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Windows 7 Family Pack, Anytime Upgrade prices leak

By | July 8, 2009, 8:25am PDT

History has a way of repeating itself. Back in August 2006, Amazon Canada inadvertently published the price list for Windows Vista before it had been officially announced. In a distribution channel the size of Microsoft’s, leaks are bound to happen.

Now, thanks to some similarly careless online retailers, I’ve found details confirming both the availability and price of the Windows 7 Family Pack and three Anytime Upgrade products for Windows 7. As I reported last week, Microsoft is apparently planning to release a Family Pack that will include three Windows 7 Home Premium licenses for a discounted price. I reported details of the Anytime Upgrade program back in April but noted that prices were still missing.

My colleague Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is reflexively skeptical about my report of a Windows 7 Family Pack. In fact, he says, his “OEM contacts” are unaware of any such product and one “source that has been reliable in the past” tells him the language referring to that product has been pulled from the license agreement. Fortunately, some of Adrian’s commenters have better sources than he does. One points to a product code, GFC-00236, that produces some very interesting search results.

Like a set of product listings from Expercom that includes a WINDOWS 7 FAMILY PACK/ HOME PREMIUM UPGRADE (GFC-00236) with a listed price of $136.95.

Another reseller, University IT Computer Sales, briefly had the same product and code listed on its website at $144.95. It’s been pulled from the live site, but lives on in the Google cache.

Both companies are reliable, if small, resellers, and one detail that makes the leak even more convincing is the UPC code attached to the University IT listing. A search of the UPC Database doesn’t turn up details for 882224898249 yet, but that prefix (88224) belongs to Microsoft.

Even more intriguing to me are a handful of extra listings in the Expercom catalog, which finally attach prices to the Windows Anytime Upgrade product line:

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

All of those prices seem thoroughly credible to me. Curiously, the one price missing is for Windows 7 Professional to Windows 7 Ultimate, which I expect to cost between $20 and $30.

The Home Premium to Professional Anytime Upgrade product is also in the catalog at PC Nation for $92.55 and at PC Mall for $99.99. PC Mall also has the Starter-to-Home Premium Anytime Upgrade and the Home Premium-to-Ultimate package for $89.99 and $153.99, respectively. The PC Nation prices are $83.72 and $142.30, respectively.

Until Microsoft makes an official announcement, of course, all this is indeed speculation. But mythical products don’t usually get UPC codes and official Microsoft part numbers, nor do they make it into the license agreements in software that is literally days away from shipping. If the Family Pack prices shown above are accurate, this will be yet another of the “very aggressive” pricing offers Microsoft promised earlier this year.

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Topics

Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott

Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications.

Disclosure

Ed Bott

Ed Bott is a freelance technical journalist and book author. All work that Ed does is on a contractual basis.

Since 1994, Ed has written more than 25 books about Microsoft Windows and Office. Along with various co-authors, Ed is completely responsible for the content of the books he writes. As a key part of his contractual relationship with publishers, he gives them permission to print and distribute the content he writes and to pay him a royalty based on the actual sales of those books. Ed's books written prior to fall 2011 have been distributed by Que Publishing (a division of Pearson Education) and by Microsoft Press. As of November 2011, Ed is a partner in the independent publishing company Fair Trade Digital Exchange, which exclusively publishes his books.

On occasion, Ed accepts consulting assignments. In recent years, he has worked as an expert witness in cases where his experience and knowledge of Microsoft and Microsoft Windows have been useful. In each such case, his compensation is on an hourly basis, and he is hired as a witness, not an advocate.

Ed does not own stock or have any other financial interest in Microsoft or any other software company. He owns 500 shares of stock in EMC Corporation, which was purchased before the company's acquisition of VMware. In addition, he owns 350 shares of stock in Intel Corporation, purchased more than two years ago. All stocks are held in retirement accounts for long-term growth.

Ed does not accept gifts from companies he covers. All hardware products he writes about are purchased with his own funds or are review units covered under formal loan agreements and are returned after the review is complete.

Biography

Ed Bott

Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications. He's served as editor of the U.S. edition of PC Computing and managing editor of PC World; both publications had monthly paid circulation in excess of 1 million during his tenure. He is the author of more than 25 books on Microsoft Windows and Office, including the recently released Windows 7 Inside Out.

