Windows 7 pricing unveiled

Author: Gareth Halfacree
Published: 26th June 2009
Comments (51) Stumble
Windows 7 pricing unveiled

The various editions of Windows 7 don't cost any more than equivalent Vista releases - but a lack of upgrade options may cost latecomers dearly.

Microsoft has finally revealed some pricing details for its upcoming Windows 7 operating system here in the UK, and it's an interesting mixture of good news and bad.

The good news, as revealed by the chaps over at Trusted Reviews, is that from today onwards anyone buying a new PC running Windows Vista will be granted a free upgrade to Windows 7 at launch. The upgrade is like for like – so Vista Home Premium gets Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows Vista Business gets Windows 7 Professional, and Windows Vista Ultimate gets Windows 7 Ultimate – but requires you to have purchased your machine from an “accredited Microsoft dealer.” The programme will be available on all qualifying PCs purchased between now and January 2010, with the upgrade voucher requiring redemption before February 2010.

The bad news, sadly, soon follows: the voucher scheme represents the only upgrade path. Unlike previous versions, Windows 7 will not feature retail boxed upgrade editions in Europe – with only a full, standalone copy of each edition on offer. The reason for this, according to Microsoft, is that the Europe release is missing Internet Explorer 8 – and the company claims an upgrade edition would bring IE over from the original OS, possibly raising the ire of the European Commission.

The news takes another dip into the negative by not offering any cheap upgrade path for Windows Vista Ultimate users disappointed that their rather expensive OS turned out a trifle overwhelming – and is soon to be made redundant.

It's not all bad, however: in order to make up for the lack of upgrade potential, Microsoft will be running a promotion that will see Windows 7 E (for Europe) Home Premium being sold for £49.99 and Windows 7 E Professional retailing at £79.99 – the same prices as the current Windows Vista upgrade editions – if you pre-order between the 15th of July and the 14th of August. If you miss the deal, you'll get a second shot at Windows 7 E Home Premium between the 22nd of October and the 31st of December, when it'll be sold at the discounted price of £79.99.

This is the cheapest you'll be able to get Windows 7 for – if we discount the 'free' voucher-based upgrade scheme for new PCs. The standard retail pricing for the OS sees the top-end Ultimate edition hitting £229.99 – the same as Vista Ultimate – with Professional a smidgen cheaper at £219.99. Windows 7 E Home Premium will be hitting shelves at £149.99 – undercutting the Vista equivalent by £20.

The official launch date is the 22nd of October, at which point all versions of Windows 7 will be made available in 14 languages. If you're one of the unlucky few reading this through Google Translate, you'll have to wait until the 31st for the language count to hit the final score of 31.

Sadly – but predictably – there is no easy upgrade path from the Release Candidate versions of Windows 7, with beta testers being expected to completely reformat and re-install once they've picked up a retail copy.

Will you be picking Windows 7 come the launch date, or is the pricing – and lack of an upgrade edition – putting you off? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
Quote lewchenko 26th June 2009, 10:22
Thanks, European Commission for shafting us here. I would personally prefer a copy with IE8 in it... !

Just out of interest, if it ships with no browser at all... other than transferring one onto your machine via say a USB key, what do they expect the novices to do ? How are they supposed to actually download one ? Perhaps Mr. Opera will be sending everyone a free browser on a CD in the post ?

Does anyone know where we will be able to 'pre order' the discount versions from between July 15th and Aug 14th ? Am hoping somewhere simple and reliable like Amazon maybe ?

For £50, I would get Win 7 Home Premium. That seems reasonable considering the abortion that was Vista. The pro version at £79 during the discount period is the max I'd ever pay period. The higher prices after Aug 14th are a little harder to stomach.
Quote Krikkit 26th June 2009, 10:30
According to the website Win 7 Pro will be £99 on pre-order.
Quote Kode 26th June 2009, 10:31
Quote:
Originally Posted by microsoft
Important: The E editions of Windows 7 do not contain an Internet browser. Please get a browser from Microsoft or a third party and have it on a CD/DVD or another device so it's ready to install after the Windows 7 installation is complete.
Quote Aterius Gmork 26th June 2009, 10:32
No cheaper prices in Europe mainland, only UK... :(
Quote liratheal 26th June 2009, 10:36
Quote:
Originally Posted by lewchenko
Thanks, European Commission for shafting us here. I would personally prefer a copy with IE8 in it... !

