Microsoft makes Windows 7 edition upgrades cheaper in US, but what about Australia?

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Sunday, 04 April 2010 23:11

Your IT - Home IT

I don't know about you, but I'm sick and tired of Microsoft US making pronouncements about pricing for Windows 7, but offering essentially no details about anywhere else on the planet, as if the Internet blocked non-US readers from reading Brandon LeBlanc brashly blab on blankly about Windows 7 this and that.

OPINION: Bloody hell, Microsoft, and you too, Mr LeBlanc. Do you sell Windows 7 to a global audience, or are your US customers the only ones that are important?

What am I raving and ranting on about? Microsoft's latest pronouncement from up on high Mount Redmond - that from next week, US customers can get a discount, if they already own Windows 7 Starter or Windows 7 Home Premium on a netbook or notebook, and want to upgrade that edition of Windows 7 to a more expensive edition.

Thus far, there are only two upgrade paths that are receiving a discount - those unfortunate enough to be stuck with Windows 7 Starter edition, presumably on a netbook, who want to upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium, and those with Windows 7 Home Premium who wish to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional.

Now, while Microsoft did have a brain explosion with the Windows Vista Anytime Upgrades that required you to wait for a DVD to arrive in the post and then wait for a very long time for the damn thing to upgrade, Microsoft did a heck of a lot better with Windows 7.

Windows 7 Anytime Upgrades are delivered over the Internet essentially by purchasing a key, and then it appears whatever version of Windows 7 you're upgrading to just gets turned on, with the whole process taking a few minutes instead of the aforementioned 'long time'.

These two upgrade paths are being discounted, although there's no mention of any discounts for upgrading a version of Windows 7 to Windows 7 Ultimate, yet another slap in the face to anyone interested in Microsoft's most complete Windows 7 version - essentially if you want that one, be prepared to pay - no discounts for you!

Still, most people either want to upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium to get away from the nasty limitations of Windows 7 Starter 'Microsoft cheapskate' edition, or who want to upgrade a machine with Win 7 Home Premium to Win 7 Professional, letting them use some nice consumer machine to connect to their work domain.

The problem is, unless you're in the US, there's no specific mention of when the rest of the world will get this deal, or really if it will get it at all. This is presumably so local Microsoft subsidiaries in different countries can make this announcement at the 'right time', but far out, is it so hard to co-ordinate a global discount or even mention some vague time frames for other countries in the so called 'Windows 7 Blog'?

Rantings and ravings continued on page two, so bloody well stop wasting time and click on'¦ especially if you work at Microsoft. Yes I'm grumpy. Deal with it.