Microsoft Confirms Windows 7 Family Pack
The Windows 7 Family Pack is real and it's coming.
We've seen fairly clear evidence that there is going to be a Windows 7 "family pack" deal where a single purchase will include three consumer licenses for use in a single household.
Today Microsoft confirmed all speculation. Windows communication manager Brandon LeBlanc wrote today, "I know there have been some rumors going around about a 'family pack' for Windows 7. We have heard a lot of feedback from beta testers and enthusiasts over the last 3 years that we need a better solution for homes with multiple PCs."
LeBlanc continued, "I’m happy to confirm that we will indeed be offering a family pack of Windows 7 Home Premium (in select markets) which will allow installation on up to 3 PCs."
Other than the brief confirmation, there weren't any other details released by Microsoft. This may be relief to some who decided to pass on the pre-order deal, though those who did may feel a slight sting if the price of the family pack ends up being less than $150 (the price of three Home Premium Upgrades at the discounted price).
For more on the Windows 7 Home Premium family pack, check out our previous stories:
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Microsoft copies Apple again! They even called it the same thing LOL. If I had a dollar every time Microsoft copied Apple I'd be a millionaire. Unfortunately for Microsoft customers are going to find out that there is the same darn vista registry and dlls under Windows 7. Have fun PC users.
""This may be relief to some who decided to pass on the pre-order deal, though those who did may feel a slight sting if the price of the family pack ends up being less than $150 (the price of three Home Premium Upgrades at the discounted price).""
I have suspicion that the Family Pack will NOT be less than a single license... Just a guess.
It would be pretty cool if the Family Pack is only $50 more than a single license.
"Microsoft copies Apple again! They even called it the same thing LOL."
Apple invented the term Family Pack?
Both side copy each other constantly. Only a narrow-minded fanboy would think any different. Apple didn't invent the GUI interface either... which may be a shock to you. They copied what they saw at PARC.
techreader: do you even know anything about OSX's inner workings or system files?
Yeah, didn't think so. Hooray for affordable OS's! While it probably won't affect people buying pre-built PCs, those of us who choose to assemble our own systems have much to be happy about (so long as it isn't $300 for a 3-pack).
Why just home premium 3 pack, where is the ultimate 3 pack?
Because a typical household family generally wouldn't need Ultimate or Professional's features.
Microsoft copies Apple again! They even called it the same thing LOL. If I had a dollar every time Microsoft copied Apple I'd be a millionaire. Unfortunately for Microsoft customers are going to find out that there is the same darn vista registry and dlls under Windows 7. Have fun PC users.
Mac OS X basically has the same thing in the form of kext files and extensions.
But no, you're totally right, how an operating system communicates with its software and hardware is stupid. We should all follow your example and proceed to hate and bash things that we don't understand.
LOL....and Leopard Snow is $29, and $49 for a *5* pack. All I'll say is, Windows is for some people, Mac is for others. And it just happens that Windows is the majority although Mac would be MUCH better for a large amount of Windows users. (The users who could care less about each and every detail, and would just like something that is very little maintenance than worked)
As for Windows copying Apple. It happens WAY too often, and Mac usually has their own features. Sidebar is an adaptation of a Mac feature from OSX, Mac had a pull over menu that covered the whole screen that had "Widgets" when OSX Tiger (I think) came out...and then when Vista came out after....all of a sudden there was "Sidebar" with "Gadgets".... coincidence? I don't think so.
Regardless of who originates the ideas Mac OS X tends to be far more stable running the same features due to their control over the hardware and drivers whereas Microsoft writes code that runs poorly on everything.
"Because a typical household family generally wouldn't need Ultimate or Professional's features."
A typical household family doesn't need a castrated version of Windows!
Because a typical household family generally wouldn't need Ultimate or Professional's features.
My home does
LOL....and Leopard Snow is $29, and $49 for a *5* pack. All I'll say is, Windows is for some people, Mac is for others. And it just happens that Windows is the majority although Mac would be MUCH better for a large amount of Windows users. (The users who could care less about each and every detail, and would just like something that is very little maintenance than worked)
That would be fantastic if Apple would make affordable systems or *gasp* open up OSX to regular PCs.
But, Apple would never do that. They're operating in an electronic petri disc. If they let anyone use OSX, they'd have to worry about compatibility... and frankly they aren't nearly as experienced in that field as Microsoft.
I wonder what windows would look like if Microsoft made it exclusive to their own hardware.... hmm....
...and by disc I mean dish. No grammar checking in Firefox :_(
Pretty good deal. I'll buy one and share with my friends.
Microsoft copies Apple again! They even called it the same thing LOL. If I had a dollar every time Microsoft copied Apple I'd be a millionaire. Unfortunately for Microsoft customers are going to find out that there is the same darn vista registry and dlls under Windows 7. Have fun PC users.
And I wish I had a dollar for every Apple loving troll that lurks around hardware sites when they have no idea what is inside their mac.
Mr Troll..... why would you care about windows articles when you are clearly anti-Microsoft?
To the untrained eye, my post may seem anti-Apple..... it is not.
It is anti-troll.
I would pay a few bucks extra for a Ultimate family pack.
I would have preferred an Ultimate Family pack as well.
The one advantage that Ultimate has over Premium is the Administrator Tools and other items which would give a (home) Administrator full configuration control over the systems on the home network.
dingumf wrote:
"Pretty good deal. I'll buy one and share with my friends."
"Family pack" means "family" means "same household" means "same address".Are your friends living with you? I suspect a lot of people are going to do the same thing, then bitch and whine when MS enforces their licensing rules.
Me? I am glad. It will just depend on pricing.
dingumf wrote:"Pretty good deal. I'll buy one and share with my friends.""Family pack" means "family" means "same household" means "same address".Are your friends living with you? I suspect a lot of people are going to do the same thing, then bitch and whine when MS enforces their licensing rules.Me? I am glad. It will just depend on pricing.
Technically your right that its suppose to be for the same address. But seriously, do you think Microsoft is actually going to try to enforce that? It would be a PR nightmare when families find that their children living at college suddenly find their PC's not working.
LOL....and Leopard Snow is $29, and $49 for a *5* pack.
Your right, Leopard Snow is a great deal. You only have to pay $29 for the OS and $2,000 for the apple hardware.
Who the heck carez? I'm hackin dis crap anyways. not paying their billion dollar CEO any more monies.
I wonder what windows would look like if Microsoft made it exclusive to their own hardware.... hmm....
if that were the case, windows wouldn't have any of the issues it currently does. Because really, almost all BSoD's are caused by driver problems and the like. And people hated vista so much because it was incompatible with alot of older devices. But of course, if microsoft did limit windows like apple limits osx, they would get sued for billions and billions of dollars, for being "anti-competitive".
I can guarantee you the same address thing a few people mentioned would be impossible to control, what if one of your 3 home PC's is a laptop? If you're elsewhere your IP address will change.
Its simply 3 licences for a discounted price. Does microsoft care if you and 2 friends buy a family pack? Probably not if they make the sale.
Its better business to sell 3 licenses at an attractive discounted price than zero and have 3 more pirated versions out there.
Why is there absolutely nothing to ease the pain of Windows 7 Ultimate (Upgrade)?
Here's what I'd buy: a "Family Domain Pack" - $999 for (1) Server 2008 Standard edition that is for home and home based business use only and up to 5 installs of Windows 7 Ultimate that are on the purchased server's domain.
Of course, that will never happen...
Riddle me this, i have installed vista on 2 PC's under the same serial and its a single user license yet nothing has happened. How does this work?