Microsoft are still shifting plenty of copies of Windows 7 despite the fact that it’s starting to come towards the end of its life cycle. As you all know, Microsoft are hard at work finishing of Windows 8 but of course they still want to squeeze more life out of Windows 7. Microsoft are still selling Windows 7 for it’s original retail price, but I’ve spotted a bargain.

If you head over to Harris Technology, they’re selling the Windows 7 Family Pack for just $149. That pack includes 3 licenses for Windows 7 Home Premium. The catch? Well there is none, if you live in Australia that is.

From what I can see, Harris Technology don’t actually ship outside of Australia (Feel free to correct me) but regardless, this is a great deal for anyone in Australia looking to update to Windows 7. If you’re not too pushed about upgrading to Windows 8 just for the Metro UI, then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t take advantage of this offer.

Microsoft’s suggested retail price for this package is $249 so you’re making a saving of $100 there.

You’ll want to be quick though, this offer is only available while stocks last, and there’s currently 185 copies left in stock at the time of writing, and once they’re gone, the deal’s over.

But as I said, it’s a great saving and well worth taking advantage of and it’s also cheaper than buying a single license of Windows 7.

Source:

Harris Technology

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The Windows 7 Family Pack is already one of the greatest deals that’s available from Microsoft. Instead of paying the normal $119.99 single license upgrade pack for Windows 7, you can get 3 upgrade licenses for just $149.99. That’s a saving of nearly $210.

However that saving is about to get even bigger, because Amazon have just reduced the price of the Windows 7 Family Pack on their site from $149.99 to a mere $109.99! That’s an additional $30 saving off the normal price, giving you a grand total saving of $240 over the traditional method of buying 3 single licenses.

windows 7 family pack

Some users may be reluctant to upgrade to Windows 7 because of the price it, but looking at it this way, you can now get 3 Windows 7 licenses for less than one costs ( note:on the amazon store the family pack and single licenses are priced the same, but other stores are more expensive) !

If you haven’t jumped to upgrade yet, now is definitely the time to do it if you’re not planning on buying a new computer anytime soon. Microsoft are actually stopped the sale of the Windows 7 Family Pack for a while before it came back at the end of last year.

So make sure you take advantage of this offer soon, because there was rumors flying around that Microsoft we’re going to stop the sale of the Family Pack once it’s current stock of it ran out, Amazon may well be selling off the last of their stock.

Why wouldn’t you go for it now, it works out at a mere $36 per PC, and even if you’re only upgrading one or two PC’s you’re still saving money and could even sell the other one ( I’m not saying you should)

To take advantage of this head over to Amazon

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For the first time, Microsoft have made Windows 7 and Office 2010 available as downloads via online stores. Now you have been able to, and still can download Microsoft products directly from the Microsoft store in certain regions, but this is the first time you can actually download Microsoft products from other sources other than Microsoft’s own store.

Online stores can now sell Microsoft flagship titles via ESD (Electronic Software Delivery) instead of shipping out a physical disc copy. With ESD it bypasses all physical distribution, saving costs and time which is better for both us, the consumer and the retailer.

Since broadband connections are widely available, and increasing in speed all the time, ESD is obviously the way forward in content distribution. The only problem with this form of distribution is that there is an increased risk of piracy. It would be much easier to re-distribute the content illegally when it’s in a digital form on a hard drive. This is the major clause with it, and something that the likes of Microsoft and other software companies are battling to overcome all the time.

Traditionally Microsoft distributed its content via it’s OEM (original equipment manufacturers) who would buy bulk licences from Microsoft and then build the price of these into the hardware it sells onto the consumer, ie. laptops, netbooks, desktops.

Microsoft has been trying out ESD in France and Germany over the last number of weeks on a trial basis, and obviously they feel it’s ready to be widely used by the public. This is the first time Microsoft has allowed third parties to sell it’s products online as downloads and it’s really opening up the distribution channels.

One of the first UK sites offering this service is PC Advisor. Just quickly looking I see that they have Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade edition for £99.99 and depending on your internet connection you could be waiting 11hr 45mins on a 2 Mbp line, 2h58m on a 8 Mbp connection or a mere 1hr11mins on a speedy 20 Mbp connection.

