The Windows 7 pricing scheme thing isn’t over just yet. Microsoft announced the prices for Windows 7 last week, including a limited offer with lower prices and all that. There was no mention of a family pack, but a little digging in the latest leaked build suggests that yes, there’s going to be a family pack of Windows Home Premium.
It took a little digging, but the evidence is pretty strong. The latest leaked build of Windows 7 Home Premium (build 7264) contains a very revealing paragraph in the Microsoft Software License Terms. This clause can only be found in the Home Premium version of this build, not the other versions, so it’s Home Premium specific.
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.
The link currently leads to nowhere. According to Ars, this won’t be a limited time offer. If we look at what ZDNet thinks, we can expect this family pack to sell for about 189 USD, which is a pretty decent price. A little unclear is whether we’re talking upgrade or full retail, but my guess is upgrade.
Still, it seems like a nice deal, but there’s no official word from Microsoft, so we can’t be 100% sure just yet.
The subject says it all. This is something Microsoft has needed to do for years and years now, ever since Windows 95 hit the streets. I think they should consider doing the same for Microsoft Office.
I agree. The prices for Windows 7 are way too high for what you’re getting over Vista. Don’t get me wrong, I love 7 and have no problem paying for a license but the price has to be reasonable.
With the price of computers these days, the operating system seems to be the most expensive part which is crazy.
I think Microsoft should sell the Home Premium for $100 and no more.
For me the price isn’t too bad but for the average person on NZ$40,000 (before tax) per year with 2 kids and a mortgage, that is a heck of alot of money. The one thing that always struck me was just how out of touch companies are with their customer base; this goes for all areas and not just software. I really wonder whether these companies have studied their demographics and take into account just how much (or how little) disposable income the average person has.
Take Windows Vista Ultimate, when it was released in New Zealand it was priced equal to that of 2 weeks salary, the Home Premium didn’t fare much better either. Couple the high price with the the buggy nature of the operating system, are any here surprised that someone on the average income aren’t going to shell out cash for something that is equal to at least a weeks pay?
Like I said, Ballmer and his millions seems to have lost touch with what Joe and Jane Average can and can’t afford; too much private jets and fancy parties have insulated him from the realities of his user base.
The average person doesn’t really upgrade their OS, they just buy a new computer, and the OS becomes part of the total cost.
I agree and I refuse to pay for a Windows upgrade.
Maybe I’ll go buy a nice GPS or iPhone (insert other toys here), now that I’ve freed up my Windows OS upgrade fund.
I agree. In fact I’ve never paid to upgrade the OS on a computer; the only time I purchase an OS is for a new build.
Something else that’s hard to swallow, building a budget-priced system and have the operating system be the single-most expensive item. Especially disheartening, knowing that large-scale commercial OEMs buy copies of XP for one-fifth the price that us home hobbiests are stuck with.
they do it already with the home and student edition of office 2k7
You know.. there are alternatives to Windows and Office.
I don’t understand why people complain about why Macs are sooo expensive, when upgrading a Windows OS can cost as much as another whole PC. Microsoft should be ashamed to charge as much as they do for upgrades. But what do you expect from corporations these days..
Skip buying Windows7 and Microsoft Office. Instead, take that money and buy yourself a brand new PC and install Linux.
Come on, wake up people.
If they’re going the Linux route they probably wouldn’t even need a new PC. Still, that isn’t likely to happen unless someone introduces the average person to Linux and sets it up for them–be it someone they know, an OEM, or whatever. Otherwise, most people don’t even know what “that Linux thingy” is or what it does, some of them still think Windows *is* the computer and the big blue E is the internet.
Obviously, this doesn’t cover the situations where Linux just wouldn’t fill the required need, but I’d say most people that applies to already know that… well, except for some of the casual gamers perhaps.
If I buy Ultimate, can I get a five pack of licenses and a six month MSDN subscription?
and I’d be equally tempted…
Yeah, I’m not all that impressed with it either… but I bet most people who are using Vista will be tempted by it. It is better than Vista… not that this says all that much.
The Microsoft Mafia Vista 7 “Family Pack” will cause much suffering.
Windows 7 Failure Log. The Crash of Vista 2.0:
“Windows 7 is Vista 2.0 and will follow Vista into oblivion because Microsoft’s development method is broken and their business model has been discredited. Windows 7 is mostly a name change that inherits all the technical and ethical problems of Vista”
http://slashdot.org/~twitter/journal/215957
XP Mode in Vista 7 is a scam –
“Microsoft is conducting a very carefully crafted PR campaign to make Windows 7 seem less broken than the Broken OS (Vista / Me II), but it isn’t ”
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/975/1051975/xp-mode-window…
The Vista 7 Hype Log –
“It’s one thing for Microsoft to make this stuff up, it’s another for it all be reported so uncritically by a press corps that’s been lied to repeatedly. This kind of stuff has destroyed the reputation of the Wintel press. Vista should have been their last hurrah, but they are at it again”
http://slashdot.org/~twitter/journal/216759
Why Linux is Better –
http://www.whylinuxisbetter.net/
Get Linux without having to purchase a Windows license! –
http://linuxpreloaded.com/