RSSNew Vista buyers can expect to pay more for Windows 7
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published June 25, 2009, 10:54 AM
After considerable confusion over whether Microsoft will offer free upgrades to Windows 7 for new PC buyers who find Windows Vista pre-installed, in an announcement this morning that required clarification, some confirmations, and a bit of editing, the company stated that it is leaving it up to PC manufacturers to determine how customers will get Windows 7 upgrades, and how much they'll cost.
Customers who already have Windows Vista on their PCs, Microsoft confirmed to Betanews this morning, can order upgrades to Windows 7 through Microsoft, but will pay full price to do so. Upgrading to Win7 Home Premium will cost about $10 less than upgrading to Vista Home Premium, however -- a difference between $129.95 for Vista and $119.99 for Win7. Upgrades to the Professional and Ultimate SKUs of Win7 will cost 4ยข more than did the corresponding upgrades to the Business and Ultimate SKUs of Vista -- $199.99 and $219.99, respectively. And the full retail prices for Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate will be in alignment with the existing prices for Vista Home Basic (not Premium), Business, and Ultimate SKUs, except their MSRPs will now end in ".99" rather than ".95."
The news as it's being presented to Vista customers now is that they can "get Windows 7." The small print (and yes, there is small print and smaller print) reads as follows: "When you buy Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate either as a packaged product or on a qualifying PC you can get a comparable upgrade version of Windows 7 after it's generally available on October 22, 2009."
In a blog post this morning, Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc was able to advance the "no-cost" option: "Anyone who buys a PC from a participating OEM or retailer with Windows Vista Home Premium, Business or Ultimate on it will all receive an upgrade to the corresponding version of Windows 7 at little or no cost to customers."
But it takes digging into the FAQ on the company's new upgrade offer site for customers to learn that there may very well be a price involved anyway.
In response to the question, "Will the upgrade cost anything extra," the FAQ reads: "For new PC purchases, the upgrade offers will vary by PC manufacturer so please check with them for details. A good place to start looking for contact information is at our Windows 7 Upgrade Option page," referring to the page that leads consumers to the FAQ. "For Windows Vista packaged software, you will be required to provide payment information to cover shipping and handling fees."
So the "upgrade offer" -- contrary to the indications of what had been identified as a leaked Microsoft memo last May -- is actually a program to allow manufacturers including HP, Dell, Toshiba, and Lenovo to provide Windows 7 upgrades to new Windows Vista purchasers, at a cost of their choosing. While the offer page this morning featured links to notebook models that Microsoft says qualify for the upgrade offer, whatever that might be, the links provided to manufacturer's sites for the specific models that qualify -- such as the Lenovo Y650 and the Dell Studio 15 -- did not state anything whatsoever about Windows 7 upgrades. That may change tomorrow, when the upgrade program is slated to officially begin.
As Corporate Vice President Brad Brooks stated in a video published this morning (unavailable for part of this morning due to Microsoft server trouble), pre-orders for Windows 7 will begin tomorrow, June 26, through participating retailers, for discounted prices. "For customers in the US, Canada, and Japan, starting tomorrow on June 26," Brooks stated, "they will be able...to pre-order a copy of Windows 7 for delivery on October 22 of either Home Premium or Windows 7 Pro versions. Home Premium in the US...pricing will be $49.99, and the Pro version will be for $99.99." The company expects to have a similar program in place for Europe by July 15, Brooks added.
Yet it appears that whether those retailers choose to participate beginning tomorrow or later will be up to them. Although the upgrade program is scheduled to end on January 31, 2010, according to more small print, whether retailers choose to end their participation sooner will be up to them: "However, individual PC manufacturers may choose to offer the option for a shorter period."
In the video, Brad Brooks referred to the upgrade plan as "by far our most aggressive pricing that we've ever done for any type of offer with Windows, but it only goes to show the level of excitement we have about this product, not just our customers."
Nothing in the article states if you have Windows Vista Ultimate, you can downgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional.
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|???
Microsoft has never offered discounted "downgrade" pricing. Ever.
That said, the Vista Ultimate to Win7 Ultimate *should* (IMO) be much lower as they did screw the "extras" program big-time. They should definitely give those of us who actually had faith in that program a break on the Win7 equivalent.
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|What a boring article. Misleading as well... 4c more is "more"? Come on... We should all arrange a class-action suit for the 3mins wasted reading this lame article hehehehehe
j/k...relax BN...
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|Ummm, why should you pay for a release that is what the re-working (2003) of Vista was supposed to be prior to their cutting features to ship the product when they did?