Source:

Networkworld

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Lenovo, China’s biggest personal-computer maker have been at CES 2010 over the last few days and have revealed some interesting devices. Lenovo are saying that Windows 7 will boost demand for all it’s products over the next 3 years as companies and consumers adopt Microsoft’s latest OS.

Lenovo president Rory Read told Bloomberg in an interview at CES

“We’ve seen better business activity across the planet in the commercial space driven by an interest in Windows 7″

“I think this is a nice product that’s going to drive demand over the next 12, 24, 36 months.”

Read said that Windows 7 had already lifted his business in the last two months since the release of Windows 7. Lenovo’s first-half sales in the U.S. and Europe fell as corporate customers scaled back spending during the global recession. But now Lenovo is starting to see the global economy turn around and is seeing increased demand from SMB’s and Consumers. This also coincides with corporate IT spending which has been spurred on by Windows 7 also.

While at CES, Lenovo did more than just talk about Windows 7 sales, they also announced a pretty cool looking laptop come tablet. The Ideapad U1 is a laptop with a detachable screen that becomes a touchscreen tablet. While the screen is in place the machine is running Windows 7, then when the screen is removed, the tablet runs Linux.

Read announced this just after we had heard a very similar story from Microsoft’s announcements and they claimed that Windows 7 was the fastest selling operating system ever. Steve Ballmer also proudly told us that over 1 million applications supported Windows 7, more than any other previous OS. The success stories for Windows 7 just seem to keep on rolling in. Microsoft also announced a tablet of their own, the HP Slate.

Whatever about Windows 7 and all these success stories and how Windows 7 is stimulating the whole PC market. I don’t think it’s Windows 7 alone that is causing it, Microsoft got lucky with the timing of their latest OS. The Global Economy has just started to bounce back and it also happened to coincide with the release of Windows 7. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll give Windows 7 some of the credit, but not all of it.

Source:

The Register

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The Windows 7 Family Pack offer from Microsoft represented great value for users who needed more than one copy of Windows 7  - for $149.99 you got 3 copies of Windows 7 Home Premium.  After noticing over the weekend that Windows 7 Family Pack copies were becoming hard to find, Microsoft have formally pulled the offer and visitors to the US Microsoft Family Pack website are presented with the message “The Windows 7 Family Pack Offer has ended”.

The situation seems to be different in the UK, where sites are still advertising the Windows 7 Family Pack.  It’s still being promoted on the UK Microsoft site:

and is still available for sale at Amazon UK:

That’s not to say that the Windows 7 Family Pack offer won’t be pulled in the UK soon, if you are planning on buying Windows 7 I’d do so now to save money.

Microsoft’s decision to pull the offer could be because Windows 7 sales are naturally strong and further incentives are not needed.  Although pulling the offer before Christmas could be seen as Grinchism, the Christmas peak buying season has already been and gone in November, so if that were Microsoft’s intention they would have pulled the offer last month.

What this does indicate is that Microsoft won’t be doing any Windows 7 promotions anytime soon.

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Now that Windows 7 is out, some of you may be debating whether you should buy Windows 7, or if you would be better off just buying a new computer. With computer prices at an all time low, now is a great time to pick up a decent spec machine for very good value. What’s more, lots of the PC manufactures released new machines to add to their line up when Windows 7 was released which gives you, the consumer even more choice.

Courtesy Techtree.com

Even better than that,if you buy a new PC, with Windows 7 pre installed , you don’t have to go through all that stress of upgrading your current PC to Windows 7. While some users may not be put back by the challenge of updating an OS, I know many people who just wouldn’t be up to it. And the chances are if your thinking of getting a new machine, your running Windows XP, and the upgrade process to Windows 7 is a long and tedious process. But if your up for the challenge have a look at our guide here. If your updating from Windows Vista this process is easier but it does take quite a while.

And even if you have decided to stick with your current computer and update it with Windows 7, there is still the question – Clean Install Or In Place Upgrade? You need to weigh up the various advantages and disadvantages, luckily we have yet another guide for that, see it here

But wait! Have you decided which version of Windows 7 that you want to install onto your machine? Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate? There is different features in each, you can compare them all by seeing our post here

And finally, have you decided where you are going to buy Windows 7? Unfortunately you can’t avail of the special pre-order offers any more, but if you shop around you may find that some places are giving discounts. Try the likes of Amazon, Play.com and Microsoft’s website.

