“Starting October 1–and for a limited time–those in the U.K. will be able to preorder Windows 7 for 30 British pounds, according to a Microsoft Web site. In a Twitter posting, Microsoft said that U.S. college students will be able to get the software for $30, but the Web site it linked to does not yet have details on the offer. ‘This offer is specifically designed for those students who are not planning to purchase a new PC this year but would still like to take advantage of what Windows 7 offers,’ a Microsoft representative said. Those who order the software will be able to download it when Windows 7 ships on October 22. Students interested in the deal need a valid college e-mail address. Microsoft plans similar offers in Canada, Australia, Korea, Mexico, France, and Germany, though the prices will vary somewhat.”
Hey Microsoft! When your spokesvole talks about “those students who are not planning to purchase a new PC this year”, how about the rest of us not having to take your operating system when we do buy a new PC?
No thanks,
The Badger
If you shout a bit louder, they’ll hear you for sure!
Chill…
Just install Linux in a VM. You’ll have better driver support and you can still impress your mom with your elite command line skillz.
Most “moms” aren’t impressed by command line skillz. They’re probably not impressed by having unnecessary products foisted on them by a monopolist, either.
CS students at my university have had access to Win7 for a while now, for free no less. Win7 Professional x86 and x64 images were put up for download pretty much as soon as it hit RTM. I’m actually downloading the x64 image right now.
That’s most likely because your school has a site license that covers all the computers on your campus. This program is for personal computers owned by students.
Actually is was free for everyone. Their was a beta program did you know ?
March 2010 is going to be fun in your school.
Students on my course get an MSDNAA account with lots of free microsoft software (not office) and I’ve used it to download Windows 7 since the beta. MSDNAA is useless. They use a proprietary downloader and encrypted iso files, and in my experience the decryption is broken. In the end I had to pirate the iso using bittorrent, and use the key from MSDNAA. I know I can’t complain too much as they provide a lot of software for free, but it’d be nice if the software worked.
my university gets me MSDN access to all things microsoft except the office package as well;
yet whats even more confusing is why would i buy a license for a computer i dont own yet when theres a 90% chance that this license will be bundled with a future computer anyways; (i know u can trade those in for money and all)
still its good for those who already have capable hardware and no MSDN from their university of course
Non-student. I’ve already pre-ordered awhile back for around $300. Ah well.
Australia but not New Zealand?
There’s a difference?
Edited 2009-09-18 09:38 UTC
As much as say, the US and Canada.
Has anyone told Microsoft that 30 US dollars is NOT 30 British pounds – it’s 18!
Do they think it’s cheaper to live here or something?!
I hate being ripped off by companies like this.
Yet another reason to steal it from the torrent sites instead…
Edited 2009-09-18 16:09 UTC
Yeah, that sucks pretty bad (not for me since I live in the US). I went to London last year and everything is way over priced. Paying 3 dollars for a bottle of Dr Pepper is stupid. I had to pay to use a restroom!
I am not sure if I want to buy Windows 7, even though it is really cheap. Last Christmas I bought Vista Ultimate for $50, and I don’t want to just throw that out. I wish I hadn’t given my old laptop away…
MS has a weird strategy. UK [for example] gets some discounts, while some other parts of this world [yes, THE WORLD, not only USA & UK] like the actual Europe – Germany, Poland, Chech Republic, Greece, Holland, etc don’t get such benefits.
I’m not that into this because I’m not using any of MS products, but I’ve heard many negative voices in regard of this decision.