" People will be able to buy Vista-ready computers confidently, knowing that they won't have to pay full price to upgrade when Vista is released."

what about those of us who already have vista ready computers? do we get a discount?

of course not, they cant afford to lose that much money

How is this different than what's been offered in the past? Buying a Dell 6 months before the release of Win95, you got a coupon for a free upgrade you could redeem upon release...

it seem that microsoft is targeting Company's only on discount or free Vista. What About Home Builder don't we get the same deal to.We take up about Half if not more of the PC Market.

As a home builder do you install a retail full version @ retail price or an oem copy? Both are usually the same and its rough, cause thats a home builders profit, hence the discounted price of a OEM copy, (Less than 100$ in plastic wrap compared to alot more for retail)? As a home builder for personal use you should be using a retail copy, OEM is not to be sold without "hardware" thats the clincher, ebay and other places sell alone or with maybe a keyboard... so users are kind of fooled into thinking its a full version... I don't know how many customers I delt with that has puchased a copy on its own, or with a keyboard, becauase someone put there reimage disk on ebay to make a profit, only to tell them we can't support it for free or send out a replacement for free if it doesn't work.... Its the same with the tech guarentee I imagine.. but as a home builder you would be safe because you are building for youself and consiquently buying a full retail copy. If you are selling computers, you can purchase a license at a discounted price for OEM copys that you can build and modify for your customers to fit their PC's perfectly...

I used to work for MS replacement parts, its called a technology guarentee, and MS has always said if you buy a product and the newer version is released within 6 months, they will upgrade you at no cost. The clincher with this is that it usually has to be a retail bought copy, NOT OEM. All computers bought usually have OEM copys installed, which Microsoft will not support as a rule. They will honour a retail full version, but I doubt that they will upgrade OEM versions, they just don't deal with them, the support is always refered to the manafacturer aka "dell"...

The deal is MS sells OEM copy licenses at a reduced cost to manafacturers, most are full of necessary drivers ect, for example, media centre or just a regular computer. Its a OEM copy made for a specific computer purchased, therefore not a microsoft product anymore persay. I think the "partners" would have to carry on the cost of buying and supporting additional licenses that would work with each setup of each computer.....This is Microsofts guarentee for Microsofts products, a common misconception out there is that OEM copys are MS products, they are not. You can tell if you have an OEM copy or a legit retail copy by right clicking on my computer, going to properties..if the second set of numbers in the "registered to" number says OEM, its not a valid retail copy therefore, in Microsofts eyes, all suport goes back to the vendor. EX Dell. I wonder if these third party vendors are going to also honour this guarentee??? I think it would be very costly...its up to them not Microsoft....

does anyone know if this is good for ANY new pc running xp? because i'm planning on ordering an hp laptop from newegg sometime within that time frame.

I'm not sure how flexible the program will be as I'm sure it will be managed through the hardware vendor, so make sure to check with them.

What it should be like for now is pcs and laptops that have something like a "vista ready" sticker from MS on it, just as referenced in the articl. Those apply. Your hardware vendor (maker, not retailer) will be better able to answer your question on a per model basis.

I have an HP DV9000T scheduled to ship October 23rd. Usualy a new one takes three or four days to get to Cincinnati from the factories in China or Taiwan. I wonder if I can fudge the dates enough to show that I got it on of after the 28th. It is being built with XP Pro instead of Home.

Here's a note to all those who seem to think you have to install a previous version and then upgrade to a newer version if the CD/DVD is the upgrade version.

As long as the CD/DVD is bootable, you can install it directly from the CD, just like a normal install. The only difference is, on the first part of the install, before it copies all the files needed for the second part of the setup, it will ask you to put in a previous full version CD/DVD. I know this works with Windows 2000 and Windows XP upgrade CDs, because I've tried it myself, but I don't know about Vista, and I won't know until I can examine a Vista upgrade CD/DVD.

This means you don't have to install the previous version and then upgrade to the new version, you can do a fresh install, which is always better to do than an upgrade anyways.

If the CD isn't bootable, you can download the boot image online, just google it. In other words, if you have an XP upgrade CD that isn't bootable, search for "XP Boot Image" on Google, and you should be able to find one.
If that doesn't work, you can download Easyboot for free, and it includes Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003 boot images.

Of course if you're an avid Windows user, and you're familiar with CDImage, you can create a multiboot CD/DVD, and put different versions on the same CD. Check out http://unattended.msfn.o...nattended.xp/view/web/1/ for a complete tutorial, which also includes how to make the install unattended, and how to change certain aspects of both the install and finished phases.

If you're really ambitious, you can customize any aspect of anything within Windows by editing key files.