To be honest, we should be used to being royally shafted by governmental bodies.

It's about what I was expecting, to be honest. Not quite 'bend over the table' but not exactly cheap.

Ahwell. That's what I get for living in the EU, huh.
Quote Javerh 26th June 2009, 10:41
What do I get for living in the EU then? No pre-order.
Quote Cupboard 26th June 2009, 10:44
I hope I will be getting it free from the MSDN Academic Alliance - I certainly get XP and Vista free at the moment :)
Quote Spiny 26th June 2009, 10:58
Any word on OEM prices?
Quote Spiny 26th June 2009, 11:06
<idea>I wonder if a pukka EU key will work with a *cough* US install</idea>
Quote DragunovHUN 26th June 2009, 11:06
Awesome. I would LOVE to get 7 E Home Premium for 50 GBP but i assume no hungarian vendors are participating in this.
Quote perplekks45 26th June 2009, 11:10
No pre-order price reductions for mainland Europe?
Great! I'll move to Vienna in a week! Aaaahh, FFS! :(
Quote harveypooka 26th June 2009, 11:23
10.6 FTW.
Quote amacieli 26th June 2009, 11:27
Will newegg.com not deliver to the UK?
Quote DragunovHUN 26th June 2009, 11:30
Quote:
Originally Posted by perplekks45
No pre-order price reductions for mainland Europe?
Great! I'll move to Vienna in a week! Aaaahh, FFS! :(

You can do the pre-order on the microsoft online store aswell, that's what i'll be doing hopefully.

QUESTION: If i choose to recieve a physical copy in their online store, is it going to be the retail box or am i just going to get a DVD in an envelope or something to that effect?
Quote tripwired 26th June 2009, 12:35
Home Premium looks to be the winner for me, I don't think I'll be needing WinXP Mode or the ability to join a domain for my gaming rig, features both present in the Professional Edition.
Quote kenco_uk 26th June 2009, 12:49
Quote:
Originally Posted by Krikkit
According to the website Win 7 Pro will be £99 on pre-order.

Is it £79 or £99 then? Can someone at bit-tech towers confirm?

£79 - I'm first in line. £99 - hmm.. maybe go for the Home version.
Quote kenco_uk 26th June 2009, 13:27
Quote:
Originally Posted by AranyLaszlo
Thanks, European Commission for shafting us here. I would

..like to complete this post?

..love to bend over?
Quote SteveU 26th June 2009, 13:30
SOLD!!! £49 Pre-order for me methinks!!
Quote SteveU 26th June 2009, 13:35
Just noticed the end date of the offer has changed!!!

* The offer begins on 15th July, 2009 and will end on 9th August, 2009.
Quote NickCPC 26th June 2009, 14:02
Quote:
Originally Posted by Microsoft
You can pre-order Windows 7 Home Premium E for £49** or Windows 7 Professional E for £99**.
Reckon its a BT typo.
I am also annoyed with the EC, this is just a ridiculous solution. Is there any word on OEM pricing though?
Quote Skiddywinks 26th June 2009, 14:10
So Home Premium, full version, for £50 in the UK?

Sold.
Quote Tynecider 26th June 2009, 14:33
Do you rekon tesco's will sell em two for 20 quid
Quote tank_rider 26th June 2009, 14:48
I'm liking the home premium for £50 offer, that's the sort of price I'd expect to pay for an OS!

I too would like some news on the OEM pricing, as I'd have thought that's what most of us buy on this site.
Quote Icy EyeG 26th June 2009, 14:50
I want to buy a 64-bit Windows 7 Pro OEM licence if they don't cost more than €150 (I don't give more than that for an OS).

Until then, XP FTW.

IMAO the difference between Retail Professional and Ultimate is ridiculous.
Quote Grimloon 26th June 2009, 15:05
I'll be pre ordering a copy of the 64 bit Pro edition at that price. Even if the original info was wrong at £79.99 and the price is in fact £99 it's still significantly less than the full whack of £220.
Quote DXR_13KE 26th June 2009, 16:10
Quote:
the company claims an upgrade edition would bring IE over from the original OS, possibly raising the ire of the European Commission.