Personally, I would buy a new computer if  my current machine wasn’t 64 bit compatible. Why? Well 64 bit computing is starting to become the standard for computers. Yes I know the majority of computers out there are still running 32 bit OS’s but Microsoft and Apple have both started pushing 64 bit with Windows 7 and Snow Leopard respectively. 64 bit has its benefits and disadvantages but if your buying a new computer running 64 bit Windows 7 you will have little or no problems as your machine is already configured for 64 bit. To find out a bit more about 64 bit computing see this post from Jason

Or even if your buying a new computer running a 32 bit version of Windows 7, see if it’s 64 bit compatible as you may decide to change some time in the future. Ideally your looking for a machine with a Intel Core 2 Duo or Quad-core or higher processor, or AMD’s line of 64 bit processors. If your current machine hasn’t got one of these 64 bit compatible processors I’d recommend buying a new 64 bit PC with Windows 7 pre installed, because this will hopefully give your computer an extended lifespan and it won’t become out of date so quickly. And also you don’t have to be worrying about how you are going to install Windows 7.

While Windows 7 has been receiving high praise for its ability to run on low spec machines better than Vista, I still think it would be better to get an average spec machine and you can fully enjoy the benefits Windows 7 has to offer. I’m not saying you have to buy a new machine just to run Windows 7, in fact it’s quite the opposite. But look at it this way, Windows 7 costs from $120 -$220, for an extra few hundred you can buy a decent spec machine and get Windows 7 included.

But of course if your current machine is already quite powerful or relatively new, then upgrading to Windows 7 will probably suffice. And don’t forget that if you purchased your computer after 26th June 09 you may well be eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 7 so don’t forget to look into that first.

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Happy Windows 7 Launch Day!

This is very exciting and has been long coming. I haven’t received my copy yet, so my test copy will have to do until it arrives.

Now that we are finally ready to put Vista behind us and embrace Windows 7, I can’t help but think what lies ahead in the Microsoft OS. How do you improve on Windows 7? When will we see the Start menu and Windows taskbar completely gone from the Microsoft OS and replaced with something else? Will 128-bit lead to anything spectacular besides more room for ram and quicker loading applications?

I was reading Everton’s article, 24 Years of Windows and was looking closely at the screenshots from previous versions of Windows and I realized that besides the days of 3.x, Windows has generally kept the same look and feel. I’m curious which version and what year it will be when I look at an OS and say, “Is that really Windows?” Are the days of Minority Report PC’s almost upon us? I have to imagine that touch-based PC’s will increase and graphics will become more detailed, smoother and more 3D-like. Resolutions will probably climb to heights previously thought unreachable. I know that we are in for some amazing surprises with future OS’s, but at this point, I can’t imagine where we go from here. Right here on everything-microsoft.com, Mike has written about some of his wish list items in his article series Looking Forward to Windows 8 and it got me thinking about what we might possibly see as a follow up to Windows 7.

While Windows 7 is still an undiscovered country to millions of PC users, most of us reading this article are already reading sites like Windows8news.com and have been scouring the internet looking for legitimate screenshots of the future of Windows. I don’t know about other users, but I’ve been rejuvenated by the success of Windows 7 and look for Microsoft to raise the bar even higher.

I’m more into GUI than anything, so I am most looking forward to seeing where future OS’s take their interface. What are the features you have been looking forward to? Is there anything specific that Microsoft left out of the final Windows 7 code that you were hoping to see?

What does the future of Windows hold? Only time will begin to tell, but for now, let’s make the most of today and Windows 7. Still don’t have it yet, you can order it here.

Here is a helpful chart that i’ve seen floating around that I think may help users who aren’t sure about the upgrade process:

Courtesy of paulspoerry.com

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There’s a postal strike on in the UK at the moment so some retailers shipped their copies of Windows 7 out early, but I haven’t received my Windows 7 Pre-Order yet from Amazon.  Has your copy of Windows 7 arrived yet?  Vote now in our new poll.

[poll id="14"]

If your copy of Windows 7 did turn up today, how long did it take you to install?  Did you encounter any problems?  Is Windows 7 everything you hoped it would be?  Share your Windows 7 first day experiences here, and don’t forget to use the Forum for Windows 7 Help.

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Windows 7 is  finally here!