If you're a basic user, and are not familiar with any kind of Administration of Windows, then you can always search for AIO CDs and DVDs, which have already been preconfigured by others.

Anyways, back to Vista.
I'm downloading RC 2 right now, it's running kind of slow, I'm sure several people are downloading it as we speak.

Microsoft offering free or discounted upgrades of new operating systems for those who buy new computers is nothing new.

I have to agree with prndll here, it's best to build your own. In fact, if you look around, you can usually end up saving a little money and actually get a better system.

Check out these sites to compare prices.

http://www.pricewatch.com , http://www.tigerdirect.com , http://www.zipzoomfly.com , and http://www.newegg.com

This is very fair pricing!
http://www.tcf.net

They'll have to pay me to install it!

Seriously, XP Pro does everything I need, particularly since I'm moving all my typical workflow to the Mac, leaving XP around for the rare case where there's no decent Mac version available.

Unless there's a new killer app coming that requires Vista, I can't see any reason to move to it.

vista is nothing more then a evolutionary upgrade from xp. It has updated interface new security features and was written to be less vulnerability prone then xp. As for needed features, there is none. Everything vista has to offer has popular widely used apps integrated from xp. Widgets, desktop search, firefox clone, antispyware, slightly 3dish animated interface, photo organizer, cheesy games, basic dvd movie maker software and a whole lot of incompatibilities with existing software.

stick with xp and use firefox download windows defender, windows media player 11 and a third party app that will invoke a 3d interface like vista or use windows blinds don't forget the antivirus that can be provided by microsoft as well for 20 dollars.

There you have it vista. I bet you can even have a third party give you a boot screen that just has a scroll box that tell you windows is loading as there is no boot loader screen its just a bar.

I bet you can even have a third party give you a boot screen...

A free one from Stardock: www.bootskin.com

Vista's main "selling" point is going to be games... When DirectX 10 is a requirement, and it's not able to run on XP, Vista will become the norm.

I run Windows XP Professional and would love to get a free Vista upgrade. If I need new drivers, RAM, etc. my computer expert can install them. While I am computer literate, I have familial tremour which makes my hands too unsteady to do that kind of work myself.

Thank you for sharing I feel like I can go on living now that I know this. Did you know that if you have a fairly modern computer vista will run just fine? If you have a 3d video card that sucks however you may not get arrow. But guess what! vista basic doesn't have aero which is the same thing as xp home. So if you just want some updated user interface with incompatibilities galore then vista is the thing for you. Let's just hope those problems go away by the time January comes.

Yes, that makes more than perfect sense. All the time I was wondering how Microsoft will cope with the fact that Vista wont be ready for the Christmas sale.

But honestly, in that sense Vista is not free - It is just delivered a bit late!

At my job I've gotten these type of upgrades for nearly every version of Windows... 95->98, NT4->2000, 2000->XP. We also used to buy PCs w/ office (before we got into volume licensing)and we got an Office97 -> Office2000 upgrade on a set of Dells we bought. When we got the 95->98 upgrade there was a ton of stuff that didn't work with 98 at the time, so we sat on it til all the drivers were out and the software vendors updated their wares.

Who needs it? It is still better to build your own computer. If your your going to own one, build it....you'll be happier with it.

Good move. Best would be to offer it on an income basis. Those who have a lot pay more than those who have little. And, of course, everywhere on this planet.

"Good move. Best would be to offer it on an income basis. Those who have a lot pay more than those who have little. And, of course, everywhere on this planet."
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Nice idea, but how do you prove who has a lot and who has a little. What if I have legally unreported income and legally reported income. I could be earning $65,000.00 a year total and yet only $9,000.00 of that is legally reportable. I have a lot, but I look like I have a little.

Why should someone with more money have to pay more than someone with less money?

I work hard for all my money, I earned it. I have to pay way more taxes than lazy welfare freaks who can't be bothered to get a job, so why should I have to pay more for product as well?

um, ever hear of Honor?

Shame on you for assuming low income = lazy!

I worked two jobs in retail for 30 years. Then I came down with Multiple Sclerosis. I spent ten more years volunteering, because it took that long to get a diagnosis. Now I am paralised and homebound, going blind, and entirely dependent on my computer and social Security of $600 a month.

I sincerely hope this explanation is as near as you ever have to come to my experience.

Think about it.

In today's world?

You ever hear of Enron? Exxon?

Honor...

What a neat idea. Good luck with that.

Very simple mathematics.

more = more

Have more = pay more.

And - btw - 2 third of this world is living on welfare. Not all of these trillions are necessarily lazy human beings.

So - thank God for your job, even if it is a hard one.