I was thinking of mailing a flask of astroglide to microsoft and a letter asking them to shove this OS up their ass.... then i remembered that MS is like a really drunk and dumb chicken with some sort of brain disorder on cocaine!

IF THE BLOODY BROWSER WAS THERE THEN THE PERSON WANTS THE BLOODY BROWSER!!!!

/rant
Quote storm20200 26th June 2009, 16:43
I personally believe not selling upgrade versions is just Microsoft sticking the knife in European's I mean come on, how hard is it to just program the upgrade not to include Internet Explorer? If upgrade is designed to keep all your settings but move to a new OS why would it NEED to take Internet Explorer over? Bare in mine I'm an upgrade noob, I'm much more a format to upgrade kinda person ^_^
Quote mHod 26th June 2009, 18:06
I'd like to point out, to people that blame the European Union for the browser-less versions of windows that was not the EU's preferred solution.

They wished to see a choice given to consumers the first time the system is booted so the user could choose between the major browsers e.g. IE, Firefox, Chrome and Opera.

You should be laying the blame at the feet of MS as it was entirely their idea to do it this way, and you can see why... Majority of windows installs are sold via OEM's, and there is nothing stopping the OEM from putting a browser on it... probably IE!

Hey presto, MS get's PC's with IE on them anyway and makes the EU look bad...
Quote LAGMonkey 26th June 2009, 19:33
but but but....!!! what about OSX?! that has safari on it and i want the choice to install Firefox on it. Apple should be taken to court for not opening up their OS to third party makers of Internet browsers and should sell a version without a web browser on it....

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
/rant

Back on Topic, im tempted to get windows 7 on pre-order to save monies but ive never bought an OS untill after the first SP.
Quote NickCPC 26th June 2009, 20:17
Quote:
Originally Posted by mHod
I'd like to point out, to people that blame the European Union for the browser-less versions of windows that was not the EU's preferred solution.
You seem to forget that had the EU not stepped in at all, we wouldn't have the situation. Web browsers and OSs go hand in hand I think, and Microsoft is responding - and why shouldn't it respond like this?! If I were in MS's position I'd probably do the same thing. My point is that it IS the EU's fault we European consumers are getting it tough, and there's no way around this.
Quote perplekks45 26th June 2009, 20:18
Quote:
Originally Posted by LAGMonkey
but but but....!!! what about OSX?! that has safari on it and i want the choice to install Firefox on it. Apple should be taken to court for not opening up their OS to third party makers of Internet browsers and should sell a version without a web browser on it....

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
/rant
QFT!

rep++ [or not because I can't give you some rep right now]
Quote Gareth Halfacree 26th June 2009, 21:52
Quite frankly, having looked at the pricing - and seen what Windows 7 has to offer - I'll be sticking with the far more cost-effective Linux.
Quote DragunovHUN 26th June 2009, 22:06
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gareth Halfacree
Quite frankly, having looked at the pricing - and seen what Windows 7 has to offer - I'll be sticking with the far more cost-effective Linux.

Well, you get what you pay for. What's a high-end computer worth without the ability to play games on it?
Quote Gareth Halfacree 26th June 2009, 22:09
Quote:
Originally Posted by DragunovHUN
Well, you get what you pay for. What's a high-end computer worth without the ability to play games on it?
That's what my consoles are for. My PC is for work - and Linux does that admirably.
Quote VaLkyR-Assassin 26th June 2009, 22:24
Me likes the £50 price.
Quote perplekks45 26th June 2009, 22:31
I'll definitely grab either the £50 Home Premium or if it's really £79 I'll get Professional.
Quote Cobalt 26th June 2009, 23:30
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gareth Halfacree
Quote:
Originally Posted by DragunovHUN
Well, you get what you pay for. What's a high-end computer worth without the ability to play games on it?
That's what my consoles are for. My PC is for work - and Linux does that admirably.

Good for you. The rest of us still get shafted.