We’ve been tracking the development of Windows 7 for exactly 32 months since 22nd February 2007 and Windows 7 will be finally be available to buy around the globe today.  We will continue to bring you news on Windows 7 as well as tips, guides and Windows 7 Help as well as Windows 8 News on our sister site.  We believe that it will be Microsoft’s finest OS to date and I’m sure that many of you will agree!

Some lucky UK punters received their copy of Windows 7 early in the post this week, but Spiros Giokaris was the first person in the world to legally buy a copy of Windows 7 from a store.  Spiros Giokaris’ name was chosen at random by the Sydney Harvey Norman store at midnight to buy his copy of Windows 7.

“I can’t wait to go home to try it out — I’m excited,” he told ninemsn.

“From what I’ve read and heard, it’s going to make your internet experience or your computing experience a lot easier.”

“This is going to bring a lot of people back — from what I’ve heard and what I’ve read, Windows 7 definitely the way to go,” he said.

“I’m actually looking forwards to the widgets, setting up widgets and better gaming and better surfing, it should be fun.”

Don’t forget you can send your Windows 7 launch day photos to photos@everything-microsoft.com or chat live throughout the day with other readers.  If (some of you will) you have problems using Windows 7, remember Windows 7 Help is available.

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The Windows 7 pre-order phase has been quite messy especially in Europe. The bargain offers that Microsoft promised did not cut it for most users as they were never able to grab a Windows 7 copy at the reduced prices. The UK seems to be an exception to the rule as Amazon is currently running yet another tempting offer for all Windows 7 editions that are on sale at the shop. Amazon UK has dropped the prices for Windows 7 full editions to a price that can only be described as a bargain. But look for yourself:

Windows 7 Home Premium full: £64.68 instead of £149.99
Windows 7 Professional full: £148.00 instead of £219.99
Windows 7 Ultimate full: £159.98 instead of £229.99

Especially the price for the Home Premium version is more than tempting. Something that users from other European countries should take into account as well as they can order at the UK website of Amazon without problems or the fear of paying taxes for the purchase.

The upgrade editions of Windows 7 have also been reduced in price although not by such a large margin:

Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade: £64.99 instead of £79.99
Windows 7 Professional upgrade: £149.98 instead of £189.99
Windows 7 Ultimate upgrade: £157.16 instead of £199.99

This makes the Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional full editions cheaper than the upgrade editions. The prices are surely not going to stay that low forever. Users who have missed previous bargains might want to consider ordering those versions before the offer expires.

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There are just over 12 days left before Windows 7 launches – have you placed your Windows 7 pre-order yet? Back in February we asked readers what version of Windows 7 they were going to purchase.  Here are the old results:

It’d be interesting to see what version of Windows 7 users ended up pre-ordering.  For instance I voted for Windows 7 Ultimate back in February, although I ended up ordering Windows 7 Home Premium (although I cancelled as I got a free Windows 7 Ultimate copy).  What version of Windows 7 did you end up ordering?  If you haven’t ordered yet – why?

[poll id="12" ]

If you haven’t decided yet which version of Windows 7 to buy, then these posts might help:

• Windows 7 Buying Guide
• Which Version of Windows 7 Is Right For You?

12 Days To Windows 7 Launch: Have You Pre-Ordered Yet? was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Microsoft have just announced that they will be selling Windows 7 Home Premium or Windows 7 Professional for just £30 in the UK or $30 in the US to Students.

In an email to Neowin Microsoft said:

students will benefit from many of Windows 7′s unique functions and applications which make PC’s easier, simpler and more fun to use. For those students who have the latest laptops with touch screen technology, Windows 7 comes with enhanced capabilities for an enriched touch experience, allowing a more direct and natural way to work – it’s also perfect for netbooks. Other features include remote media streaming, improved gaming experience, enhanced security and integration of Windows Media Centre for more central and convenient management of music, movies and photos.

This great offer for Students will run until 3 January 2010 and students will be able to download Windows 7 from the 22nd October provided they have a valid College email address.

Microsoft is also planning to offer a similar deal in Canada, Australia, Korea, Mexico, France and Germany, though the prices will probably vary somewhat and Microsoft is yet to confirm details.

Regardless this is a great deal for students  as Windows 7 Home Premium will retail for $119.99 and Windows 7 Professional for $199.99 and is aimed at students who aren’t planning on buying a new PC this year.