You are right. So - what is the question here? And what the answer?

And if the cat was a horse you could ride on it up a tree . . .

For the vast numbers of us daily earning a good living using sophisticated non-MS applications, like the Adobe Creative Suite including Acrobat, why would we need to suffer the distraction of installing Vista today?

This is US only, or world wise ?
I hope they offer it widely.

I wonder if the PC makers will redo their "restore DVDs" for models sold in December, to include all FULLY TESTED Vista drivers, all FULLY TESTED Vista-workable vendor-supplied software etc... I highly doubt it.

Giving you an MS version of Vista is totally useless to the 90% of PC owners who will refuse to deal with such an upgrade themselves. Hiring someone to backup their data from XP and install+tweak a Vista installation would cost them at least $100 for work rendered....

Then again, most people are stupid like that and will just assume the upgrade to Vista will actually cost nothing and will be hassle-free as falsely advertised...

I'd advise my friends&family to wait at this point for PCs to come with Vista unless the savings are tremendous (over $200), say due to a Black Friday purchase.

Compaq had the same deal when XP was comming out the thou they didn't realy make it well known or atleast not around here i just found the offer hidden in with all the manuals and it was free.

Just hope i never have to reinstall windows on it hate to think how long it would take to patch XP pre service pack 1:)

Microsoft has always offered office users with free upgrade to it's newest version if consumer purchased it within last two or three months before latest edition sold in stores. Windows, on the other hand, is huge new ballpark so why they are starting to do same thing there is beyond me.

It's so that the pc makers don't run into a slow down for those consumers hesistant and waiting for a pc with vista pre-installed.

keep pc sales truckin through the holiday season :)

Smells like well organised panic to me.

why? This was actually planned about 2 months ago...just not implemented.

note, they are still working out the plans...work in progress. No panic

Smells like fear to me from a MS basher.

Know what guys?????

thw version of Windows Vista That they will offer you for free Will be the cheapiest and the worst one in all Vistas Version....

I'm sure from this and you will see...

and also they will just install you the vista without Offering you the DVD installation......

I'm sure from, that 10000000%

Just like I'm sure your English skills are piss-poor.

It'll be the crappy update DVD version at my guess, so if you ever need to reinstall you have to install XP then upgrade to Vista after that, which is just long.

Yeah, it'll be the cheap version, but it should be only $79 (or less because that's what it is for XP Home users) for the premium upgrade.

Yawn...percentage wise, few people have any intention of upgrading to Vista at least until the first service pack is released.
When XP Home hit the market 5 years ago it was a little more than 1gb in size. Now after the patches, hotfixes, updates and service packs it has balloned to 2 1/2 gb. Vista is just more bloatware and $79 still isn't cheap enough.

I agree. I can already hear the bugs chirping.

Well, seems all we have is former IT people who could not work with Windows well, and some old hackers making comments here so maybe a real Vista enthusiast should reply, and I am certainly one. I have nothing but great admiration of the folks who are putting together what will be one of the safest, most tested, and useful Operating Systems ever. Business, by an overwhelming majority choose MS Windows as their OS, as it is fully supported (try that with open Linux), it works with almost any recent driver set (this millennium), and all apps, games, web interfaces are all written for Windows Systems, then they are hacked up to be able to slug along for the others over time. People of knowledge, who are responsible in industry for huge corporations insist on these and many other attributes of a system that the others just do not even begin to offer. My Windows Vista RC1 is running flawlessly here on (2) different PC's. As for the free stuff, even if it's $99 for your home upgrades (volume and enterprise people always get discounts), with a life cycle of 5-7 years you are talking pennies a day for all this. BTW, i bought my DVD burner on Ebay for $9.99.

I'm not an MS Basher. [tuts] I think Vista will take the longest time ever to penetrate the market, longer than any any other previous version of Windows beforehand. I think Vista will probably be quite good - eventually - once a service pack has been released and it's been tweaked to death. And I look forward to that time - but it will be a long long way away for me (and for many others too).

What the hell does the price of your dvd burner have to do with it?

As Betanews has decided to add, remove and re-arrange posts here, I find it impossible to have any sustainable discussion here......try caching the pages to prove such as I have............the DVD reference was to an entry that said it would cost $100 on top of vista for get a dvd burner...........but if that is all anyone can reply to in my response, the rest stands quite well. BTW, this website is "Beta News", not "Trash Microsoft", or "Biased Reporting", as such, I do hope that I will convince all major ISP's and news org's not to link to your trashy website..shouldn't be a problem now.

Yawn...percentage wise, few people have any intention of upgrading to Vista at least until the first service pack is released.

And where, oh Great Swami, are you getting this information from?