Savvy buyers are purchasing licence keys now – there is no time limit on installing Windows and the Upgrade version can be used to do a clean install.
The best on-line deal is from Microsoft (Click here) where Win 8 Pro “upgrade” (download - no disk, for existing PC’s running genuine XP or later) costs $39.99.
If you need an install DVD the same upgrade is RRP $69.99 from most retailers. According to a JB Hi-Fi (Sydney) that have an on-line order only special price of $58 (pickup from store or delivery extra) it has been flying out the Windows (bad pun) since the word got around about the price increase deadline. OfficeWorks has it for $48.72 – limited to 5 units per customer. It is expected that the new price for this product will be around $200 from Friday 1 February.
White box computer parts reseller MSY said that there would be no change to their OEM version pricing for Windows 8 Standard (32 or 64 bit – not both) for $95 and $99 and the Pro version for $139 and $148 but customers needed to buy at least a motherboard, CPU and memory to be eligible for OEM versions.
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What about Windows 7?
According to JB’s “Any Windows 7 we sell is to smaller companies who want to keep their environment consistent”. He added that Windows 8 was all that was being asked for by consumers “The $14.99 Windows upgrade offer really helped move a lot of old inventory Windows 7 computers - as far as consumers are concerned the latest is the greatest”.
A mid-sized network support company commented that “We don’t do Windows 8 or recommend mixed environments - it was a huge job to get rid of XP and Vista and we expect to see Win 7 remain in corporate environments for another three to four years until the end of life of the current equipment”. MSY said that Windows 7 Pro OEM was still selling very well to “techies” despite little cost difference with Windows 8.
Is Microsoft ripping us off by jacking up the price?
According to Microsoft the vast majority (huge, almost all) of Windows 8 licences are sold with new PC's or notebooks. They have given a reasonable wIndow to Windows 7 users and the temporary promotional price to get the software on as many machines as possible was well publicised and, well temporary. It is human nature to want a deal so all I can say is that if you plan to do some upgrades buy it now and be happy that you got that deal - I am off to OfficeWorks right now (call me sentimental but I like having a disk and a box)...
