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Microsoft plans Windows 7 Family Pack?
Author: Gareth HalfacreePublished: 3rd July 2009
The wording of an EULA supplied with a leaked build of Windows 7 suggests an unannounced 'Family Pack' SKU.
As reported over on CNet, Windows fans have tracked down an obscure paragraph in the licensing agreement of a recently leaked build of Windows 7 which suggests Microsoft will be selling a three-pack bundle for households with multiple computers.
In a post on his blog, technology enthusiast Kristan Kenney points out that the licence agreement makes reference to “Qualified Family Pack Users” being able to “install one copy of the software marked as 'Family Pack' on three computers in your household for use by people who reside there.”
While the language makes it pretty clear that a multi-system bundle has at least been thought about – and in a build so close to release date, is almost certainly going to make it into the final version – Microsoft is remaining tight lipped, offering no confirmation nor denial that a Windows 7 Family Pack will be offered.
With no official statement from Microsoft, it's impossible to guess as to the pricing level at which Family Pack may be offered: it's certainly likely to be a substantial discount over the cost of three full retail packs, however. Neither can we know which of the various Windows 7 editions will be offered in this way: while Home Premium is a near-certainty, will Microsoft offer triple-packs of Professional to those households with greater demands on their computers?
Would you buy a Family Pack if it were offered at a substantial discount, or should Microsoft just sell the standard retail box for a sensible price in the first place? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
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Other than the pre-order pricing for Win7, I find the normal retail version pricing over the top. In OSX land you also do not have OEM (for obvious reasons!.... wonder if Psystar gets a discount though !! ) , so its a much simpler model. All versions are the same as well... none of this home/premium/starter/ultimate stuff.
And whilst Apple runs into criticism regarding 'yearly upgrade fees' for your OS (if you choose to buy them), it must be noted that Snow Leopard will only cost about £20 this time. Ive never actually bought an upgrade before though.. just run the same OS until I replace the machine usually.
I will be buying x1 licence of Win7 at pre-order pricing only for my desktop gaming PC. No more than that despite having a few PC's/laptops. They can carry on with XP/Vista etc until they die.
You wouldn't. I'm sure a household/small business with 5 macs would though.
Apple has an advantage over Microsoft here in that Apple makes money from the sale of the computer itself, ie. Apple is both a hardware and software company. Microsoft, on the other hand, is a software company only (aside from a few peripherals). This is why Apple can charge substantially cheaper for OS, because they have already made most of the money from the sale of the computer and support plans (and also why they don't like PsyStar that much).
If however the family pack comes out cheaper than 3 OEM versions I would consider getting it for our computers.
i bought vista retail, mostly because retail copies have much better support and waranties from microsoft than OEM. and when 7 comes out, i'll be buying retail again. if there is indeed a family pack, then i'll be getting that, simply because i plan on having 3 or 4 computers sharing media, and i like the expanded media sharing that's been added with 7, especially as far as integration with the Zune and 360 goes. really hope we see this in australia
I usually buy OEM myself as I am more than happy with sorting my own issues out/can figure it out most of the time.
I do think the family pack is a great idea though. I've been wanting them to do this for ages but as I have TechNet currently I won't be needing it. If I ever do stop my TechNet sub though I will definitely think about this deal, price depending.
I plan on buying w7 pro when it releases, and I could see the need for maybe 2 copies... but I'm not ready to part with that much money for windows just yet.
with all the computers kicking about in my house i definatly need at least 2 copys of windows 7 (after SP1 is released - personal preference not to get an OS untill the first SP is out). The third could be used for the spare laptop that the woman has (unless shes sold it) or i could give it to my sister.
Having a paying job these days im slowly moving towards actually owning my software instead of "borrowing" it off the internet like i did when i was younger.