Here are the Official Microsoft Links:

• Windows 7 UK Student Offer
• Windows 7 US Student Offer

Sources: Neowin, Cnet

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I’m not sure how long this is going to persist, but copies of Windows 7 Home Premium are selling on sites like Amazon in the UK for £65 ($107), whereas in the US a copy will set you back $200.  The situation isn’t as pronounced for Windows 7 Professional, with a full version costing £150 ($248) in the UK and $300 in the US.

I live in London, and for once it’s nice to get better pricing than the US.  If you live in the US, then maybe it’s worthwhile trying to work out who you know who lives in the UK who can post a copy to you.  Postage is only going to cost $8 tops, so you’ll still save $80.

More: Windows 7 Pre-order options.

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The pre-ordering phase began today in Germany, France and the United Kingdom. It seems to have been quite the rush as several stores are already notifying customers that the discounted pre-orders have sold out. This could either mean a very low supply of discounted pre-orders in the European countries or a high demand and rush to get these discounted versions of Windows 7. If you visit the German Amazon store you are notified for example that Windows 7 Home Premium sold out. The only two editions of Windows 7 available are the full price editions of Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate which are sold for €309.99 (about $430) and €319.99 (about $444) respectively.

The Amazon.co.uk store on the other hand is not offering Windows 7 Home Premium as well at this time but without any further information. Windows 7 Professional is still available for the discounted price of £89.97 (about $144) and will retail for £219 (about $356). Windows 7 Ultimate has no price tag yet as well.

Amazon.fr finally is not offering any edition of Windows 7 yet. They do list the Windows 7 Home Premium family pack and Windows 7 Professional on their site though. It is possible to order Windows 7 from another European country. German users who do not want to pay that much for Windows 7 Professional could make the purchase in the UK for example without problems. This would even be a bargain when the operating system can be purchased for its full price only but only if the user does not mind using an English operating system.

The only choices for European customers at this point are to either purchase the discounted Windows 7 Professional edition in the UK or hunt down another store that is offering Windows 7 discounts. All the online stores in Germany seem to be out of discounted products already so it is likely that the situation is similar in the UK and probably France. Let us know if you were able to buy Windows 7 for a discounted price or if you have spotted a store or shop that is still offering having stock.

Update: Seems that Amazon received a new batch of Windows 7 Home Premium editions. They are currently sold in Germany for €119.97 ($166) and in the UK for £44.97.

Pre-order Links:

Germany:

Windows 7 Home Premium
Windows 7 Professional

United Kingdom:

Windows 7 Professional
Windows 7 Home Premium

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Pre-orders of Microsoft’s latest operating system Windows 7 are starting in two days in parts of Europe. Amazon Germany for example has put up a page on their store that is giving details about the pre-order of Windows 7. The page contains several new information about the Windows 7 sale in Europe. We already know that Microsoft has decided to ship Windows 7 without Internet browser in Europe which can be very frustrating for users who do not have a physical copy of a web browser at hand after installation.

Amazon Germany customers can add Internet Explorer 8 to their shopping cart on all Windows 7 product pages so that it can be installed and used after the installation of the operating system. Amazon suggests to either add Internet Explorer 8 to the shopping cart (no word on the pricing yet but presumably free) or to have another web browser on CD or removable devices so that it can be installed on the system.

They also note that there will be no update version of the operating system in Europe. This means that the full copy is sold in Europe. This also means that European customers cannot upgrade from a previous installation of Windows 7 or Windows Vista. The good news is that the price of the full version will be about the price of the upgrade version that was sold the last month in the United States, Canada and Japan.

Amazon lastly mentions that they expect high demand of the operating system and encourage users to act quickly as they have limited supplies. They also note that every user can only purchase a reasonable amount of Windows 7 copies for the pre-order price. Windows 7 pre-orders are starting on July 15 at 9:00 CET in Germany.

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We all knew that the day would eventually come. The Windows 7 pre-order discount period in the United States and Canada ends tomorrow which means that users who have not made up their mind yet have to act fast to get the Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade or Windows 7 Professional Upgrade for a discount. To be precise, the Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade is available for $50 instead of $120 while the Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade is available for $100 instead of $200. Discounts are similar in Canada. You can follow the links below to go right to the Amazon store and order your discounted copy of Windows 7.