I don't mind paying £100 for pro, the Win XP mode and automatic backups are worth it for me. The extra languages and bitlocker are not worth a £120 premium for Ultimate IMO.
Quote aron311 27th June 2009, 01:00
I think something quite important has been missed, are these prices RETAIL or OEM?
Quote B3CK 27th June 2009, 02:40
Isn't the (E) version without Ie kinda like having a house with no doors? I mean with no Ie, you have to use sneaker net to get a web browser on there don't you?
Quote jhanlon303 27th June 2009, 03:36
Quote:
Originally Posted by B3CK
Isn't the (E) version without Ie kinda like having a house with no doors? I mean with no Ie, you have to use sneaker net to get a web browser on there don't you?

Slap a live Linux CD in for 10 minutes to download a browser?

I just got an email from M$ for Win7 at 1/2 price. Price yet to be determined in the Colonies?

john
Quote leexgx 27th June 2009, 11:46
you could just download the MSDN US version that has IE in it the key for it should still work for it when it comes out

or most shops will stock 1-2 copys of the E version and all the others will be norm windows 7 (if thay can do that or buy it online)
Quote DragunovHUN 27th June 2009, 12:52
I always keep a firefox 3 installer on my flash voyager so i don't have to use IE to go to getfirefox.com. The lack of IE should be no problem for me. In fact it's a welcome feature, i was wondering if i could remove it from XP without breaking anything anyways.
Quote dyzophoria 27th June 2009, 15:44
Quote:
Originally Posted by jhanlon303
Quote:
Originally Posted by B3CK
Isn't the (E) version without Ie kinda like having a house with no doors? I mean with no Ie, you have to use sneaker net to get a web browser on there don't you?

Slap a live Linux CD in for 10 minutes to download a browser?

I just got an email from M$ for Win7 at 1/2 price. Price yet to be determined in the Colonies?

john

the problem is a large percentage of users are still average joes, heck I wont be surprised if they dont know what Linux is, it may sound easy for alot of us, but in reality, it will very much sound complicated and a burden to a some people.
Quote perplekks45 27th June 2009, 21:57
No need for any *NIX distro, John. Just an USB stick with the installer. ;)
Quote Bonzo45 28th June 2009, 19:41
I don't see the point of making MS take IE out of Windows 7, considering Apple can bundle Safari perfectly without anybody giving a c***.

It's just another little thing to get people worked up about!

£50 seems quite reasonable for 7 Home Premium, will be getting that, shame you can't upgrade from the BETA however, that would have been a nice feature, I will just have to install my junk all over again (again).

Bonzo
Quote mi1ez 29th June 2009, 14:28
How will not having IE built in affect the functionality of (among other things) Steam and Media Center/Player?
Quote Bonzo45 29th June 2009, 18:30
Actually, I think steam uses Internet Explorer, in some way for it's web features. If Internet explorer is in Offline Mode the Steam web doesn't work!
Quote mi1ez 29th June 2009, 18:33
So will we need a separate version? Valve might get hit with an anti-trust if they force us to use IE! (Bloody EU)
Quote frojoe 29th June 2009, 22:18
good point about steam. On a clean install I installed flash player to firefox and not ie, and steam wasn't displaying properly, then I had to download flash for ie and it worked. I wonder what valve will do for you guys in the EU.
Quote liratheal 29th June 2009, 22:59
Quote:
Originally Posted by mi1ez
How will not having IE built in affect the functionality of (among other things) Steam and Media Center/Player?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bonzo45
Actually, I think steam uses Internet Explorer, in some way for it's web features. If Internet explorer is in Offline Mode the Steam web doesn't work!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mi1ez
So will we need a separate version? Valve might get hit with an anti-trust if they force us to use IE! (Bloody EU)
Quote:
Originally Posted by frojoe
good point about steam. On a clean install I installed flash player to firefox and not ie, and steam wasn't displaying properly, then I had to download flash for ie and it worked. I wonder what valve will do for you guys in the EU.

IE will still be downloadable. Infact, I bet there'll even be a download link in the retail version.

Almost certain that this will not affect Steam any more than a warning saying "If you want to use xxxx features, you need to install IE and Flash" or something.
Quote scot 5th July 2009, 16:30
Just look at the responses above, to the latest news on the world's standard operating system.
Noone knows exactly what the future holds for him/her!
Well, I'm off to Linuxland - Ballmer can stick my eleven years of misery, and servitude to Windows instead of using it to accomplish things, where the sun will never shine. ;)
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