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RE: Windows 7 Family Pack, Anytime Upgrade prices leak
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Family pack - which family?
Economister Updated - 8th Jul 2009
The most silly thing about the family pack is that it allows 3 upgrades. Our family of 4 has 7 computers (2 netbooks, 3 notebooks and 2 desktops) with 3 of them also running virtual machines from time to time for web security.

How many families have only 3 computers? If MS wants to keep my business they have to do better. If I need to upgrade, Linux will look too attractive to ignore.
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Contributr
So buy two
Ed Bott 8th Jul 2009
Two packs equals six licenses. And are you really going to upgrade all six of them to Windows 7?
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I can do the math, thank you.
Economister Updated - 8th Jul 2009
I do not know whether your reply was meant to be flippant or not. The cost of an OS upgrade is significant. Right now, the netbooks and desktops run XP and the notebooks run Vista. W7 is supposed to run better than Vista on netbooks. I do not like Vista much and would upgrade the notebooks if the price is right. Both desktops could handle Vista well, but I prefer XP despite some issues.

This is about MS trying to keeping its customers. Once they leave, most of them will not return. The biggest barrier is the switching/learning costs. MS may just have erected a significant barrier to keep me as a customer.

And I will certainly not buy 3 family packs.
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Contributr
"If the price is right"?
Ed Bott 8th Jul 2009
You're not making any sense. You say you would upgrade the notebooks "if the price is right." You have a $49.95 offer on the table right now for individual licenses and a three-pack that works out to about $45 per license. That's lower than Microsoft has ever charged for a Windows upgrade, and yet it's not good enough?

Something tells me the only price you'll settle for is free.
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Is that so? Your crystal ball is too cloudy and.....
Economister 8th Jul 2009
your closing comment offensive. I have 7 fully paid and licensed copies Windows. I have put up with 3 copies of Vista, one of which is Ultimate, which was supposed to come with extras. I am not willing to pay well over $300 to upgrade.

Like I said, if MS wants to keep me they have to do better. Your sarcasm only labels you, not me.
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I don't think Microsoft 'expects' anything from you...
ericesque 8th Jul 2009
In my experience, people tend to 'upgrade' when the new OS comes installed on a new PC intended to replace and old computer.

I sold Vista at its launch. We didn't sell a lot of boxed copies. We sold it on laptops and desktops.

So my guess is Microsoft doesn't expect you to upgrade your whole house at once. They anticipate your repeat business as you decide one of your old machines doesn't cut it anymore.
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Fair and legitimate point.
Economister Updated - 8th Jul 2009
It does beg the question however, if MS only expects my repeat business when I purchase a new computer (which in the current HW/OS environment may be entirely reasonable) they would get MORE of my money if they priced their family upgrade pack better. Your comment about Vista upgrade sales suggests strongly that the demand for OS upgrades is highly elastic, meaning that MS could improve their bottom line by lowering the price of their upgrades. In addition, the goodwill generated from less than happy Vista customers (and XP customers) would be considerable and cost MS very little.

With Moblin, Chrome OS, Android, Linux etc. making noises at the fringes (edit: left out OSX), I do not believe MS can afford to be complacent. They can however do what they want, and I will do what is best for me.
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Economister is really confused;
Ez_Customs 9th Jul 2009
I am also now wondering if he realises that the copy of winodws that comes preinstalled on OEM RTM computers, is the same price as thoughs on the box. Wake up buddy, you not getting a Free OS, you buying the OS and buying crappy hardware to be able to use it. It has always been that way. You know if you contacted your OEM provider and told them you wanted a refund on the OS your refund would be credited at a competitive cost to the retail box. Get a life man, your just here to start problems and bash something that you don't fully understand!!
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Contributr
It's not sarcasm
Ed Bott 8th Jul 2009
You are very, very sensitive, sir or madam.

Seriously, with absolutely no sarcasm intended, do you really think $49 or less per copy is too much for an operating system?

"They have to do better" - OK, what price would be acceptable to you?
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I alredy have 7 operating systems.
Economister 8th Jul 2009
See my reply to ericesque above.
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Contributr
You still haven't answered the question
Ed Bott 8th Jul 2009
Which was "What price would it take to get you to upgrade?"

