Windows 7 Pricing Announced, Cheaper Than Vista

We knew when (October 22) and now we know for how much.

Pricing on Windows 7 has been speculated for a while now to be even expensive than Windows Vista, but today Microsoft has revealed real dollar figures, showing a price break for the new operating system.

As listed by the Windows Team Blog, the estimated retail prices for upgrade packaged retail product of Windows 7 in the U.S. are:

Windows 7 Home Premium (Upgrade): $119.99
Windows 7 Professional (Upgrade): $199.99
Windows 7 Ultimate (Upgrade): $219.99

And the estimated retail prices for full packaged retail product of Windows 7 in the U.S. are:

Windows 7 Home Premium (Full): $199.99
Windows 7 Professional (Full): $299.99
Windows 7 Ultimate (Full): $319.99

While the Professional and Ultimate prices aren’t any different than they what they were for Windows Vista, the price break comes in for the Home Premium edition – which will likely be the most popular version for mainstream computer users.

The Vista Home Premium upgrade is $129.95, so there’s a $10 drop in the upgrade to Windows 7. The full Vista Home Premium is $239.95, with the equivalent Windows 7 model going for $40 less.

European customers won’t be able to buy the upgrade SKUs at retail, at least not from point of general availability, but Microsoft said that it would offer upgrade pricing on the full licenses (for those who qualify).

Microsoft also said that Windows 7 upgrade licenses will be available at less than half price as a part of a special pre-order program. Stay tuned for more.

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There are 35 Comments. B

Top Comments

27

Mr_Man , June 25, 2009 10:32 PM

But the thing us system-builders want to know: how much are the OEM discs?

Other Comments

27

Mr_Man , June 25, 2009 10:32 PM

But the thing us system-builders want to know: how much are the OEM discs?
4

MJRSnyder , June 25, 2009 10:37 PM

^ yea that is what really matters
7

christop , June 25, 2009 10:47 PM

Really OEM prices please.....
2

joebob2000 , June 25, 2009 10:49 PM

AND

Will the upgrade version installer have the ability to bootstrap itself, i.e. not require an installed copy of Vista or XP in order to install.
2

marshallladd , June 25, 2009 10:53 PM

Exactly my question, OEM is...?
-3

ssddx , June 25, 2009 10:54 PM

Most likely the same percentage of cost differential as with XP, Vista. Buying licenses in bulk could also factor in a discount, or so one might think. All you can do is wait until information has been released from MS.

Buying at the promotional 50% off might be a good option. This will most likely net savings over an oem copy. Again, it depends on if you need to buy multiply licenses.. or if by "system builder" you mean your 1-3 home pcs.

On a side note.. I wonder if they will offer 7 ultimate with the discount. I was thinking about switching over to dual boot 7/xp on a new machine. Half the price would make it more appealing to me since I had trouble with vista retail. $300 for an OS that wouldnt even install 64bit on a 64bit system, luckily for me the people working at staples are idiots and I managed to return it for a full refund after I uninstalled (no I didnt activate it) and sealed the package up like new.

Perhaps If I would have paid half the price I might have been willing to let it slide until the updates rolled around.

/ramble.....
-8

pocketdrummer , June 25, 2009 10:57 PM

Why buy OEM unless you are selling the computer you build to someone else? If you change anything important on them, you immediately end your license. AND, it's stuck on that one computer. The full version will let you upgrade anything, install it on a new computer altogether when the old one craps out, etc.
1

marshallladd , June 25, 2009 10:57 PM

OEM por favor
5

ckthecerealkiller , June 25, 2009 11:00 PM

pocketdrummerWhy buy OEM unless you are selling the computer you build to someone else? If you change anything important on them, you immediately end your license. AND, it's stuck on that one computer. The full version will let you upgrade anything, install it on a new computer altogether when the old one craps out, etc.

Yah because there is absolutely no way around that...
1

norbs , June 25, 2009 11:07 PM

etichiseems expensive.

Agreed, this is what windows vista was supposed to be in the first place. How about a discount for current vista users.
-9

anonymous@guest , June 25, 2009 11:10 PM

Damn it's expensive to get your computer virus infected.
6

jerther , June 25, 2009 11:12 PM

Quote:
If you change anything important on them, you immediately end your license. AND, it's stuck on that one computer.

I called MS many times to reactivate XP and answered I changed an important part (mobo mostly) and they ALWAYS agreed to activate the copy.

And yeah, OEM price is what matters for most of us, really.
3

brendano257 , June 25, 2009 11:17 PM

OEM is all that matters, a full copy and full feature set for an OS should NOT cost $319, that is OUTRAGEOUS. Honestly, Apple has it right, $99 for Leopard, and $149 for a 5 computer house/site license. Just for one copy of the full Ultimate I can authorize 10 computers with Leopard, that is INSANE. And still have $20 left over to be exact.

I honestly think that OEM is all you need. I have put OEM's on many different computers, occassionally you need to call India tech support and get a new key (and have a good excuse) so you can get it registered but it beats $100+ for a "Full" version which is just more of Microsoft's money hoarding.
3

scook9 , June 25, 2009 11:46 PM

i would love to see vista users get some sort of coupon or something.
0

Tedders , June 26, 2009 12:09 AM

Do you think the pricing would be the same for x64 versions?
-3

anonymous@guest , June 26, 2009 12:23 AM

@brendano257: you forgot to mention the upgrade price of snow leopard ($29 for 1 license) vs $220 for Windows. Given how bad the experience was with Vista, Microsoft should have offered a mea culpa by selling upgrades from Vista at a much much lower price point!!
3

Ogdin , June 26, 2009 12:46 AM

Have a good excuse?...."How many computers is this copy of Windows installed on?"......"One"........."Thankyou,your copy of windows is now activated".........
I guess "one" is a good excuse then because the 30 or so times i've had to phone in with various windows oem licences thats all i've ever told them.
1

ethanolson , June 26, 2009 12:48 AM

The EU is stupid.
-4

t85us , June 26, 2009 12:56 AM

wow 200$ for a home premium is a LOT of money.. a lot more than xp home.. and be fair. can't do more than xp... it's an OS...
need to think if it's really gonna be a good investment buying a win7 licence, and change the OS from ubuntu to this one...
0

Netherscourge , June 26, 2009 1:44 AM

1. Are those prices for 32-bit AND 64-it versions?

2. Can I upgrade from WinXP Home 32-bit to Win7 Pro 64-bit?

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