your case is just an oem, so it's fine.


RE: Awesome
By DigitalFreak on 6/25/2009 1:32:57 PM , Rating: 2
With Vista you had to run the install from a previous version of XP in order to use the upgrade key. Are you saying this has changed for Windows 7?


RE: Awesome
By Parhel on 6/25/2009 2:13:49 PM , Rating: 2
No, with Vista you can install the OS first as a trial version, and then perform the upgrade from Vista to Vista. Effectively, you can do a full install without actually owning a prior version of Windows.


RE: Awesome
By JasonMick (blog) on 6/25/2009 1:53:31 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
Mick hes right, many people think an 'Upgrade' means you have to install Vista and then install Windows 7, but that is not the case.


But I don't think that. What I think is that you must own a real copy, installed or not to legally install it. Which what I was getting at in my original post.

I'm fine with him informing that you don't have to have an *installed* version of the OS, that's good for whoever doesn't know.

But if you don't own a copy, and you use a pirated copy of Vista/XP to facilitate an upgrade (as he suggests) you're definitely a pirate for better or worse, even if you paid for a Win7 upgrade.


RE: Awesome
By AnnihilatorX on 6/25/2009 8:15:11 PM , Rating: 2
That's good to know. My vista copy is legit and installed. When Windows 7 is out I'd format the HDD and install as a clean install because of the limited HDD size (old gen SSD).

I can rest assured to buy the upgrade version then.


RE: Awesome
By wifiwolf on 6/25/2009 8:27:21 PM , Rating: 2
That would be fine because you have a legit copy already. He's just saying that that is the only way it can be done legally.


RE: Awesome
By omnicronx on 6/25/2009 12:55:30 PM , Rating: 2
Close but not the same, as no currency conversion has been applied. Still a good deal though, 150$ American for the Full version of Professional is a good deal.


Math doesn't add up
By VoodooChicken on 6/25/2009 10:51:56 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
It will be offering in the U.S. Windows 7 Home Premium for $49.99 and Windows 7 Professional for $99.99, a savings of $20 and $100 respectively.


I'm assuming these are upgrade prices, and the $49.99 and $99.99 match what is on http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/... but that $50 Windows is a lot more discounted than $20 (maybe meaning $70?). If I could pick up Windows ANYTHING for $70 regular price I would stockpile.




RE: Math doesn't add up
By ice456789 on 6/25/2009 11:52:38 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
From June 26 to July 11, while supplies last Microsoft will offer special preorder pricing. It will be offering in the U.S. Windows 7 Home Premium for $49.99 and Windows 7 Professional for $99.99, a savings of $150 and $200 respectively (over the full retail versions).


You've fixed the math, but you're kind of comparing apples to oranges though. It is my understanding those preorder prices are for the upgrade versions, not the full versions. So the savings are really $70 and $100 respectively.


RE: Math doesn't add up
By Spuke on 6/25/2009 1:08:57 PM , Rating: 2
I went to the website and it is indeed for the upgrade. Crap!


RE: Math doesn't add up
By Parhel on 6/25/2009 2:25:31 PM , Rating: 2
You wouldn't want the upgrade?

I prefer full versions, being the compulsive reinstaller that I am, but for over $100 discount I'm going to pick up a copy and deal with it.

My understanding is that you can still do a full install but you'll need to supply the product key. Is that about right?


RE: Math doesn't add up
By Spuke on 6/25/2009 3:27:39 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
You wouldn't want the upgrade?
I don't have Vista, I'm running XP still.


RE: Math doesn't add up
By Parhel on 6/25/2009 3:41:08 PM , Rating: 2
According to this, and other articles I've read, you'll be able to upgrade from XP:

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?com...

In the past, you could only upgrade from the most recent OS. They're probably doing this because of all the bad press Vista has received.


RE: Math doesn't add up
By Spuke on 6/25/2009 6:52:03 PM , Rating: 2
If that's the case, then I'm good to go. Thanks.


EU upgrade/full
By Doormat on 6/25/2009 10:33:39 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Microsoft has punished the EU somewhat for forcing it to exclude Internet Explorer. It is not going to offer Windows 7 upgrades in Europe, forcing customers to buy the pricier full retail versions.


Microsoft said that they will be selling the full retail versions of Windows E at the upgrade price. From the Windows Team Blog..

