Windows 7 Pricing Announced!

Finally, Microsoft has taken down the curtain on the pricing of it’s next operating system, Windows 7. While some may be surprised by it, there is a very special offer that will allow you to upgrade to Windows 7 for a very cheap price.

The full source can be found here. More information is written by Ed Bott, a famous Microsoft journalist and author of the popular Windows Inside Out Series books.

The full license only applies to you if you plan on going directly to a store and grab a box copy of Windows 7. This allows you to do a full blown clean install of Windows 7 on any machine you so deem fit. However, if you already have a version of XP or Vista running, the upgrade pricing scheme is where you want to look at. Average home users most likely need only to use Windows 7 Home Premium and so you’re looking at paying $120 for the upgrade. Not bad. If you need to join your computers to a domain or want to use the Encryption File System along other advance features, you’ll have to chuck out $200. That is pretty steep considering we are in tough times and where we have to monitor every dollar we spend. However, if you act now, you can save almost %50 of the pricing!

Starting on June 26th (July 5th in Japan) and until July 11th , US, Canada and Japan residence have a chance to pre-order either Windows 7 Home Premium or Windows 7 Home Professional for $50 and $100, respectively! BestBuy and Amazon online will host the special offer. So, if you want to save big money, do not hesitate. Customers in France, Germany, and the UK can pre-order Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional July 15, 2009 through August 14, 2009, and while supplies last. Bad news is that they do not have a discount for the Ultimate version. Me being a Vista Ultimate owner, I feel cheated because Vista Ultimate was a sheer disaster and it seems as if Microsoft doesn’t feel the need to compensate those users.
There are still some planning that you should consider. For example, if you will be buying a brand new computer system/laptop before Windows 7 ships in October, some companies like HP and Lenovo are offering a free upgrade to Windows 7 when it ships. So, your new computer will be pre-installed temporarily with Vista and if your computer qualifies for a free Windows 7 upgrade, they will mail the free upgrade DVD to you. That way, you don’t have to wait until October to decide whether or not to purchase a new computer.
Missing information includes the pricing for Windows Anytime Upgrade. Not sure if you have heard of this or not but Microsoft decided to make upgrading your operating system edition as simple as can be by allowing you to buy a product key for the higher edition directly online. Also, there were rumors about Microsoft following Apple’s plan in making a operating system license bundle for families with three or more computers in their homes.

Here are the links to begin pre-ordering your Windows 7 edition today! Remember, in order to save money, you must pre-order now. Both deals will end shortly so do not hesitate!
Amazon
Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade
Windows 7 Professional Upgrade

BestBuy
Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade
Windows 7 Professional Upgrade

Microsoft Store
Both Premium and Professional Upgrade

While some of you might roll your eyes at the pricing, there are some points you must consider as well. Windows 7, unlike Vista, doesn’t require a whole lot from a hardware standpoint. With Vista, if you didn’t have up to date hardware, it was a headache to use as it was slow and unresponsive, forcing you to turn off many features, with Aero being the main one. If you have a computer now that runs Windows Vista well, then most likely it should hold true as well for Windows 7. All you need to do is to purchase a upgrade license ($50 – $100 if you act fast enough) and that would be it. No need to purchase a new computer just to run Windows 7. You would have saved a great deal just by that fact alone. That is why I advise a lot of you to download the Windows 7 RC while its still available and test it on your current machine to see how it performs. Although you might not like the idea of doing an upgrade compared to a clean install, Microsoft has made the process a lot smoother.
Also, Windows 7 is smooth in general. I’m no Microsoft fanboy by any means and I admit I’m still angered with getting the horrible Windows Vista Ultimate edition but using Windows 7 since the RC debuted have subdued that anger a lot. You can make the comparison that this is a redefined version of Vista or that Windows 7 is simply a ‘service pack’ but it doesn’t really matter. Windows 7 is an excellent operating system to use and if you tried it, you’ll most likely come to the same conclusion. It feels comfortable and everything just works. One idea I still don’t like however is that in order to use one of their most awesome security feature, Bitlocker and Bitlocker-To-Go, you have to plunk money down for the Ultimate edition and nothing lower. That feature needs to be in the Professional version as well in my opinion. I’ve written more about the new features in Windows 7 here if you want more information.

If you want to know more about the recently announced Windows 7 pricing, you can head to Ed Bott’s article mentioned in the beginning or to Paul Thurrott’s Supersite for Windows as well. He is another popular Microsoft journalist and cover all things Windows and Microsoft related.