Microsoft starts $40 Windows 8 upgrade sales

Microsoft on Friday opened its virtual store and began selling upgrades to Windows 8 Pro for $39.99, making good on a promise made last summer.

The upgrade, which must be downloaded and installed via a utility called “Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant,” can be applied to Windows XP-, Vista-, and Windows 7-powered systems.

Microsoft announced the upgrade in July, a bit more than a month after it issued the last of three public previews, but before it wrapped up its work on the new OS.

The upgrade does the most thorough job when migrating a machine from Windows 7, which is the only edition that conducts a “full” upgrade, the label for an upgrade that brings along everything, including data files, user accounts, Windows settings and installed applications.

Windows XP-to-Windows 8 upgrades are the least comprehensive, allowing customers to move only personal files; Vista transfers both Windows settings and personal files to Windows 8.

Although the $39.99 buys only the upgrade’s 2GB digital download, users can optionally request a DVD for an additional $14.99. The combination is about $15 cheaper than the $69.99 DVD-in-a-box that Microsoft and retailers, including Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Amazon, are now selling.

Microsoft has said that customers who downloaded and installed the free “Windows 8 Release Preview” will be able to upgrade to the paid version of the OS, but that those running the free trial of Windows 8 Enterprise RTM, or “release to manufacturing,” which debuted in August, cannot.

That was just one of the problems reported by customers.

In messages on Microsoft’s support forum, several said they had been blocked from upgrading by a confusing error message. “Windows 8 isn’t available for download,” the message stated. “Sorry, Windows 8 isn’t available for online purchase in the country/region you’re in.”

Computerworld ran into the same message when it tried to purchase the Windows 8 Pro upgrade from a virtual machine (VM) running an evaluation copy of Windows 8 Enterprise. The VM was located in the U.S., where the upgrade is currently available, and the attempt was made after Microsoft turned on the upgrade spigot.

Others, however, said that they had been thwarted from upgrading a Windows 7 PC with a legitimate license. “Quite frustrating seeing as many others are downloading it without a problem,” noted someone identified as ”_PhAzE_” on a support thread.

Additional complaints were lodged about the upgrade, ranging from machines that refused to download the file, payment problems, and invalid activation keys provided by Microsoft.

Customers can start the upgrade purchasing and installation process by heading toMicrosoft’s Web site and clicking the button “Download Pro for just $39.99.”

Microsoft will sell the Windows 8 Pro upgrade at the discounted price until Jan. 31, 2013. It’s not entirely clear what the price will be after the offer expires, but several online retailers selling the $69.99 boxed copy show that price as marked down from a regular price of $199.99.

Source: pcworld.com

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Retailers reveal more Windows 8 prices, take pre-orders

'System Builder' for virtual machines costs $100-$140, same price as Windows 7

Microsoft and several online retailers today revealed more Windows 8 pricing information, and began taking pre-orders for the operating system.

The prices were unveiled in a Microsoft blog post and by several online retailers, including Amazon.com and Newegg.com.

Previously, Microsoft had announced a $39.99 price for the online upgrade to Windows 8 Pro, and said that a boxed copy containing a DVD would run $69.99 during a promotion that will end Jan. 31, 2013.

Today, the company's blog post contained no new information, but Microsoft's e-retailing partners did provide additional details.

According to those retailers, the boxed edition of the Windows 8 Pro upgrade, which has been discounted to $69.99 for now, will jump to $199.99 after the promotion. That's the same price as for a Windows 7 Professional upgrade DVD.

Retailers also unveiled prices for what Microsoft calls the "System Builder" versions, those aimed at small-scale or homebrew PC makers, as well as users who want to run the OS in a virtual machine or in a dual-boot configuration. Formerly, Microsoft applied the term "OEM" to label these.

Newegg's price for Windows 8 System Builder was $99.99 -- available either in 32- or 64-bit -- and $139.99 for Windows 8 Pro, the business-oriented version that comes with corporate features such as full-disk encryption and the ability to connect to company networks.

The prices are identical to ones for OEM editions of Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional.

Unlike other boxed copies, System Builder does not come with support from Microsoft: Instead, the user is responsible for self-support, or if System Builder is used on a made-to-order PC, the shop or individual who assembled the machine is responsible.

Also on the price list: A $69.99 upgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 8 Pro sold at retail with no media, but only a "key card" with an activation code that turns Windows 8 into Windows 8 Pro. Microsoft's dubbed that "Windows 8 Pro Pack;" it's analogous to the in-place upgrades the company touted as "Anytime Upgrades" for Windows 7.

Newegg said the Pro Pack's $69.99 price was a $30 savings over the regular price of $99.99, presumably the upgrade's eventual list price. If so, that's a $10 increase over the Windows 7 Home Premium Anytime Upgrade to Windows 7 Professional, which comes with an $89.99 tag.

Even with these revelations, however, there were still unanswered questions about Windows 8's price, notably that of the entry-level SKU (stock-keeping unit) designated as "Windows 8."

Neither Microsoft nor any of the online retailers had information about the cost of a Windows 8 upgrade -- one used to migrate from XP, Vista or Windows 7 -- as opposed to the already-announced upgrade to Windows 8 Pro.

Also unknown is the price of the Windows 8 Pro online upgrade after Jan. 31, 2013. (Until then, it's $39.99.) If Microsoft sticks with Windows 7 pricing for this SKU, too, the upgrade will climb to $199.99 in February.

Windows 8 goes on sale Friday, Oct. 26.

Microsoft declined to answer questions about the missing prices of Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro.

Source: computerworld.com

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Microsoft: Windows 7 will run on SSD netbooks

Microsoft is not pushing Vista for netbooks because of its larger footprint, but Windows 7 will be able to comfortably run on netbooks with as little as 16GB of storage

Netbooks equipped with solid-state drives (SSD) sporting as little as 16GB of storage capacity will be able to comfortably run Windows 7, Microsoft said on Thursday.
The operating system and auxiliary files generated by Windows 7 -- including restore files, log points, hibernation files, and temp files -- will require 8GB, leaving 8GB for applications and user data, Microsoft senior lead program manager Leon Braginski said during a presentation at its Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC).
The entire install of Windows 7 will be smaller than Vista ," Braginski said. Thus, 16GB is "enough for a good Windows 7 experience."

The first subnotebook computer, or netbook, released last year, the Asus Eee PC 701, came with a 4GB SSD. It ran Linux because Windows Vista could not fit , and because Microsoft refused to license XP to netbook makers at that time.

As netbooks started taking off, Microsoft came around , allowing netbook makers to license Windows XP Home Edition .

Though many netbooks now come with standard hard drives, Microsoft is working on slimming down XP too so it can fit on low-end netbooks with SSDs as small as 2GB , such as the One Laptop Per Child project's XO laptop.

Microsoft is not pushing Windows Vista for netbooks today, in part because its larger footprint , and because larger-capacity SSDs, i.e. with 8GB or 16GB or more, remain pricey.

Gartner expects the wholesale prices of SSDs to be halved by 2010, when Windows 7 is expected to be released.

Braginski would not say whether Microsoft plans to create a stripped-down version of Windows 7 specifically for netbooks. He did say that Microsoft has no plans to create a special user interface for Windows 7 for netbooks' smaller screens. Windows 7 will also not officially support boot from USB flash drives, Braginski said.

Copyright © 2008 infoworld.com

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