Windows 7 pricing?

[Demon Cleaner]

I want to put Windows 7 on my new laptop, but I'm definitely not in a hurry, because I almost don't use it. But I want to do it anyway, and get rid of Vista.

I could get a Windows 7 Home Premium for 80£ now, do you think that prices will drop in near future, which I don't think, or do you think that they will even raise?

So as it isn't important if I'm doing it now or in 6 month, what do you think, should I get it now or only later??

[Harrison]

I have a feeling the price could drop after the new year. I might be wrong, but I don't think it will go up. It never has for Vista.

Is that price for the upgrade version? And is it for the 64-bit version?

One thing worth considering with Windows 7 is that the Ultimate edition, whilst a lot more expensive, does offer a lot of additional features over the Home Premium edition, unlike the 2 editions of Vista did.

One of the most important for me with Windows 7 Ultimate is the built in Windows XP mode (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/features/windows-xp-mode.aspx), which fully emulated Windows XP transparently, allowing you to run older software, games etc. And XP mode runs alongside standard Windows 7 applications, in windows just the same. Nice feature based on Virtual PC.

I will eventually be upgrading from Vista Ultimate 64-bit to Win7 Ultimate 64bit, but I'm waiting until the new year to see if upgrade prices fall at all. At the moment the cheapest I've seen the ultimate upgrade for is £146.

[Demon Cleaner]

Is that price for the upgrade version? And is it for the 64-bit version?It's the full version, don't want an upgrade version, because what should I do when I want once a fresh install, install Vista first, then the upgrade again. Upgrade version is only 10£ cheaper anyway.

The box includes 32-bit & 64-bit versions.

I don't need the stuff I get more with the other versions, the only interesting things would perhaps be the XP mode or Bitlocker, as it's for my laptop.

[Harrison]

You can, and it is recommend, to install upgrade versions of Windows as a fresh copy. You don't need to have the previous version of Windows installed for it to work. It will just ask you to insert the disc or enter the product code for the older version to verify you own one before it allows the install.

[outlawal2]

You can, and it is recommend, to install upgrade versions of Windows as a fresh copy. You don't need to have the previous version of Windows installed for it to work. It will just ask you to insert the disc or enter the product code for the older version to verify you own one before it allows the install.

One thing that I will add to this is to keep in mind that if you EVER use a Microsoft Upgrade, once you install the new product it will completely disable the old key. (I know this because I had a customer that had a similar situation as you and bought a laptop with XP on it... They had a free upgrade to Vista so they loaded Vista and it disabled the XP key. The customer decided that he liked XP better and when he tried to re-load XP he wasn't able to because the key was disabled. A LOT of hassle with Microsoft and a LOT of time spent on the phone to get XP loaded on this machine.)

For most folks this isn't an issue, but it is something that most folks are not aware of and it is something to consider before purchasing an upgrade. I personally never purchase upgrades since there are often problems trying to upgrade existing and I prefer to build from scratch anyway...

Simply food for thought.. :hmmm:

[Demon Cleaner]

I agree, and the full version is only some € more expensive.

[Harrison]

The pricing structure of M$ OS hasn't been very logical since Vista. With XP it cost under half the full price for a copy of XP pro upgrade. But with Vista this wasn'y true, costing only about 20% less that the retail version. And with Windows 7 it is even worse.

Doesn't really inspire users to upgrade.

As I said about though. Upgrade copies are still the full version just like the full retail versions. They just ask for some proof of purchase of a previous version before allowing it to install. You can use an upgrade copy to install to a new/blank HD, just as with the full version. You don't need a previous version installed on the hdd.

[Demon Cleaner]

The price raised by 30£ at Amazon, I just checked :mad:

[Harrison]

Just in time for Christmas. Funny that!

[J T]

My work email address is a .ac.uk, fortunately I'm eligible for a student copy of win7 pro, about 30 quid to download, which is pretty sweet.

I just need to get another hard drive first, and then figure out how to juggle all the HDDs to have XP (for torrenting and stuff), and Vista (for now, in case Lady T decides she hates windows 7) too.

[Demon Cleaner]

I downloaded a Windows 7 Ultimate version with an activation code. Installed it yesterday, and it works like a charm. Didn't have to enter any serial, it updated itself via internet. I even could do Windows updates to it, it still stays active, and even shows the Windows genuine copy logo :)

[Shoonay]

Yeah, Vista/7 Ultimate has a great non-existing/easy to hack protection, lol
... not that XP had one more difficult - it requires you to type just one line in the HOSTS file, it's just that not many users (me included) knew how to do it a few years back.

[Phantom]

Put AROS instead (Icaros Desktop). :thumbs:

[Harrison]

AROS is definitely getting much further through its development and being a much more mature OS. And now it has a very good browser included too. I'm still planning to build a dedicated PC for it. :)

[Phantom]

To tell you the truth Dave, I'm planning to buy an Acer Aspire One laptop just for AROS itself. It would be a great experience.

We have Internet access (new drivers for new laptops), HD Audio, and now I'm waiting the bounty for the WiFi Internet Access. That would be the perfect news, if it'd finished sometime in the near future.

So, with having all the aforementioned elements in AROS for new laptops, the only thing I can think of is a little program to show you your battery status.:p

[StuKeith]

Oh the joys of Technet! I can get 10keys for all versions of windows. Only issue is they are registered to me :(

[paulpeter]

Hello,
Myself Paul i think this is the right time to buy because i think that this OS going to be more popular in future because it contains many cool feathers and also great graphic work on it so i think you should buy it if you are still got confuse you may go to the site of trial pack and install it then you will get your answer...:D

[Buleste]

I've got a Wondows7 Ultimate copy with activation code and I'm having a bitch of a time getting it to upgrade from XP whilst still being able to use the settings. I'm glad I haven't spent any money on it.

[Harrison]

Never upgrade. Always backup what you want to save and then do a clean fresh install. Upgrading the OS to a newer one is never recommended.

I tend to setup a new OS on a new HDD, then I still have access to the older OS install on the separate HDD to copy over what I wish to restore to the newly installed OS after. I'm not talking a dual boot setup. But the older OS's file structure accessible from the older HDD.

[Demon Cleaner]

I also did a full fresh install, and it worked just fine. I also never would do upgrades, as it will never work out 100%.

[Buleste]

In the end up I did things a little bass ackward. I Backed up my old c: drive ,used Windows easy transfer to store settings. Did a clean install. Used Windows transfer to restore old settings. Found that Windows transfer is shite and didn't backup my thunderbird or firefox settings. Got on the tinternet and found out what to do. Transfered the relevant old XP settings from Documents and settings to User. reinstalled every single programme I had ever installed. Found out things were still horribly wrong. Broke down and cried for a bit. Uninstalled every programme I had just reinstalled. Formatted C: and did a clean install again. Reinstalled every programme again. Transferred the Thunderbird and Firefox settings from XP to 7 again. Went into a corner and rocked my self to sleep in a fetal position when everything seemed to work.

[Demon Cleaner]

Damn, I told you that my Windows 7 copy was always working just fine, today after updating, it tells me that my copy is not genuine anymore!! Don't know what to do now, anyone has a serial, crack or such?? I use Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.

[Harrison]

http://forum.classicamiga.com/forum/showthread.php/4104-Windows-7-activation-and-WAT-removal

[Demon Cleaner]

Oh great, totally missed that one, gonna try it out tomorrow.

[Harrison]

Let me know if it works. I had a similar issue with Win 7 after an update, with the black screen of death and the not genuine message. That fixed it.