Windows 8.1 Prices Revealed: Upgrades are Full Versions
Windows 8.1 is coming out in a month and this is how much it will cost.
Windows 8.1 will be officially released in a month on October 18, 2013 (that's actually 12:00am on October 18th in New Zealand, so 4:00 a.m. PT 7:00 a.m. ET on October 17). Those who are already running Windows 8 will receive the upgrade to 8.1 for free, but those will on Windows 7 and below will need to pay for the pleasure to use the new Start Screen.
Pricing for Windows 8.1 will be the exact same as for the version before it: $119.99 and Windows 8.1 Pro will be available for $199.99. What's different from Windows 8, however, is that upgrade versions will be full version software.
"This shift allows more flexibility for customers in specific
technical scenarios and is in response to feedback we’ve received," Microsoft Brandon LeBlanc wrote. "It will be easier for those consumers who want to build PCs from scratch, run Windows 8.1 in Virtual Machine (VM) environments, or run Windows 8.1 on a second hard drive partition."
New PC owners with Windows 8.1 can upgrade to the Pro version for $99.
Those making the jump from Windows 7 can do an upgrade, but will have to reinstall desktop apps such as Office. Those upgrading from Windows XP and Vista will have to start clean as files, settings and programs will not transfer.
Furthermore, Microsoft recommends those upgrading from XP or Vista to purchase a retail boxed copy and perform a clean install.
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Are you sure, that it is a worth of wait to have win9 aka win8 with transparent tiles? But if you allready have win7, sure no need to upgrage but if you have XP, win 8.1 is about as good as win9 will be. What win9 will bring are aero upgrade to tiles (transparent tiles...) and new disk operation system (this one can actully be important! But support to that will take some time). It is really needed when win10 (aka skydrive version) is out.
I think it's even more of those stupid tiles..
Windows 8 will have a much better price if you buy it from Amazon. Also no, it is not proportional to it's quality, It's a fantastic operating system despite what people think about the "metro" interface.
Microsoft, feedback, response - do these go together at all? Till now not so much. And if they did then it was in totally wrong fields. At least I can say guy has sense of humor. I give him that. Even if Microsoft and the guy itself take it seriously.
Wait, no I don't. I will still with Win7 until a fundamental need arises to upgrade to Win 9 or may switch over to Linux.
Wait, no I don't. I will still with Win7 until a fundamental need arises to upgrade to Win 9 or may switch over to Linux.
Try reading the article: "Those who are already running Windows 8 will receive the upgrade to 8.1 for free"
I got my upgrade key for $15 last year. People can still pickup the Windows 8 Pro upgrade key for $70. Nevertheless, I said inversely proportional, at this point Windows has nothing grand going for it as Ubuntu and OS X are just as stable. The fact that windows is still a monopoly and maintains 90%+ of the OS market share enables it to maintain a price premium simply because more developers develop programs for this platform and Apple still not providing universal hardware support. With China and select governments making a push for a transition from XP to Linus over the next few years, Linus may finally start eating away at Microsofts market share and finally force the monopoly to start pricing their products competitively
I got my upgrade key for $15 last year. People can still pickup the Windows 8 Pro upgrade key for $70. Nevertheless, I said inversely proportional, at this point Windows has nothing grand going for it as Ubuntu and OS X are just as stable. The fact that windows is still a monopoly and maintains 90%+ of the OS market share enables it to maintain a price premium simply because more developers develop programs for this platform and Apple still not providing universal hardware support. With China and select governments making a push for a transition from XP to Linus over the next few years, Linus may finally start eating away at Microsofts market share and finally force the monopoly to start pricing their products competitively
Linux and OS X would also considerably have nothing going for them either for the desktop. Linux is great for business type environments, but on a consumer level which is important, rubbish. Windows has the market share because there are no better alternatives, with the amount of people needing help with Windows already on a daily basis, Linux would be a nightmare with people constantly needing help. With what Windows offers too, compatibility, ease of use, stability, etc in their operating system paying 100 dollars for Windows 8 on Amazon is rather cheap.
compatibility, ease of use, stability, etc
Compatibility is strictly related to market penetration since product support is based on target audiences, ease of use is subjective as many would argue that OS X is basically built for dummies, and Windows is no more stable than OS X and Ubuntu 12. Granted that learning a new OS may be a daunting task for individuals but the suppression of complications with Windows is due to familiarity and not ease of use. The aggravation that Windows 8 Metro interface flared from veteran Windows users is evident to this. Lastly, business adaptation and utilization is the key to current and future utilization of an OS as professionals that spend a majority of their work time using a specific OS are more likely to use it in the homes.
(actually, I think Windows is quite competitive for actual functionality, but not over 90% of all OS's competitive - there are some other good OS's out there that it would be nice if people were at least aware of as an option.)
That being said... Having all versions be full versions is a step in the right direction. Glad I bought all this stuff when I was getting it at $15 and $40 for two copies though.
Also, for everyone who is in here complaining about the OS... Stick with 7 if it does what you want. 8 is great for some of our needs and it really shouldn't be a problem for you if we use what we like while you use what you like and we just leave each other alone. Sound fair?