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Tuesday 18 August 2009, 2:49 PM
UK to get Windows 7 at half US price
Note that this is the full and not the upgrade version of the operating system update, which is scheduled for release on 22 October. It's also the version that includes Internet Explorer 8, rather than the now scuppered Windows 7 E products without the browser.
For more on the comparative pricing of Windows 7, head on over to CNET UK.
PreviousComments on this post
This and the referenced CNET UK article are, so far as I can see, poor journalism.
The Windows 7 version for UK (and presumably the EU) provides for a choice of Internet Browsers during installation, hence it cannot (meantime) perform an upgrade to an existing Windows system.
Consequently, Windows 7 is being offered at the upgrade price for a limited period. Or so I read several weeks ago.
Nice one, but a clean install is required !!!!!!!!!
If you follow "These instructions" then you can run an in place upgrade from the RC version of windows 7. You can even follow the chain through XP, then Vista (You don't need to activate), 7 RC then 7 retail. A long drawn out proccess and not recommended because it's never really the same as a clean install.
Oh Nice can't grumble at that then.
Half Price? Might be a full version, but its not as though there is a choice of buying an upgrade version at half the price of the Americans. This is the only option and is of comparable price for Windows 7, the 1:1 exchange + VAT. Once the upgrade comes out in the uk expect the full version to hit a normal price ie. double.
This article seems to be trying to justify the current higher prices for the full version which started at £44.97 then doubled to £89 to finally fall back to £65 for Home Premium. And for Professional which started at 89.97, then doubled to 179.99, to finally fallback to £149. Utilmate (without intial offer) started at £189, and is now £169.
The prices are still £20 and £60 higher than have been available, and likely that this initial batch for August was offered to retailers at prices which allowed them to sell at £44.97/89.97 and still make the normal profit, as long as targets were met.
So the £20 / £60 extra per copy is just probably lining the retailer's (Amazon's) pockets under instructions from MS.
Maybe the sales are tailing off from the initial low prices of 44.97/89.97 for Home Premium/Professional respectively, now the hype has dyed down.
If MS really want to prevent piracy - flood the market now with cheap genuine versions at the initial price again. Give a option to buy a licence key online now. - instead of waiting till October.
If your buying - I'd still wait till the product is 'in-store' - the large box at the front of Asda / Tesco is going to be the cheapest place to pick up Windows 7. There might even be another large box next to it offering Snow Leopard upgrade for £25 (but not if MS has a choice in the matter). The 'Harry Potter' effect of purchasing with your weekly shop will be the best way to buy Windows 7.
Don't forget Windows 7 will be competing against Apple Macs in Dixons showing the new OS Snow leopard for only £17-£25 - MS will find it hard to justify their OS prices nearer the time. Those price comparison ads might actually backfire on them. To be fair, Apple can afford to sell the upgrade at £17-£25 because their install base is much smaller compared to MS.
These retailers want you to buy your copy now , before you can compare it to purchase a second hand/refurbished macbook with an upgrade or a new mac - the tipping balance is starting to go Apples way, abeit in a small way - but its tipping, the in built cllient MS Exchange functionality (for free) is a biggy.
If Apple pull out the stops next month and offer intel i5/i7 chipsets in a new macbook then things might really start to heat up, and if intel can produce an integrated graphics chipset worthy enough to compete against nvidia/ati
And don't rule out the family pack - December 1st seems optimal to me (maybe a week earlier), just as a second copy installed around release date will need activating. MS would be daft to miss the holiday season - even if its just an online option to buy additional licences.
Windows 7 was given 9/10 in a recent review - for an OS that still needs a third party Antivirus/Malware Product, and fundamentally (though suppressed) the UAC (User access control) and still allows this stuff to be installed if the user allows it, by clicking 'yes'. I'd be giving Windows 7 9/10 if it had done away with the need for Antivirus, which isn't going to happen due to the way Windows is set up. Its still Vista underneath , but there is 'Vista' and 'Vista SP2' and they are quite different.
If your running Vista SP2 and its working fine - stick with it, Home Premium user might take the leap, but if your an Vista Ultimate SP2 user - there are plenty more productive ways to spend £169 - the difference is neglible, along with the hassle of upgrading.
The entry level macbook pro is currently discounted from £899 to £787, with vouchers/cashback it might be possible to get this down to approx £690 via a catalogue retailer.
If there is a time to switch to a Mac, or you feel inclined - a new macbook with Snow Leopard might just be the time to make the switch, especially if you can't give up Windows XP. Given the choice of Running XP virtually under Windows 7 or Xp under Parallels/Fusion on a macbook - I'd choose the macbook solution, but you do get a free XP Licence with Windows 7 Professional, for this purpose.