Here, they've added back the features, fixed the performance problems slower but capable machines, and they've refused to fix a rather large security hole unless you crank up UAC. It doesn't seem worth it, unless you're a Windows fanatic.
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|whether or not they fixed anything remains to be seen. The only thing you can see is how overpriced Microsoft's software is. And the fact you have to pay a ton of money to fix their crappy code in Vista.
But the sheeple buy into everything the multi-million USD marketing machine Microsoft has. They have been out in full forc will all the astroturfing, paid bloggers, paid analysts, paid stories, paid off ISO members, etc...
If Microsoft took all that money they spend on marketing and bribing and spent on products, they might actually have something to compete with Google and Apple.
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|All this fighting isn't good for my heart. Since an apple a day is supposed to keep the doctor away, I guess I'm in luck since that apple costs so much I can't afford the doctor. And for those of you trying to do some math obstacle course, remember two things:
1) Everything a home user needs to protect their system is available for FREE (that is $0.00)
2) Anything in life worth having is worth fighting for. Those talented jerks who write spyware/viruses/worms/trojans/etc don't care enough about the crap mac releases to pick it up and smell it. When the product is good enough to use, they will start exploiting all the holes in that os also.
3) I know I said, two, but who cares... Did you macaholics realize that until bootcamp, parralels, and fusion came out those paperweights weren't exactly flying off the shelves. Now that people can run real software in a real operating system, but do so while looking cool in their titanium garb, macs are finally selling. The fact that you can pirate ALL mac OS's and software also makes it's more palpable.
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|I'm willing to pay $100 to upgrade, but not anything more than that. I'll stick with Vista biz thank you.
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|i might pay 2 dollars for an upgrade.
otherwise i have no intention of also paying big bucks to upgrade the other software and hardware to accommodate a new version of windows.
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|"at a cost of their choosing"This is bound to only be Postage and Packing cost. Simple as.
Perhaps you should also note that there will be no upgrade versions in Europe.
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|well, its buyer beware unfortunately.
if vista buyers are made aware, then they will withhold their money.
however, if vista buyers hold off from buying computers or laptop,
then perhaps resellers will have to discount the vista systems to subsidize the cost of win7 upgrade.
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|http://www.icanhasforce....s-darth-vader-sense.jpg
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|i'm still pretty excited, i had been using xp pro for free up until 2006, at which point i said wow... i should really pay for this thing and did so, later i bought a new PC, came with vista ultimate sp1 (absolutely nothing wrong with it)
this time around i'm going to fork over whatever the cost for windows 7 ultimate (no upgrades) ... i figure after another 10 years (if MS doesn't come out with something extremely better) paying 319+- (vista ultimate at launch was $400) will be well worth the cash and save me alot of hassle
the prices are little disappointing, but screw it, its windows done right and like i mentioned previously, the OS will probably last many of us 10 years
and for those buying say premium, gez lol, i think you're def going to get your moneys worth, i don't see how anybody could question that
its an exciting time, 7 and Zune HD, will be on my list of gifts to myself very soon lol
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|You can find nice savings if you purchase the Full Version OEM/Unboxed version at your local mom and pop computer store/eBay. Only requirement to fulfill is buy a mouse or hard drive, something computer related. (However you cannot call MS directly for free support). Price ballparks between $139 (home premium) to $219 (ultimate 64bit).
Another method to get the new OS is to buy a bareboned computer system from a manufacturer.
If your needs evolve as fast as mine (Blue Ray/Advanced 3D gaming/Home Media), Win7 is gonna be a great OS! I can't wait too :)
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|Ouch...$219.99 for a bug fix to make Vista supposedly usable. That is for a single user license? Wow. Apple is selling OSX Leopard for $29 single user. Wonder why they don't say that in those absurd Laptop hunter ads?
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|Hmmm
$650 PC including the OS plus a $49 upgrade (or $119, depending on how you order) vs. a $1500 overpowered security blanket plus the occasional $29 upgrade.... (not to mention Tiger-Leopard was $129...not $29...the exception is not the rule)
Yeah..that's a tough one. If you're brain-dead.
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|i'd have to pay $3000+- cdn right now because of an OS tied to its overpriced hardware, if i wanted leopard... legally, but i enjoy saving my cash, thanks
the choice is not hard
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|$650 PC versus a $1500 Mac is apples to oranges, but you knew that. Nice troll.
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|*laughing*
fathead: Ha! It's cheaper for Mac Users!
Me: No, it's not.
fathead: Apples to oranges, haha! Troll!