• United States
  • Pre-Order Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade
  • Pre-Order Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade

• Canada
  • Pre-Order Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade
  • Pre-Order Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade

The second pre-order phase begins on July 15 when users from the United Kingdom, France and Germany can start ordering discounted upgrades of Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional as well.

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Microsoft always made clear that Windows 7 pre-orders were only available in limited numbers. One of these numbers seems to have been hit already as Japanese shops that tool part in the pre-ordering campaign are reporting that Windows 7 pre-orders are not available anymore. If you visit the Windows 7 pages at the Japanese Amazon store for example you will be notified that the item is currently unavailable. It seems that it took less than 2 full days to sell all available pre-order copies of Windows 7 in Japan.

It is obviously unclear as to how many copies have been provided to Japanese retailers. The same is true for the pre-order campaigns in the two other countries (USA and Canada) where pre-orders are still accepted. It could very well be that limits will be reached in these markets as well which would mean that interested customers would have to wait until October 22 to buy Windows 7 at the retail price which is about 50% of the pre-order price.

Users from Germany, France and the UK will be able to pre-order Windows 7 in the next month. Pre-order limits are unknown here as well and it is always a good idea to pre-order as soon as possible to get Windows 7 at the lowest possible price.

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Amazon must have had one of their busiest weeks ever.  Not only have they virtually sold out of every Michael Jackson album, but the Windows 7 Pre-orders have shot to the top of the bestsellers charts.  Orders for  other Windows 7 editions are also doing well.

Since Friday, users from the United States, Canada and Japan have been able to pre-order Windows 7.  Users from Great Britain, France and Germany will have to wait until mid July before they can start pre-ordering the operating system.  Interested users from the three countries can currently purchase Windows 7 Home Premium for $49.99 instead of $119.99 and Windows 7 Professional for $99.99 instead of $199.99.

Microsoft has made the decision to not offer a pre-ordering discount for Windows 7 Ultimate which is something that caused some concern with users who would like to purchase this edition of the upcoming operating system.

Here are the links to the pre-order pages at Amazon in case you would like to place a pre-order.  Microsoft said the offer will end once a certain number of units are sold, so given the success so far, if you haven’t ordered yet you might need to hurry up:

• United States
  • Pre-Order Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade
  • Pre-Order Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade

• Canada
  • Pre-Order Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade
  • Pre-Order Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade

• Japan
  • Pre-order Windows7 Home Premium
  • Pre-Order Windows 7 Professional

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Microsoft will start taking pre-orders tomorrow for Windows 7. Users who place Pre-orders for Windows 7 before the end of the special offer could save up to $100 off the full list price.

If you live in the US, Canada or Japan you can now pre-order Windows 7 for a limited time, so hurry and place your order now to save up to $100:

• Windows 7 Home Premium: Usually $120 now $50 for a limited time
  
• Windows 7 Professional: Usually $200 now $100 for a limited time

As Windows 7 ‘s launch on October 22nd draws nearer, all eyes will start turning to the next development release, Windows 8.  Don’t worry, we’ll keep you up to date with all the latest Windows 8 news and rumours right here on this site.

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A recent Business Week article entitled Windows 7: Microsoft vs. the PC Makers outlines the problems that PC Makers like Dell, HP or Sony have with Microsoft’s Windows 7 price expectations. According to the article PC Makes have to cope with lower hardware sale prices, the rise of the low cost netbook market and Microsoft’s expectations. Microsoft is expecting PC Makers to pay $50 for the Windows 7 Home Starter Edition which is two to three times the price that they currently pay for Windows XP licenses. Windows 7 Starter has been designed for the low cost market only which means that Microsoft does not allow PC Makers to license the operating system for larger notebook or desktop computer systems.

More interesting than that is the comment of Mike Abary, a senior vice-president at Sony’s (SNE) Vaio PC unit, who mentions that Windows 7 Home Premium would raise the price of larger notebooks by $200.

The cost of Windows could rise more sharply on other machines. Microsoft has told PC makers the $50 Starter Edition will be available only for netbooks with screen sizes smaller than 10.2 inches and chips that aren’t capable of playing most games or watching video. Larger netbooks would have to use Windows 7 Home Premium, which would add $200 to a unit’s cost, says Mike Abary, a senior vice-president at Sony’s (SNE) Vaio PC unit.