As Brad describes in the video, for Europe, we will not have a separate upgrade SKU for the packaged retail product versions of Windows 7 at GA. But we will be offering upgrade pricing on our full licenses to make sure that European customers who want to upgrade have the pricing options available in the rest of the world.

Pull your head out of your ass Mick.




RE: EU upgrade/full
By Belard on 6/25/2009 10:42:59 AM , Rating: 2
Why aren't WE getting the Retail versions at Upgrade pricing... That IS still us, in the USA getting screwed.

Theres a rather big difference between $200 ~ $300 for Win7Pro.


RE: EU upgrade/full
By AnnihilatorX on 6/25/2009 11:53:59 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Microsoft shows Europeans even more loving with Germany and France receiving Windows 7 Home Premium (€49.99) and Windows 7 Professional (€109.99) preorder prices. The UK, also part of the EU, receives Windows 7 Home Premium (£49.99) and Windows 7 Professional (£99.99) preorder prices.


But I presume those are upgrade licenses.


typo
By orgy08 on 6/25/2009 10:43:03 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
It will be offering in the U.S. Windows 7 Home Premium for $49.99 and Windows 7 Professional for $99.99, a savings of $20 and $100 respectively.


Shouldn't it be $70 and $100 respectively? $50 upgrade is a hell of a price.




RE: typo
By spidey81 on 6/25/2009 10:55:13 AM , Rating: 2
thought I was the only one putting the math together...guess we'll find out tomorrow! I'll have to snag a few at that price...if only they had discounts on Ultimate for my main rig :(


Preorder it here
By TemjinGold on 6/25/2009 1:06:25 PM , Rating: 2
Apparently, the place to get that preorder is here:

https://windows7upgradeoption.com/Landing.aspx

I take no credit for that as the link was in this article, just a bit hidden based on how stuff was worded.

No matter how much MS lowers the price, even if they charged $1 each, there will always be losers out there with their, "That's too freakin much, MS is forcing me to pirate blah blah." I personally know people who honestly believe it's wrong to pay for software period. People who call me "stupid" for buying all of my software legit. All I can say is to ignore these people because you will never change their beliefs and they will only serve to annoy you if you try.

In any case, rant over. I'll see you guys at the upgrade website bright and early tomorrow!




RE: Preorder it here
By Moishe on 6/25/2009 1:19:53 PM , Rating: 2
Actually, it's
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/buy/offers/pre-or...

The one you posted is the link to the page where you can get a free copy of Windows7 if you're just buying a new machine with Vista on it.


I'll be getting it day of release.
By Luticus on 6/25/2009 10:46:29 AM , Rating: 3
Well I’ll be grabbing Ultimate x64 OEM the day it’s available. I think the OS looks great and even though I’m satisfied with Vista, I’m one of those people who (when it comes to my PC) needs the latest and greatest. :)




3 Chinese languages
By buffalo on 6/25/2009 3:10:56 PM , Rating: 1
"Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Chinese (Hong Kong)." -- ??

What's Chinese (Hong Kong)? Is it the same as Traditional Chinese?




RE: 3 Chinese languages
By rorackowe on 6/30/2009 4:28:15 PM , Rating: 2
Hong Kong Cantonese vs Traditional Mandarin?


I'm lost
By Totally on 6/25/2009 10:36:37 AM , Rating: 2
If the EU aren't getting upgrades, then what sku's are those prices for?




Wonder what OEM prices will be?
By Einy0 on 6/25/2009 10:38:44 AM , Rating: 2
I dunno about everyone else, but I always grab an OEM copy of an OS. Usually OEM is about %50 cheaper than Full Retail. If that stays true then M$ has a clear winner on their hands. I must admit $29 for Snow Leopard really makes me wanna try out a Mac. Too bad Apple insists on jacking up their hardware prices and not allowing OS X to work on standard PCs. That along with the feeble number of decent games available for the Mac makes me stick with M$...




beta testers
By Screwballl on 6/25/2009 10:44:05 AM , Rating: 2
When I beta tested Vista, they sent me full and legal Vista Ultimate for free, and I got 2 discs: 32 and 64bit discs.
I am just hoping they do the same for W7 as I have been beta testing that since fairly early on and loving it... and also since I almost never use Vista except for some software testing for work, I refuse to use Vista at home due to all the bug and problems with it, even after SP2. I would be willing to drop all my XP licenses for Windows 7, although I would need at least 3-4 licenses (legally)...