But you seem more interested in acting offended than in having a discussion, so I give up.
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$199 unlimited within a single family, no business (nt)
Economister 8th Jul 2009
nt
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199 per unlimited WHAT?
rbettencourt@... 8th Jul 2009
How would that Pricing work? So you want a copy to have no predefined limit and also want people to be honest and not install their OS on someone else PC. So we are on the honor system like it was 10 years ago. Boy that worked well...
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WHY!?
GuyAlanDye 9th Jul 2009
Why are you still trying to appease this guy?

We all know the type:

Guy 1: "Microsoft just found the cure for cancer!"
Guy 2: "Yeah, well, Microsofot is a predatory monopolist and probably stole it from Apple."
Guy 1: "Uh, okay."

wink
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How about 29 bucks like APPLE has done.
AdventTech67 9th Jul 2009
It's only fair, after all it's only software.
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Microsoft doesn`t sell overpriced hardware...
NeoGeneration Updated - 9th Jul 2009
..sorry. They only sell software. And if you think an operating sistem (or any complex program) is easy to write and any kid on the block can do it, that means you have no f*king clue about what a computer is.
Go back to your cave, pls.

A calculator app, now that is something that is easy to write and any kid on the block can do it.

And BTW, Apple had 6 operating sistems (10.6 being Snow Leopard), in the same timeframe Microsoft launched 3 operating sistems (XP->Vista->Seven)
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$49 for a CRIPPLED OS upgrade is too much, yes
BillDem 9th Jul 2009
As a family of 2 with 6 computers (and a server), I can understand his point of view fully. If they were selling Win 7 Ultimate for $49 per upgrade license, then I'd probably upgrade most, if not all of my own 6 computers to Win 7. But in order to get the full OS, I'm looking at $49 per seat PLUS $140 per seat to add back the features they arbitrarily removed simply so they could pump more cash out of my pocket. Now we're talking about a sizable investment of nearly $1200 in order to bring my systems up to date with full-featured OS copies.

And no, Home Premium is NOT good enough. No encrypting file system. No XP mode. No BitLocker. No backing up to a network location (my server). So forget that argument. The crippled-version pricing fiasco Microsoft is once again foisting on end users is unpardonable in my view.
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Let me help you out
NonZealot Updated - 9th Jul 2009
And no, Home Premium is NOT good enough.

Yes it is.

No XP mode.

XP Mode is nothing more than a free, pre-configured version of XP. It doesn't add any features that aren't available in Windows Virtual PC that comes with all versions of Windows 7. If you have a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium and a license for XP, you can install XP in Virtual PC, install the Integration Components, and you have your XP Mode in Home Premium.

http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2009/06/25/multiple-seamless-applications-with-windows-virtual-pc.aspx

No BitLocker.

http://www.truecrypt.org/

Free and far better for the home user. BitLocker is not particularly easy to configure and really only stands out from the competition because it supports things like AD key recovery.

No backing up to a network location (my server).

Are you sure about that?
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/backup.aspx
Two particularly useful Automatic Backup features are the ability to do a scheduled backup and the ability to back up your files to a network location. (These features are available in all editions of Windows Vista except for Home Basic.)

So with the exception of encryption, you have everything you asked for in Home Premium and encryption is a free add-on.
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Let me help you out...
BillDem 9th Jul 2009
Yes it is.
Sorry, it isn't.

.... install XP in a Virtual PC...
The best reason home users would need XP Mode is to run GAMES. Virtual PC sucks at running hardware intensive games. If I were going to follow your advice I'd rather dual-boot XP and I almost never reboot.

No BitLocker.
BitLocker is NOT as important as the Encrypting File System. I noticed you skipped that one. Yes, I know about TrueCrypt. I would rather have an OS integrated solution.

Are you sure about that?
Yes, I'm sure Win 7 Home Premium does NOT include the ability to back up to a network location. Ed Bott is apparently sure, too. Look at the feature table in his article: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=1128

So with zero exceptions, everything I asked for is NOT included in Home Premium. And there are a lot more features NOT included which I didn't bother listing. Do some research.
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Let me help you out
NonZealot 9th Jul 2009
The best reason home users would need XP Mode is to run GAMES. Virtual PC sucks at running hardware intensive games.