Your genius never ceases to amaze and astound, sir. ;)
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|still similiar hardware, no matter how fancy it looks, or what runs on it
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|I've used Vista 64 for a long time, and am using the Windows 7 RC now. Vista was -fine-, but I am really enjoying 7.
While I wouldn't mind paying less for new versions of Windows...the way I see it, I am paying for more and better hardware and software support with Windows...choice and freedom. Something patrons of the Church of Apple can't be honest about in those low class Apple ads.
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|I just looked at Dell's site and see a crappy Dell Studio 17 for $650 with *WAY* lower specs, not to mention crappy battery, the low spec, stripped down, broken OS Vista Home Premium Excellent Power Super version. Not to mention running Windows without Virus protection, Anti-spyware, Intrusion Detection, etc... is suicide.
My iPhone has more power than that Dell. But hey it is cheap. Too bad it takes a hour to boot, hangs and stalls when you do anything with it. But it is cheap, i will give you that.
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|"still similiar hardware, no matter how fancy it looks, or what runs on it"
sure, a BMW and a Tata Nano are "...similar hardware, no matter how fancy it looks, or what runs on it"
If you don't mind driving in a tin can, being killed when you bump into anything bigger than a fly, no handling, no braking, no acceleration, no comfort, no style, no...well anything, the Tata is a great car. As is the cheapo cloner no-name plastic slab running a bloated insecure, super expensive OS.
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|@fatty:
Is it even possible for you to make an argument which isn't a complete fabrication of your wild-ass imagination?
"takes an hour to boot"
"My iPhone is more powerful"
..and of course the lame descent into a car analogy. Ahh... that never ceases to be completely irrelevant.
Well, I guess if you can't argue based on logic and rational thought....
Funny how my 4 year old "plastic slab" laptop (that is run circles around by the $650 "Crap Dell" you mention) can run Windows 7 without a hint of complaint.
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|PC_Tool,
Is it even possible for you to make an argument which isn't a complete fabrication of your wild-ass imagination?
Well, I guess if you can't argue based on logic and rational thought....
Funny how my 4 year old "plastic slab" laptop (that is run circles around by the $650 "Crap Dell" you mention) can run Windows 7 without a hint of complaint.
What in the discussion is this relating to? BTW if that slow, crappy $650 Dell runs circles around your 4 year old slab, you must really have a crappy machine. But of course your "wild-ass" imagination is running wild again, isn't it?
Windows Vista SP2, i mean Windows 7 = $219 upgrade + upgrade anti-virus + spyware detector + intrusion detection, etc...
OSX = $29 upgrade
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|This is not where I intended to comment. Apologies.
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|"Windows Vista SP2, i mean Windows 7 = $219 upgrade + upgrade anti-virus + spyware detector + intrusion detection, etc...
OSX = $29 upgrade
Try again, dimwit:
$650(PC) + $50 (Win7 upgrade) + free award-winning malware protection(WSE) = $700.
$1500 Macbook + $29 Mac OSX = $1529.
Sorry simple mathematics confuses you.
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|Same same. It was up to the OEM's with XP and Vista as well. Microsoft could never *force* them to give it away or not charge shipping. The very implication is ridiculous.
For those who want actual pricing info for upgrade, retail, and pre-order, go here [Ars Technica] for a comprehensive write-up.
Summary:
Retail Upgrade:
Home Premium $119.99
Professional $199.99
Ultimate $219.99
Full Retail:
Home Premium $199.99
Professional $299.99
Ultimate $319.99
Pre-order:
Home Premium $49
Professional $99
One wonders how the historically low possibility of OEM's charging for this type of upgrade became "can expect to pay more". When was the last time major OEM's charged for the upgrade? Sure, they do sometimes require shipping be paid. Who doesn't? It's certainly not "new" or in the least "unexpected". ...and how exactly do you "know less"? We have pricing for retail upgrade, retail full, pre-order, and know that OEMs will likely do what they've always done.
It's not like I'd wait for Microsoft to tell me the OEM's plans anyway...It doesn't work that way. The OEM pricing is up to the OEM, not Microsoft.
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|Yes. Same, same.......
Has its WPA been cracked yet? [smiles]
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|RTM isn't even leaked yet. Sure it will be shortly after.
Just not worth the trouble, though really. @ $49 a pop, who needs to mess with all that BS?
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|you either go for an upgrade option that suits you, or buy whichever version at retail cost... and thats really all this article had to say :P folks just like scaring people with lots of numbers on a page
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