The question here is if the $200 is a special price for PC Makers or the retail price of the Windows 7 Home Premium operating system. Only 16% of all users who have voted in our latest poll expect Windows 7 to cost $201 or more with an additional 16% thinking that it will cost between $151-$200.

Would you buy Windows 7 Home Premium if it would cost $200 or even more than that?

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We’ve just created a new poll “How Much Will Windows 7 Home Premium Cost?” which you can find in the sidebar.  Windows 7 Home Premium should be the best selling Windows 7 product.  Will Microsoft price Windows 7 to shift off the shelves quickly, or will they charge an extortionate amount like the $269.99 for Windows Vista Home Premium when it launched?  Get voting now!!

The results of our last poll “How Much Would You Pay For Windows 7?” seems to indicate that many readers are prepared to pay a significant sum for Windows 7:

[poll id="7"]

I’m not sure if this is because Windows 7 is such a great product, or because readers are expecting it to be expensive!

To see the results of previous polls, click here.

New Poll: How Much Will Windows 7 Home Premium Cost? was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

One of the secrets yet to be uncovered is the pricing scheme for the Windows 7 operating system. How much will an end user have to pay to buy Windows 7. Neither the retail price nor the upgrade price of Windows 7 have been known until now.

This has changed since yesterday with a leaked Best Buy Memo getting uploaded to Engadget. The memo contains information about the upgrade prices of Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional.

According to that memo a user eligible for a Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade would have to pay $49.99 while Windows 7 Professional users pay $99.99. That’s not much compared to Windows Vista upgrades. A quick check on Amazon.com reveals that Windows Vista Home Premium upgrades retail for $94.99 at the online store.

The main question is the prices are going to remain on the same level after this initial upgrade period. Users who followed the Windows Vista launch might remember a similar offer called Vista Express Upgrade back then which offered Windows Vista upgrades at a 50% discount. This suggests that the upgrade price for Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional after this initial period will be $99.99 for Home Premium and $149.99 for Professional.

Users who are eligible for updates can save some money in this period which is always a good incentive to get the ball rolling.

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Microsoft have reported that 40% of PC users in the Gulf have downloaded and are running the windows 7 Release Candidate, and that by the time the product launches 80% of Windows users will have tried at least one build.

“According to our estimates approximately 40 per cent of our customers – including enterprise, mid-market and IT enthusiasts – have tried and tested these versions,” Wilson Xavier, Windows Business Group Manager, Microsoft Gulf, told Emirates Business.

That’s an absolutely staggering number.   I’d love to see some stats on how many people are running a Windows 7 build in the rest of the world.  This could be a good thing for Microsoft as I’m sure many of these users will buy Windows 7 rather than go back to Vista or XP when the trial period ends.

40% Of PC Users In The Gulf Running Windows 7 Release Candidate was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

The average selling price for Windows 7 when it launches is expected to be more than both Windows XP and Windows Vista when they were launched.  In the current recession many of us are having to justify purchases that in the past we would have just made automatically, and are probably questioning whether upgrading to Windows 7 at such a high cost will be a good idea.

Now as someone who finds it very hard to say no to the latest product and services, I know that even if I say ‘no, it’s too expensive’ I’ll probably somehow just happen to be walking by a computer store on launch day, that I will somehow end up walking inside and buying a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate with the credit card I just happen to have on me!  This is what happened the other day when I tried to downgrade my 20Mb broadband to save money, but when the sales agent mentioned the new 50Mb service I couldn’t stop myself upgrading instead.

Personally, I think that Windows 7 is a great product and this view has been strengthened over the last couple of weeks where I’ve been happily using the Windows 7 Release Candidate build everyday on my main PCs, and not just on my test rig.  It’s made me appreciate the true value of some of Windows 7′s features in everyday use, and I will definitely be buying a copy of Windows 7 on launch day.

However, it’s hard to convey these improvements to a Windows Vista or XP user, without them using a Windows 7 machine for a few days and I think overcoming the view from many consumers that their current OS is good enough is going to be Microsoft’s biggest problem at launch.  This is the problem that the PC market is facing where customers are not replacing their machines on the same set cycles like they used to, and where the market is only being sustained by the growth in netbook and 2nd and 3rd PC sales.