You need to do a bit more research on XP Mode. XP Mode is nothing more than a preconfigured XP install that is run within Virtual PC. XP Mode will be no better at running games than Virtual PC because XP Mode is Virtual PC.

Yes, I know about TrueCrypt. I would rather have an OS integrated solution.

This would carry more weight if you told me that you never used anything but IE. Is that true? If you use Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Opera, I will have to suggest that OS integrated solutions aren't that important to you and that TrueCrypt would be your answer.

Yes, I'm sure Win 7 Home Premium does NOT include the ability to back up to a network location.

You got me on that one. I did not realize that MS has taken this out of Windows 7 because it certainly was available in Vista Home Premium. I guess since OS integrated solutions are important to you, you should install WHS on your server and then you can perform network backups with Windows 7 Home Premium. happy

And there are a lot more features NOT included which I didn't bother listing.

List them.
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@nonZealot: I agree with Bill
vulpine@... 9th Jul 2009
Even taking into account that Win Home Prem has all that a
basic consumer may need, not everyone is a consumer in
the same sense. Bill already mentioned that he has 6 machines
plus a server that all need at least the equivalent of Win Bus
Pro or Ultimate, each already retailing at an effectively
prohibitive price. Taking Microsoft's own listed price for
7BusPro of $199 per copy, at 7 copies, that's $1393 to
upgrade. Using two Family Packs and the 'Upgrade Anytime'
pricing to Pro or Ultimate still puts Bill at $1000 or more to
upgrade every machine.

Apple, by comparison, offers a 5-license Family Pack of Snow
Leopard for $49. To upgrade from Leopard, then, is only $99
for 7 machines--one Family Pack and two boxes; or $98--two
Family Packs. Assuming Bill were upgrading from Tiger? Ok, a
little more: two Family Packs with iWork and iLife included at
$169 each, totalling $338 vs over $1000 for Windows.

Yes, I know Bill is using Windows, but this example shows that
a Family Pack could be done much more effectively if Microsoft
didn't try to wrangle every last dollar out of its customers. It's
no wonder small businesses and even corporations are looking
for alternatives.
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@vulpine: Then BillDem should buy 7 Macs!
NonZealot 9th Jul 2009
Since Apple is so much cheaper, I guess BillDem should buy 7 Macs and save himself thousands of dollars! Good thing we have choice in the marketplace. happy
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*sigh* Ok here we go...
BillDem 9th Jul 2009
XP mode goes to a lower level of the OS than Virtual PC, for example Win 7 Ultimate has the ability to BOOT virtual drives. Feel free to read up about it.

...carry more weight [if you only use IE]...
Sorry, but you seem to be going off on a tangent. What does IE have to do with having the built-in OS ability to encrypt an entire drive, a folder, an application, or a single file? I can encrypt private data at any level of the OS by right clicking.

List them...
Ok, if it will shut you up... here goes:
1. Support for more than 16GB of RAM. (Two of my machines already have more than 16GB of RAM. I do frequent HD video editing and encoding.)
2. Presentation mode
3. Ability to connect a networked projector
4. Encrypting File System
5. Windows XP Mode (lower level than Virtual PC)
6. Backup to network (Yeah, I'm not sure why MS removed this one either.)
7. Offline files.
8. Log onto a domain
9. HOST a remote desktop (I hate this one being missing. I maintain PCs for a lot of friends and relatives.)
10. Boot from Virtual Drive
11. Language Pack of 35 languages (not a big loss)
12. BranchCache & DirectAccess (this will become more important when I move to server 2008 eventually)
13. AppLocker (BitLocker for applications)
14. BitLocker

Those are basically taken directly from Ed's feature table that I linked, even in the same order.

I also have heard that the Virtual Desktop Interface isn't present in Premium at all. I figured that has something to do with not Hosting a Remote Desktop, but apparently it is also used by other remote access systems (GoToMyPC maybe?).

