Two weeks before the official launch of the new operating system, Microsoft today announced the pre-order availability of Windows 8 Pro upgrade.
The offer is now posted on the websites of numerous retailers and is priced at $69.99. This price applies to the actual physical upgrade package, including the Windows 8 product box that now comes in five different designs, as well as the upgrade DVD.
Keep in mind that this will be an "introductory" offer and prices may end up at the official list price of $199.99. The Windows 8 Pro upgrade also does not include the "Pro Pack", priced at $69.99, which comes with Bit Locker data encryption, the Smart Screen filter for web browsing, VPN connection technology DirectAccess as well as the Media Center extensions, which you will need if you want to play DVDs on your PC.
If you can wait until October 26, you can upgrade your PC via Windows.com and pay $39.99 for the online upgrade, if you are running Windows XP, Vista or 7. Microsoft reminded us that those PC buyers who have bought or will buy a Windows 7 PC between June 2, 2012 and January 31, 2013, there will be an offer to upgrade for $14.99 beginning on October 26.
The full, standard version of Windows 8 will be priced at $99.99, while the Pro version will cost $139.99.
Sorry but Windows 8 belongs on touchscreen devices, not desktops.
Gonna stick to Windows 7 for as long as possible and then switch to Linux when Steam has a good amount of games on there.
Totally saves me $100's when building new systems!
People also said Vista sucks...I don't see the problem after service pack 1 update.
People also said Vista sucks...I don't see the problem after service pack 1 update.
Sorry but Windows 8 belongs on touchscreen devices, not desktops.
Gonna stick to Windows 7 for as long as possible and then switch to Linux when Steam has a good amount of games on there.
Totally saves me $100's when building new systems!
I hear this argument a lot, and then I hear the same people talk about how win7 is 'all a person could ever need'.
So... if win7 is all you need... then why not just buy a few retail copies that you can install on future machines and be done with it?
Besides, win8 is a much better desktop platform than win7. Better hardware use, better task manager, better/simpler UI (though I do miss Aero a little), and better multi-screen support. I pretty much never see the metro interface in my use (when you go to sleep from desktop, then when you log in it starts you on desktop). But maybe it is just me?
My fear is that they screw up WP8 somehow. If WP8 ends up sucking, then I will stick with win7 and get an Android.