Given that operating systems are expensive, it's a great deal for anyone with up to three computers at home that would like to upgrade to Windows Vista without breaking the bank, although Vista Ultimate is the costliest ‘consumer’ version of Windows ever.

It's an attempt to copy Apple's OS X "Family Pack", where a copy of OS X can be legally installed on up to 5 Macs for US $199 – only $70 more than the US $129 cost for a single OS X license. Apple’s deal has been available for years and is still available today, and represents a much better deal than Microsoft’s latest effort.

According to a report at CNET, Bill Mannion, a director in the Windows Marketing Group, said that: “It's targeted at what we term the 'super-engaged customers’ [that have more than one PC]. This is a focused program designed to encourage these super-engaged customers to upgrade multiple PCs in the household.”

Microsoft are also promoting the Vista ‘Anytime Upgrade’ program, which will allow customers who have purchased a version of Vista lower than the ‘Ultimate’ version to upgrade to a higher version without needing to buy a new box or re-install their computer systems. The upgrade cost varies depending on the version of Vista you choose, with no word yet on how successful the program will be.

However, given that Microsoft will be promoting Vista Ultimate as the best version of Windows available, it’s very likely that the Anytime Upgrade program will become a valuable source of revenue for the Redmond giant.

According to the CNET report, Microsoft wants to reach customers “in new ways”, especially as buying almost anything online is common to many people. Why not operating systems, too? CNET also quoted Mannion as he in turn quoted an IDC prediction of “34 percent annual growth rate for electronically downloaded software through 2009”, in addition to a Gartner projection “that by 2008, 80 percent of consumer software will be distributed electronically”.

What’s funny about the whole thing is that if you decide you want Vista Ultimate on all three machines, instead of Vista Ultimate on one computer and Vista Home Premium on the other two, the ‘Anytime Upgrade’ cost to go from Home Premium to Ultimate is US $159 – for each computer.

In this scenario, it’s a pity the Microsoft promotion is only for Home Premium, and not Vista Ultimate, but at least Microsoft is thinking about more serious discounts for home users. Hopefully there will be many more such initiatives with even greater discounting in times to come.

It's also an initiative that should be extended to other countries - the rest of the world surely wants access to the same types of discounts, too!
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