Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade Prices Leaked

By Marcus Yam
published

We saw earlier today more evidence that Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade Family Pack, which should include three licenses, is real and could cost just $20 to $30 more than the Home Premium Upgrade with just one license.

Another piece of unofficial information dug up is possible pricing for the Anytime Upgrade retail SKUs. Ed Bott included in his recent ZDNet blog findings at online retailers who listed prices for several different Anything Upgrade packages, particularly those relating to Home Premium. The following come from Expercom, but has since removed the listings from its site.

UPG WINDOWS ANYTIME/W7 STARTER TO HOME PREMIUM UPGRADE Microsoft - Model 4WC-00040 $81.95UPG WINDOWS ANYTIME/W7 HOME PREMIUM TO PROFESSIONAL UPGRADE Microsoft - Model 7KC-00040 $90.95UPG WINDOWS ANYTIME/W7 HOME PRE TO ULTIMATE UPGRADE Microsoft - Model 39C-00040 $137.95

There were other retailers that listed similar prices within $10 of the above.

Just like the Family Pack news from earlier today, all the prices are unofficial. What we can bank on, though, is that the Anytime Upgrade retail SKUs are real (we've even seen box shots), so it's only a matter of time before we learn more.

Marcus Yam
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.
26 Comments Comment from the forums
  • jsloan
    too high! what about $25, $25, $25 and a handwritten apology by bill gates never to release another product like bob.
    Reply
  • Spanky Deluxe
    I'm so confused by the zillion editions now. It just makes no sense whatsoever. There should only be two versions, Windows 7 and Windows 7 Server (multiple server versions differing only in max number of clients allowed is ok though). Upgrade versions for both too. That should be it. It should also be priced at about a maximum of $150.
    The same goes for Office. Office should only come in one flavour with all the apps and should be max $100.
    Reply
  • IzzyCraft
    There hasn't been just 2 eidtions of windows for a long time =p even the fan boy lovers xp came in many flavors of the month. Although granted is was less.
    Reply
  • duckmanx88
    im confused about all these upgrades and editions. if i want a copy of windows 7 that will erase my harddrive and give me a clean fresh start what should i buy. right now i have xp media center thats been upgraded to vista home premium. i want a version. that'll let me reformat w/o requiring me to install the previous OS's to install it.
    Reply
  • captaincharisma
    jsloantoo high! what about $25, $25, $25 and a handwritten apology by bill gates never to release another product like bob.
    heh....another guy who just wants to get something for nothing
    Reply
  • anamaniac
    captaincharismaheh....another guy who just wants to get something for nothing
    Don't we all?
    Upgrading to ultimate will be damned expensive.
    Reply
  • FlayerSlayer
    So it will definitely be more money to buy low and upgrade than to just start off at the higher level. While I suppose that's fair, it will leave a bad taste in consumer's mouths when they have to ask if the features warrant the price. Moving from Starter Edition to a real version might be, but Ultimate doesn't have enough benefit over Home Premium to justify $140 for most people, since they already have Win7 at that point.
    Reply
  • @duckmanx88: you can do a fresh install with an upgrade. All it will do is ask you to insert the CD for the version you're upgrading from during the install.
    Reply
  • captaincharisma
    who needs ultimate? home premium should be enough and if not get the business edition.
    Reply
  • pooflinger1
    duckmanx88im confused about all these upgrades and editions. if i want a copy of windows 7 that will erase my harddrive and give me a clean fresh start what should i buy. right now i have xp media center thats been upgraded to vista home premium. i want a version. that'll let me reformat w/o requiring me to install the previous OS's to install it.
    Get the upgrade version you want. Boot your existing windows up. Insert CD. Click Upgrade. You system will reboot, and you will come to a screen with two options, Upgrade and Custom. Select Custom. Then format your drive, and boom, you have a clean install. Vista and 7 do not ask for a previous version disk like XP did. They verify that when you go to activate, not before you install. You can also do the same with a full version, but why pay more.

    @FlayerSlayer... The anytime upgrade is intended for people to buy one version then upgrade to a higher one. It is intended for those who buy a PC that already has windows 7 installed and need a higher version. Take for example notebooks. Most will come with Home Premium. Say you find one that has exactly the hardware you want, with HomeP, but you need Pro to connect to a domain at work. Instead of paying the full Upgrade Price for Pro ($199), you can pay 1/2 that since Home P is already on the machine. This is usually the cheaper route since most manufacturers charge a premium to custom build a machine or you are stuck with the hardware they specify for that edition.
    Reply