Last, Enterprise Search isn't present. Not a big deal for me, but might be for others.
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7 Macs...
BillDem 9th Jul 2009
Actually, one of my systems IS a Mac, but I mostly run Vista 64 Ultimate on it as an 8 core render system. I haven't yet gone so far as to remove OS-X from it, yet. But I found after months of trying to move myself to OS-X that I just wasn't using it as much as I hoped I might. I wouldn't have bought it at all except that I'm so bitter with the way Microsoft is doing their marketing and pricing these these past couple of years. I actually like Windows 7, but I refuse to upgrade because of their "crippled version + upgrade" pricing scheme. It's really a shame I feel so angry at Microsoft, considering I've used Windows since version 1.0 (YUCK!) and their other products for much longer than that even. I always upgraded all of my systems to the latest Microsoft OS when it came out until Vista came along. I was a die-hard Microsoft fan and they have pushed me away. They hosed me on three copies of Vista Ultimate so badly that I have decided it's time for a change. I'm to the point where I'm hoping Ubuntu or OS-X get more commercial quality software and games available on store shelves before I have to buy another system. I just don't want to give Microsoft any more of my money.
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Then you sound more like a business user
NonZealot 9th Jul 2009
XP mode goes to a lower level of the OS than Virtual PC, for example Win 7 Ultimate has the ability to BOOT virtual drives.

This has nothing to do with XP Mode. XP Mode does not "go" to a lower level of the OS than Virtual PC.

Now, it sounds like the actual feature you are talking about is Native Boot using VHD. This has nothing at all to do with XP Mode and if I understand correctly, can't even be used to boot any OS other than Windows 7:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd440865(WS.10).aspx
Windows Vista? and Windows Server 2008 (and previous versions of Windows) do not support native boot. Native boot VHD requires significant changes to the operating system and these changes are new in Windows 7.

Even if I'm wrong about that and you can boot an XP image with Native Boot, it still has nothing to do with XP Mode which was the feature you mentioned.

As to the rest of your post, most of the things in your list are business functions that you are choosing to use at home. MS has every right to tailor their releases and, of course, you have every right to not upgrade or buy 7 Macs and save thousands of dollars with OS X. Oops, hope you weren't hoping to join a domain with OS X. happy
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7 Macs
NonZealot 9th Jul 2009
But I found after months of trying to move myself to OS-X that I just wasn't using it as much as I hoped I might.

Hmm, maybe that is why OS X is so cheap... it just isn't any good. happy
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@billDem. Than you need Proffesional, not Ultimate.
NeoGeneration Updated - 9th Jul 2009
Backup to network. Check
EFS . Check
XP Mode. Check.
No Bitlocker, but you said you didn`t need that so...Pro is the way to go for you, not Ultimate.
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@Neo: nope, that simply won't do
NonZealot 9th Jul 2009
Every machine that needs to log onto his home AD and requires the OS to be encrypted also needs Media Center because they each have TV tuner cards and are all hooked up to TVs. Every one of his home computers needs every single feature that MS has ever added to Windows.
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@NZ Media center is in all three...
BillDem 9th Jul 2009
Now, you're just arguing for the sake of arguing. I already showed you 14-16 features Home Premium lacks and that wasn't enough somehow. Why do you care so much what version I need? Are you trying to convince yourself or me? I examined the features table thoroughly and already know what I need and the reasons I need it. It's really not up to you.

In any case, I have already decided not to buy Win 7 for precisely the reasons I've outlined repeatedly in numerous posts. I only continue posting in the hope that somebody at Microsoft will actually read a few posts online and finally realize that they are pushing away some customers who have loyally purchased their products for as long as Microsoft has existed. I want them to realize they do NOT have a guaranteed future income coming from my own avid-technology home. As soon as a completely viable option appears, I'm gone.

I agree with the other poster who said XP was their last reasonably-marketed and priced product. I had no qualms about buying XP Pro for every machine I owned. It was feature-complete and much more reasonably priced.
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The point was the Windows 7 Pro is the right version for you
NonZealot Updated - 9th Jul 2009
Unless, of course, you need Media Center in all of your PCs.

