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Loading ...We’ve been doing some investigating, friends — making phone calls, demanding answers. And it was worth it. We can confirm something very few people get to confirm: British shoppers aren’t going to be totally shafted over software pricing for once. Full versions of Windows 7 Home Premium are going to cost us half as much as they cost Americans.
In the UK, full versions of Windows 7 Home Premium — not an upgrade edition — are going to cost around £65 ($106). That’s less than the price the Yanks have to pay just for an upgrade version — $120 (£72) — and about half what they’ll have to cough up for a full version — $200 (£122).
Amazon.co.uk is already selling the full version of Home Premium for £65, and Play.com is selling it for a little more at £75, but with free delivery. Incidentally, this is the version that includes Internet Explorer 8 — the Windows 7 E editions have now been scrapped.
An Amazon.co.uk spokesperson told us to treat this pricing as “indefinite”. We asked Microsoft for comment on the pricing disparity, but it’s yet to get back to us. Our best guess is that it’s honouring its pricing for Windows 7 E, which was cheaper because an upgrade wasn’t possible.
Anyway: good news, everyone! For once, we can sit back and watch Americans shafting Americans, instead of us. Over pricing, that is. Is this the end of rip-off Britain, or a glorious one-off? Sadly, we suspect the latter, but let us know what you think in the comments.
Source: zdnet
August 20th, 2009 at 12:13 am
There is a promotion in Canada (not sure about the States) where if you buy Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate (either separately or preloaded on a pc) between June 26, 2009 and sometime January, 2010, you get a free upgrade to Windows 7. It ships to your house as soon as it becomes available in October.
Previous to that, upgrades to Windows 7 were available separately for pre-order starting at $65 Canadian. This promotion went on for a few weeks at the least.
I’m pretty sure the Americans had their chance to cash in. So you see, it isn’t only in the UK.