Windows 7 Sold Early at College Bookstore

Image source: Engadget

Students get some of the best deals on software out there – and for good reason. Students generally have less disposable income than working professionals, and companies are willing to give students a break if that means getting more users trained on a specific software.

Besides just getting a decent deal, it seems that at least one college bookstore has sold a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade early. Engadget has a scan of the disc, the sleeve and the receipt for the purchase. While the package doesn't appear to include any of the retail packaging, it did come with a legitimate key that was accepted and activated by Microsoft.

For the rest of us, it's just 10 more days until the big launch of Windows 7.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
  • JohnnyLucky
    Very nice deal for students.
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  • snurp85
    My school is supposed to start selling them on the 23rd. Only thing is; they didnt say which version it will be and or what bit. Also, no word on the price for it. Knowing my luck, it will be basic 32-bit at only $10 off normal price. Fingered crossed for ultimate 64-bit at
    Reply
  • snurp85
    My school is supposed to start selling them on the 23rd. Only thing is; they didnt say which version it will be and or what bit. Also, no word on the price for it. Knowing my luck, it will be basic 32-bit at only $10 off normal price. Fingered crossed for ultimate 64-bit at
    Reply
  • xrs
    In Europe (Poland to be exact) we've had a full version of Windows 7 (the RTM with a key that activated without any problems) available for *FREE* download since 13th of August from MSDN Academic Alliance.
    It's pretty sad that you have to pay for it in the US...
    Reply
  • Intel_Hydralisk
    @xrs: Uh, it's not just Europe. Any school that's part of MSDNAA has had it for free download since Aug. 13 (my old school has had it since then). It's just schools that don't have MSDNAA (at some schools, only certain majors get access to MSDNAA as well), you can buy it from the bookstore. So it's not a special European deal.
    Reply
  • pcnut55
    I did get a copy of windows 7 a couple of weeks ago from an educational online retailer. It works perfect and is win 7 64 bit ultimate. Got it for $99 plus shipping. My tech friends were very jelous. Like I said it works perfect. I checked how much memory was being used and it is taking .6 gig at idle and .93 under a load. Have not checked with photo shop yet or with after effects but will post when I do this week.
    Reply
  • indianoverclocker
    I'm a grad student at IUPUI. Our Campus Bookstore has been selling Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade for 3 weeks now. Its just $20 :)
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  • going2fast
    We have it free here from MSDNAA while studying. We have access to the pro version since 2 months I believe.
    Reply
  • fausto
    in this age of high speed downloads...if it is released on dvd on 10/20/09 why the hell no released the digital copies early?

    i'm ready to download and upgrade...
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  • tayb
    Bought it from the campus tech store last week for $7. Ultimate 32 bit and Ultimate 64 bit. The student media never comes in the full retail package you just get the DVD in a sleeve and the activation key, that's it. I wasn't really surprised they were on sale because Microsoft usually lets schools break the release date on almost all of their software. They want it in the kids hands.
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