Once again with way to high prices
By BZDTemp on 6/25/2009 5:38:13 PM , Rating: 2
The cost of hardware has come down big time over the years but not so for most software and certainly not for Windows.

Is there not a lot more PC's to sell for now than 10 years ago then should the prices not come as well - and even more so when we are talking about a glorified service pack. Microsoft is laughing all the way to the bank.

Look at Apple. An upgrade from the current OS.X to the next is $29 and this is even covers a whole family not just one computer.




Ultimate users left out?
By tmouse on 6/26/2009 8:17:44 AM , Rating: 2
Interesting to note there is no mention of an ultimate pre-order discount. I guess they're going to be left out. So they have to pay full upgrade prices and Microsoft gets off scott free from providing "extras" that were supposed to be a selling point. I hope no one bothers to buy Win7 ultimate. It's really kind of stupid to shaft the customers who have previously paid for your top of the line software, but no one has ever accused Microsoft marketing of being smart.




already ordered mine
By mikeyD95125 on 6/26/2009 5:51:24 PM , Rating: 2
$50 on newegg for home premium upgrade. I'll take it!




Linux Mint
By bluetickle on 6/25/09, Rating: -1
Hmmm
By Cheesew1z69 on 6/25/09, Rating: -1
RE: Hmmm
By mandrews on 6/25/2009 10:28:02 AM , Rating: 3
Considering the quality OS you're getting, I think its pretty reasonable. You can't expect that sort of engineering achievement for free (there's a reason why Snow Leopard is cheaper). Windows 7 looks like a great OS, and while I'd love to get it for free, personally I feel it'll be worth every penny.


RE: Hmmm
By JasonMick (blog) on 6/25/2009 10:29:22 AM , Rating: 3
Heh, I have to agree with you (for once) on this one. Windows 7 looks awesome and should be well worth it.


RE: Hmmm
By Belard on 6/25/09, Rating: -1
RE: Hmmm
By namechamps on 6/25/2009 12:57:29 PM , Rating: 2
I doubt he means look as in vision but more likely "look" used informally.

i.e. "based on reviews, benchmarks, features, blogs, articles Windows 7 LOOKS to be an awesome OS".


RE: Hmmm
By Spivonious on 6/26/2009 9:40:32 AM , Rating: 1
On a side note...this post proves that Michael Andrews is Michael Asher. I wonder why the name changed?


RE: Hmmm
By Locutus465 on 6/25/2009 10:56:18 AM , Rating: 2
I'm getting it for free thanks to my MSDN, and I'm almost certainly installing Ultimate... But I do wounder what we get with Ult? I guess it's still the same Pro/Home mix? I know MS said extra's are out. Kind of sucks, for one thing I would have loved to see the Power Tools Graphing calc make it to vista/7.


RE: Hmmm
By jvillaro on 6/25/2009 4:02:03 PM , Rating: 2
Same here, via MSDN subscriptions I get almost all Microsoft software at about 500 bucks (10 activations of each OS, office suite, etc). When windows 7 comes out i'll still be in the program and will have 10 activations of each version, home, pro, ultimate, etc.
Maybe I got this deal as a developer subscription program but If other people look in to it there are many types of programs offered by Miscrosoft. When you have multiple PC's at home you can get a very good deal.


RE: Hmmm
By BrgMx5 on 6/25/09, Rating: 0
RE: Hmmm
By Moishe on 6/25/2009 1:23:05 PM , Rating: 2
I hate to resort to name calling... but you're a dumbass.
Look at the other OS offerings and tell me that Windows is not quality. It is.

Sure it's not perfect, but none of them are. What goes into making Windows work well for so many functions and run well on so many different types of machines is mind-boggling.


RE: Hmmm
By arsmitty86 on 6/25/2009 1:24:33 PM , Rating: 1
If by bloated you mean requires a pentium II and a whopping 96mb of RAM to run then yeah your right it's bloated... Man those pentium II's are expensive, it's like impossible to find one too..

/sarcasm

In all seriousness, I've never seen a microsoft OS that could run so well on such old hardware... In fact, the only time I've ever seen an OS scale this well is... LINUX. Scary. :P


RE: Hmmm
By Spivonious on 6/25/2009 10:31:39 AM , Rating: 1
I agree. Now if these prices included 3 licenses for upgrading my whole house, that's a different story.

I really hope MS offers something for the multi-PC households.


