FYI - Windows 7 Pricing Finalized

**laggyNgroovy** · 06-25-09, 05:47 PM

make sure you also read the last paragraph and I quit doing hyperlinks by then, so click into the article if you want those links

http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/arch...announced.html

June 25, 2009

Windows 7 pricing, upgrade program announced

Microsoft today announced Windows 7 pricing, and for those who want to upgrade existing systems, it's definitely a case of the early bird getting the cheaper worm.

Those who were hoping that all Windows Vista users would get a pity break with a free upgrade will be disappointed. Yes, Microsoft will do a free upgrade program, but only for those who bought Vista or a machine with that oft-criticized OS on it after June 26. Others will pay a reduced price to upgrade to Win7, similar to Microsoft's past strategy.

The Windows 7 Team Blog <a href=http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/06/25/announcing-the-windows-7-upgrade-option-program-amp-windows-7-pricing-bring-on-ga.aspx> has the details</a>

So here's the low-down on pricing for Windows 7. The estimated retail prices for upgrade packaged retail product of Windows 7 in the U.S. are:

Windows 7 Home Premium (Upgrade): $119.99
Windows 7 Professional (Upgrade): $199.99
Windows 7 Ultimate (Upgrade): $219.99

And the estimated retail prices for full packaged retail product of Windows 7 in the U.S. are:

Windows 7 Home Premium (Full): $199.99
Windows 7 Professional (Full): $299.99
Windows 7 Ultimate (Full): $319.99

This means that Windows 7 Home Premium full retail product is $40.00 less than Windows Vista Home Premium today.

Yes, but the Upgrade pricing, which is what current users will be interested in, is only $10 less.

For a limited time, you can get a serious discount on Windows 7 pre-orders.

Finally, as a way of saying thank you to our loyal Windows customers, we are excited to introduce a special time limited offer! We will offer people in select markets the opportunity to pre-order Windows 7 at a more than 50% discount. In the US, this will mean you can pre-order Windows 7 Home Premium for USD $49.99 or Windows 7 Professional for USD $99.99. You can take advantage of this special offer online via select retail partners such as Best Buy or Amazon, or the online Microsoft Store (in participating markets).

In the U.S., this deal ends on July 11, so it's a narrow window.

Windows 7 is expected to be finished next month, with "general availability" on October 22. The Win7 Release Candidate is still available, but downloads will end on August 15. That unfinished version will expire next June.

**Veovis** · 06-25-09, 05:48 PM

FYI

http://www.texasteamplayers.com/index.php?topic=65361.0

**Bunni** · 06-25-09, 05:48 PM

Wow thank god for tax writeoffs for 'job related' fees... *sigh*

**laggyNgroovy** · 06-25-09, 05:50 PM

I saw that Veovis, but this had the actual prices, or alleged prices at least, and didn't quite seem to be in the same vein.

**Phyrelight** · 06-25-09, 06:26 PM

wow $320 for full version of ultimate is pricey. I am sure there will be sales. If nothing else I will get a student version of ultimate at my school and save 20% or so.

**ninja|oaklandr** · 06-25-09, 07:57 PM

I'm not being a dick, but what does everyone need Ultimate for? I see everyone wanting it, but what does it really come with? I use basic by the way and don't care one bit about the Aero stuff.

**Consultant** · 06-26-09, 10:06 AM

So h ere's a question, for my tech pros...

I just upgraded to Vista Home Premium...for Win7, which I will probably upgrade to - Should I buy an upgrade disk or a full install?

Thus, in the future...wiping my computer and reinstalling would go like this...

Format/install Vista
Boot Vista
load upgrade disk for Win7
Patch accordingly?

Is that any less stable of a Win7 install than a full Win7 install?

**ninja|oaklandr** · 06-26-09, 10:14 AM

If it's like before you can do a fresh install with an upgrade disk. This has not been verified for Windows 7 so we will see.

**Phyrelight** · 06-26-09, 11:40 AM

Originally Posted by Consultant

So h ere's a question, for my tech pros...

I just upgraded to Vista Home Premium...for Win7, which I will probably upgrade to - Should I buy an upgrade disk or a full install?

Thus, in the future...wiping my computer and reinstalling would go like this...

Format/install Vista
Boot Vista
load upgrade disk for Win7
Patch accordingly?

Is that any less stable of a Win7 install than a full Win7 install?

We are not sure how it will work yet since the upgrades haven't been released. If the upgrade requires you to first install vista and then upgrade to windows 7 I would recommend a full version of windows 7.
Converting files between O/S's is never a good idea and not that stable.

If, however, you can put in the windows 7 upgrade disk on a clean hard drive install and it simply prompts you to insert the vista disk to verify ownership (it doesn't actually install vista) and then proceeds with a full install of windows 7 then the upgrade option is fine. Short answer, we don't know yet.

Either way I would start from a clean formatted hard drive.

**ninja|oaklandr** · 06-26-09, 01:13 PM

Here is a close answer. They mention clean install and Upgrade together.

This is from the Microsoft site.

I am running Windows XP, can I upgrade to Windows 7?

Microsoft designed Windows 7 Upgrade media for Windows Vista. A customer with Windows XP can purchase Windows 7 Upgrade media but must back up their files, clean install, and then reinstall their applications.

The Microsoft forum says that the installation options are the same as Vista was meaning that you can do a clean install with the upgrade version.

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/...b-5f166866eb20

An upgrade version of Windows Vista An upgrade version of Windows Vista is a license that lets you install Windows Vista only if you already own a license for a compliant version of Windows. Such compliant versions include versions of Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP, or Microsoft Windows 2000. You can perform either an upgrade installation or a custom installation of Windows Vista by using an upgrade license.