Ultimately, it is your choice of course. If you have already made up your mind that you will not buy Windows 7 out of principle, so be it. It would be nice if you were at least honest about it for the sake of others who might be reading your post instead of simply reposting the comparison matrix. BTW, which network projector do you have at home? Do you like it? Do you ever get connection problems with it? I'm just curious.
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Your point has been shot down several times...
BillDem 9th Jul 2009
...by listing the myriad features missing from Home Premium. Did you not read any of my answers? Your point is invalid, defunct, evaporated, non-existent, and quite incorrect. Point-by-point your point was addressed and rebuffed. The entire set of features I need, taken all together, are NOT present in Business or Home Premium. Even my lowly netbook would need to be able to read EFS files over my network, dial into an office domain, and BitLock the drive in case it's stolen while I'm traveling. I don't know how I could be any more clear about it, yet you still don't get it. Home Premium may be all that YOU need for posting on web sites. It may even be all a LOT of people need for whatever they do. But it is most definitely NOT all I need.

Jeez. Move on already. I'm certain everyone is sick of both of us by now. Hell, I'm sick of us.
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Thought not
NonZealot 9th Jul 2009
BTW, which network projector do you have at home? Do you like it? Do you ever get connection problems with it? I'm just curious.
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this defense of this economister, is rediculous
Ez_Customs 9th Jul 2009
Does he understand how cheap the RTM is to the OEM manufactures. MS looses quite a lot ont he release of there OS, just like any manufacture of an OS, outside of open source. IF you get technical Open source developers are loosing the most. They work hard to make a kernel evolve and more powerfull.

To ask MS to sell there OS for less then 40 bux to give you 7 operating systems then maybe you should use that $10 calculator to play games, send email, and follow stocks. Or better yet, go buy a cell phone/PDA and forget about PC's. Not even apple sells independant licenses that cheap. yourasking them to much. BTW MS already does allow you to use one installation per seat. You don't Own your OS either. The part you do own is the License Key used to install that OS. When you get black listed it isn't the Key that gets tagged, it is the Seriel of the installation medium you use. Very Rarely will a License key get black listed. It does happen though, but those are normally keys known to be distributed threw peer network sharing.
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People are really that lazey to use Windwos backup
Ez_Customs 9th Jul 2009
Come on there are many more advanced options out there. You cheap skates are just looking for almost free publications. Yes integrated backups are prefferable, but even in Windows 7 the back up method is less to that of the burning softwares out there that we all have. Also if your only worried about redundancey in the files you create, a simple batch file will allow this to move over the network.

You whinners out there are making this discussion more then it needs to be. It isn't a bash session here, the artical is about how MS finally listed to the people and are now going to offer the OS for a reasonable cost. Most people willl get Windows 7 on a OEM, so the anytime upgrade is a viable option. People like me who are Beta Testing or using the RC build 7100 like Myself have other options. Economist should shut up and think about the options. 2 Windows 7 upgrades for just under 100 and one additional key for 49. That is exactly what he is talking about spending less then 200 to upgrade his home network of PC's. there is no need to spend 1200 on even 6 PC's.


What it has boiled down to so far to this portion of the blog, is that your stuck on the horrid migration to Vista prior to SP1. SP1 and late is pretty painless. Vista users and Windows XP SP3 well you have upgrade options on you. If you get the upgrade you will no doubtidly get to dual boot with ease. All you have to do is load the setup from your XP partition and environment, when you reboot then well you will have two options; Windows 7 and Earlier version of Windows.


Stop your Crying and notice MS is sacraficing a lot to make there customer base happy. Building operating systems is not easy, and less then 1% of the people in the world are even cut out to do it, so chill.
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@ AdventTech67: You DO realize...
Wolfie2K3 10th Jul 2009
...that $29 upgrade only applies if you've bought Leopard (10.5). It's $169 if you're still using Tiger (10.4) or earlier.