RE: Hmmm
By mechBgon on 6/25/2009 10:54:24 AM , Rating: 4
quote:
Still pricey....


Don't be ridiculous. You try writing an enterprise-ready OS, and committing to support it for 10+ years , in umpteen languages, on hundreds of millions of PCs over its lifespan.


RE: Hmmm
By Ticholo on 6/25/09, Rating: -1
RE: Hmmm
By arsmitty86 on 6/25/2009 1:29:35 PM , Rating: 2
No ... Your right. They're not. But consumers buying their products and keeping them in that position kind of helps. ;-) Kind of neat how the whole supply/demand thing goes huh?


RE: Hmmm
By wifiwolf on 6/25/2009 11:28:39 AM , Rating: 2
MS is committed to support the software some good years, that means a lot on companies and makes for some head scratches on the developers and support teams. That's the reason why the price couldn't be lower. We even have to account the volume licenses that makes it even cheaper.


RIP OFF AGAIN, shock!
By Belard on 6/25/09, Rating: -1
RE: RIP OFF AGAIN, shock!
By Schrag4 on 6/25/2009 11:05:03 AM , Rating: 5
Your rant is tiring. Nobody's forcing you to use MS (or linux or Apple for that matter). If you don't like the OS then there's nothing stopping you from building a new OS from the ground up. I'm sure what you come up with would be much cheaper and much more feature rich and would be compatible with much more hardware and software than anything MS sells you. *rolls eyes*

I wish the price of gas was lower, but I know for certain that I couldn't even dream of competing with the price I pay at the pump to discover and extract oil, and then refine it (don't forget about transporting it all over the world). This is no different. MS has spent literally billions developing their operating systems. It's fair to ask what the market will bear in return.


RE: RIP OFF AGAIN, shock!
By xti on 6/25/2009 11:16:32 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
It's fair to ask what the market will bear in return.

this.

I personally am thinkin of the special early upgraders deals and just letting the CD sit there until I am ready to upgrade. 50 bucks isnt going to break the bank.


RE: RIP OFF AGAIN, shock!
By KingstonU on 6/25/2009 1:18:15 PM , Rating: 2
I am thinking the same but the part of me that always says "wait for SP1 for any Windows OS" is lurking there from past experiences with XP and Vista.

If I buy for $50 now, a few months down the road will SP1 be free?


RE: RIP OFF AGAIN, shock!
By arsmitty86 on 6/25/2009 1:39:14 PM , Rating: 2
I get what your saying. *shutters thinking about the problems XP had before SP1.* However, having used the beta and the RC for Windows 7 for quite a while I don't *knocks on wood* think I'm gonna wait this time. Just hope Nvidia doesn't screw me on drivers like they did on vista. If SLI doesn't work right I'm staying right where I am.


RE: RIP OFF AGAIN, shock!
By TSS on 6/25/2009 2:14:23 PM , Rating: 2
if it's so hard to make another OS because unless it supports windows stuff (and MS aint gonna let that happen), then yes you're forced to use windows :P

and linux's .exe emulators are still sketchy.

i agree with your point that MS can charge whatever they feel like charging. nor are they doing anything wrong. but you're still forced to use windows. simply because history decided to play out that way (bill gates remains a very shrewd business man).


RE: RIP OFF AGAIN, shock!
By MrBlastman on 6/25/2009 11:07:03 AM , Rating: 2
While I agree it is too darned pricey (it is), I gotta disagree with one little snippet:

Halo 3 is hardly something us PC gamers fear, as most of us consider it and the whole series poop. It doesn't even come close to competing with Quake/Doom/Team Fortress 2 in terms of gameplay, skill and challenge.

Halo is a noob game plain and simple. Real men play high skill FPS.

If I had my way with Windows 7 though, I'd make the pricing 89.99 like Dos 5 and Dos 6 were priced. They're gonna sell millions of copies. At least make it affordable for your Do-It-Yourselfers.


RE: RIP OFF AGAIN, shock!
By SavagePotato on 6/25/2009 11:28:44 AM , Rating: 3
If I had it my way I would be able to buy a brand new car for 3000 dollars like you could in the 70's.

Oh wait that's right you don't get to dictate what you want when it comes to the economy and inflation.

This is 2009 not 1989.


RE: RIP OFF AGAIN, shock!
By MrBlastman on 6/25/2009 2:53:12 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah you do - you get to decide whether you spend your money on it or not. ;)