A very important information has just been revealed: Windows 7 OEM pricing. And why is it important? Simply because this money will make the difference when you try to buy a laptop with Windows 7 included.
We’ve talked before about the Windows 7 pricing, so here’s a quick reference to compare it with OEM:
|
Full |
Upgrade |
OEM |
| Home Premium |
$ 200 |
$ 120 |
$ 110 |
| Professional |
$ 300 |
$ 200 |
$ 140 |
| Ultimate |
$ 320 |
$ 220 |
$ 190 |
OEM pricing it is extremely important to computer builders, and of course users. But there are some considerations:
- OEM versions are only licensed to one machine. Period. You don’t get the chance to use the same license on a separate machine, even if you don’t have it installed in the original machine.
- Also is required for OEM, clean installations of the operating system. You cannot upgrade any existing installation, you must clean your hard drive first.
Even though the pricing has only been revealed for three versions, we assume that these versions (Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate) will be the selected ones for any computer manufacturer to use. Specially the Home Premium version (yes, I know, I do not like it either).
Microsoft it’s introducing a new way of marketing for their new home operating system, Windows 7 Home Premium. This version will the optional “Family Pack”, that represents the possibility, with a small fee, to include up to 3 computers from the same house to have this operating system installed.
Basically if you buy a Windows 7 Home Premium + Family Pack, you will have licenses for 3 home computers. The specific licensing terms are:
“b. Family Pack. If you are a “Qualified Family Pack User”, you may install one copy of the software marked as “Family Pack” on three computers in your household for use by people who reside there. Those computers are the “licensed computers” and are subject to these license terms. If you do not know whether you are a Qualified Family Pack User, visit go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?Linkid=141399 or contact the Microsoft affiliate serving your country.”
Actually Windows Vista included this optional feature but for a very short period of time, that apparently did not have the right impact among users; but you don’t have to be genius to figure this one out, anything that was related to Vista did not have any positive impact among users.
The pricing of Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack it’s not official, but the speculations say that would be around $189.
There has been a lot of speculation about this for a long time, but Microsoft announced officially the pricing that is related with Windows 7 in retail and upgrade versions. And guess what? It will be cheaper than Vista.
The difference isn’t all that much with the original pricing in Vista, but still the operating system is different and I’m sure you won’t regret the money invested in this OS as you may regretted with Vista. Here’s the detailed pricing:
Retail Versions
- Windows 7 Home Premium – $199.99 – [Vista Home Premium - $249.99]
- Windows 7 Professional – $299.99
- Windows 7 Ultimate – $319.99 – [Vista Ultimate - $319.99]
Upgrade Versions
- Windows 7 Home Premium – $119.99 – [Vista Home Premium - $129.99]
- Windows 7 Professional $199.99
- Windows 7 Ultimate – $219.99 – [Vista Ultimate - $219.99]
But wait, there’s more. There are some more good news about pre-ordering Windows 7 and getting 50% discount over the pricing mentioned above.
Amazon and other sites are offering discounts for those that purchase their Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional versions before July 11th:
- Windows 7 Home Premium – $50.00
- Windows 7 Professional $100.00
Check Amazon Windows 7 site.