And good luck getting 10.6 working on your Mac if it's not running an Intel chip. They pulled out all the legacy PPC stuff so all those older Macs that their owners proudly wave about, telling us how the latest from Apple will still run on their old boat anchors will be SHUT OUT...
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Hey Wolfie, that's good news, but...
vulpine@... 10th Jul 2009
... just how much less space? I'm a fan of a new OS taking up less space
on our already-limited hard drives, but exactly how many gigabytes are
we saving with Win7?
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Is $49 per copy reasonable ?
mxevans 10th Jul 2009
Yes, probably.
Provided that is the price for a fully-fledged copy of Windows with no restrictions (if I buy it, I own it and I can use it on any one computer that I choose to - not simultaneously on two computers, just on one) and providing that this isn't an "upgrade" price.
If Microsoft were to offer me Windows 7 for $49 per copy (and, preferably, with discounts for multiple copies - say $90 for two, $130 for three etc) then, yes, that would be a good (and very tempting) offer.
Unfortunately, I doubt that they will.
This won't be the price for a single "use it anywhere", "this is a full copy not an upgrade" version of Windows and they'll also do their usual trick of having several different "versions" of the Operating System and (on the evidence in the original post) several different prices depending on whether you're upgrading (and what you're upgrading from and to).
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@ Vulpine: Space savings...
Wolfie2K3 10th Jul 2009
The C:\Windows tree on my Vista SP1 drive takes up a nice, round 13 GB.

The C:\Windows tree on my Windows 7 drive takes up 8.39 GB.

That would make it a savings of about 4.6 GB.

YMMV depending on your hardware, and what you've got installed.
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So you are going to dump your existing licenses and convert to linux then?
SamCPP 9th Jul 2009
NT
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@BillDem $49 too much?
LegendsOfBatman 13th Jul 2009
You're kidding right?
I beta tested 7, and while I was pleased with how easily XP Virtualization installed, I have to say, it just isn't all that big of a deal. Most games will NOT work in a virtual environment (which is what I needed it to do). So, there is little to no reason for Home Premium to offer it. You can, however, receive a more robust version for merely $100.

What 7 offers is more efficiency and stablization. Its prettier, but who cares? It's well worth the $50-100 for a more stable and much more efficent OS.

No, it won't cure the "it wont work" items. Using a 32 bit version might cure that, if youre using a 64 bit version of Vista, however.

7 is what Vista should have been. But of course, by cleaning up things, 7 would have been just as hated as Vista, because of the problems from the lazy software and hardware developers. But, of course, MS gets blamed for that.
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WTF Mate!!
Ez_Customs 9th Jul 2009
Sounds like to me that you are lost, Windows 7 is released with 3 Licenses! How are you getting 300 for all your PC's. Not sure about you but my math lands in just under $200. Your a Joke. You better go read your factoids again, because your wrong. Technically all you need is one version of Windows, and then an anytime upgrade, +3 licenses. and even on this math, your calculations are so far out of sight, it makes you appear silently babbling for a open source solution, so that you can get a FREE OS!!
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Explain your calculations, please.
vulpine@... 10th Jul 2009
He has 7 computers, wanting to run a minimum of the Business Pro on
most of them and Ultimate on at least one. This means the Family Pack
is effectively useless to him, but even if he chose that route, he needs
two packs, adding up to $288 minimum based on the price points
listed in the article itself. Add to this one copy of Ultimate Upgrade (list
price $219) and you're up to $507. However, since there is no family
pack for BusPro, that means ($199 x 6) + ($219 x 1) = $1413 to
upgrade all his machines. Even if he chooses not to upgrade his 3 XP
machines, that only saves him a hair under $600, still costing him
$800. Who wants to spend that kind of money to upgrade their OS?

Fortunately there are a few alternatives. The most efficient alternative
costs him about $300 and gives him enough copies to upgrade all his
machines with Ultimate plus upgrading his server and his Office
applications as well.

This, however, is still more than $200. How do you calculate he can
make all his desired upgrades for only $200?
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I guess I am a little confused
mwagner@... 10th Jul 2009
You have indicated elsewhere that you prefer to stay with XP on the desktops (and presumably the netbooks, which (from what I have seen) are really too slow to leverage the strengths of Windows 7 anyway) so you are really talking about upgrading just the three Vista laptops (at least for now) because you are not happy with Vista.

Your dissatisfaction with Vista aside, the current upgrade offer of $50 a pop seems pretty reasonable to me.

If I were you though, I'd acquire a free copy of Windows 7 RC and take it for a spin on one of the laptops to see if you like it any better than Vista. (Go to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/download.aspx for a free download and product key - good until 1 June 2010.)

This may go along way to helping you decide if the upgrade is worth it to you.