Microsoft are also not ‘cool’ like Apple so customer’s aren’t going to be queuing overnight before launch day to buy Windows 7 just so that they can show it off to their friends and tell stories about how long they queued for.  Selling Windows 7 at such a high ticket price is going to require Microsoft, retailers and manufacturers to all work in tandem.  Planning for this is already well underway, with the majority of the sales material already produced and signed off by Microsoft.  I was given a small peak under NDA at Microsoft’s offices last month, and from what I saw the Windows 7 marketing offensive is going to be an impressive one and vary hard to ignore, when it starts in a few months time.

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A recent article on Cnet suggests that the average selling prices for Windows 7 editions will be higher than those of Windows XP or Windows Vista. The information was provided by Darrel Ward, director of product management for Dell’s business client product group, who mentioned in a interview that “generally the ASPs (average selling price) of the operating systems are higher than they were for Vista and XP”.

While this is not an official Microsoft source it is one of the first information about the possible pricing that Microsoft has planned for Windows 7. Which leads directly to our latest poll which wants to know how much you would be willing to pay for Windows 7. For sake of simplicity we want to know how much you are willing to pay for any Windows 7 edition, no matter if you opt for Windows 7 Home Basic or Windows 7 Ultimate.

[poll id="8"]

How Much Are You Willing To Pay For Windows 7? was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Acer has confirmed October 23 as the release date for Windows 7 according to the technology news site Pocketlint. We already mentioned earlier today that Microsoft was aiming for a holiday season 2009 release for their upcoming operating system Windows 7 which would go along with the release date leak. The article interestingly enough speaks of a 30 day free upgrade period prior to the release of Windows 7 which would be different from the currently expected free upgrade period beginning on July 1. The new free update period would start two months later than expected.

The information has obviously not been confirmed by Microsoft but a October release would mean a quick progression from the release candidate to the rtm release. The latest dates for the important Windows 7 releases are therefor May 5, which is the expected public release date of the Windows 7 release candidate, and October 23, which is the Windows 7 release date according to Acer. Remember that this release date would only be for the languages supported in wave 0 which are English, German, Spanish, French and Japanese. The next waves follow in a two week rhythm from that release day on. Check out the complete table for release dates for all Windows 7 language editions.

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We asked you when you’d buy Windows 7 in our last poll. We received more than 2500 votes with the majority saying that they would be buying it on the day it comes out (34%) or within a month after its official release (31%). That’s 65% of all voters that will buy the new operating system more or less immediately. Another 13% will buy it withing three months of launch. 11% said they would be waiting for the first service pack and switch to Windows 7 then while 6% said they would never buy it. The remaining 5% decided to trust their mates and buy it when they said it would be time to buy.

[poll id="5" type="result"]

That’s an impressive result for the next Microsoft operating system even though the question has been asked on a Windows website. It would not make sense to ask Apple or Linux users on the other hand when they would be going to buy Windows 7 as their answer would be more often than not never.

The new poll which you can find when you scroll down to the bottom and look in the right sidebar wants to know the system you are going to install Windows 7 on after you purchase it. Will it be a desktop computer, laptop, netbook or virtual system? You can post the hardware specs here in the comments if you like so that we can discuss them.

When Will You Buy Windows 7 Poll Results was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

When Windows Vista came out, many people waited a while for the dust to settle before upgrading. In fact, many people didn’t!

Windows 7 will IMHO be a much more robust release, which I believe will convince many users to upgrade sooner. The new poll asks When Will You Buy Windows 7 ? I’m sure the results will be interesting.

To see the results of previous polls, click here.

[poll id="5"]

New Poll: When Will You Buy Windows 7? was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Microsoft will be offering upgrades for existing Windows XP users who want to purchase Windows 7 according to an article posted earlier today on the Computerbase website. Upgrade meaning the possibilities to purchase Windows 7 at a reduced price. It seems however necessary to install Windows 7 on its own without the possibility to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7 directly.

This means that it will only be possible to install Windows 7 doing a clean install on the computer system. Offering the upgrade for Windows XP users is another interesting move by Microsoft to convince Windows XP users that an upgrade of their operating system to Windows 7 would not be that bad.

What’s your take on the story? Are you an XP user tempted by the offer? What price would you be willing to pay for the upgrade?

Windows XP To Windows 7 Upgrade Confirmed was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.