I can appreciate your wanting to pay a flat rate for unlimited upgrades but Microsoft has to pick some number to mitigate the inevitable abuse which will occur with any such offer (especailly when not tied to some fixed number of licenses).

Maybe three seats is too low but maybe 5 or 7 is too high. My guess is that 3 PCs is pretty typical for families and that is why MS picked that number (more or less out of the air).

You indicate that you have "fully-paid" for seven licenses to date but, more likely than not, those licenses came with the hardware you own, which means that you paid the OEM a discounted fee for those licenses. Or, if you bought shrink-wrapped copies, you paid an "upgrade" price (or a System Builders price).

You may be correct that Microsoft will meet with resistance at this Family Pack 3-license limit but Microsoft would meet even more resistance from its OEMs if they made it too easy for families owning a large number of systems to avoid buying some new hardware every three-to-five years.

In the end, it costs Microsoft a lot more to sell Windows in a shrink-wrapped package than it does to have its OEMs sell licenses without media, or boxes, or shipping costs - and let's not forget the retailers cut of that skrink-wrapped selling price.

Undoubtedly, Microsoft does not want to lose your business to Linux but truthfully, how likely is that? If it were likely, I expect that you would have made that jump on at least one of these seven systems before now.

Good luck!
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rofl
~rpb~ 9th Jul 2009
Ed...I'm still laughing at your "so buy two" post. Great article, well researched
and plenty of balancing facts.
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rofl
HotLantaGal 9th Jul 2009
Yes, Ed it was an excellent post and, until the flame war started, I learned a lot. I do think the price is too high tho. The "lower dollar" versions don't offer 2 things that are important to me: backup to the network and IIS service. So it will be a lot for me to upgrade my 5 computers. Bill could give us a break -- in this economy!

Always enjoy your articles Ed!
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Spot ON!!
mustang_z 10th Jul 2009
The guy is a child disguised as an adult. I wish there weren't so many of them these days.

I want to think about me, me, me! It's all about me, me, me.

A terrible waste of a mind. What happened to reason?
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Your absolutely right
Wintel BSOD 10th Jul 2009
It should be about Micro$oft.

We should all think about Micro$oft, Micro$oft, Micro$oft! It's all about Micro$oft, Micro$oft, Micro$oft.

That is perfectly reasonable, since resistance to the borg is futile.
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Economister
~rpb~ 9th Jul 2009
So, do you suppose your moniker says something about your whine?

Grow up.

Or maybe, "so buy three"!
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Shill Marketing Hype
emcauley 9th Jul 2009
This is shill marketing hype drivel. I will say this: if people want to change M$'s mind, they need to stop threatening to switch to Linux, mac, et al and simply switch. In threatening to switch, Microsoft "feels" nothing; when people actually make the switch, they'll "feel" the loss of revenue and profit, which should prompt a more reasonable approach to their pricing.

Oh, and they should FIX THE CHKDSK FILE 9 ERROR ONCE AND FOR ALL! As it stands, they have no claim to file system integrity until they finally and fully resolve this issue. I am not sure how a company who sells a "Disk Operating System" can make any claim to being "the best" or even having "good" integrity when it's operating system cannot properly manage the disk, which is its most basic operation of all!
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Thanks for responding for me
Economister Updated - 9th Jul 2009
I inadvertently (just after it was posted) saw his mindless first post above and have not bother to read the one you responded to. Looks like I made the right decision.

In case your comment about threatening MS referred to my original post, I agree with you. For most users like me however, there is probably a period during which they sit on the fence, assessing the situation and the future. I am in that fence sitting period. I am not an IT guy, cut my teeth on PCs by reading a DOS manual (5.1 I think) cover to cover and experimenting A LOT. I am probably more than twice the age of the average poster here and kind of set in my ways. If it were not for my son, who is interested in Linux and uses it alongside Vista, I would probably not consider switching due to the retraining "costs".

It is interesting to look back at all the posts (including the moderator deleted ones) reacting to my first post - from the objective and insightful to the truly mindless and inane - all because I expressed a personal opinion that the W7 family upgrade pack would not induce me to upgrade due to its price and computer limit.

A true reflection of humanity I guess, however troubling that realization may be.
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RE: Windows 7 Family Pack, Anytime Upgrade prices leak
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