Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $39.99

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Alright, that does it...I'm in. Thanks to [H] reader extraordinaire "Mohonri" for the heads up.

We set out to make it as easy as possible for everyone to upgrade to Windows 8. Starting at general availability, if your PC is running Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 you will qualify to download an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for just $39.99 in 131 markets. And if you want, you can add Windows Media Center for free through the “add features” option within Windows 8 Pro after your upgrade.
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Nice deal, but it got me thinking... When Windows 7 released, they sold the Pro version to students for only $20 each. Will they be offering the same deal for Win 8? It would be a shame if they didn't.
 
Not too bad. I might give it a try but I'm gonna wait til its out a while and see what the reviews look like. I really love Win7 and think its just about perfect so I may skip this one.
 
Wow! Thanks Mohonri and Steve for getting the word out!

It makes sense for them though since they can either sell it with new computers and gaze longingly at the lusty heaving chests of the older computers still running previous operating systems because no one wants to fork over the hundred something $$ it takes to buy an upgrade, or they can sell Windows 8 for el cheapo monies and move more copies to previous computers in addition to selling new licenses. Totally a smart move from the Microsoft people.
 
That's reasonable, actually. Microsoft is subsidizing the cost of Windows licenses with fees levied on developers in Windows Store, which explains the relatively low entry price.
 
wonderfield said:
That's reasonable, actually. Microsoft is subsidizing the cost of Windows licenses with fees levied on developers in Windows Store, which explains the relatively low entry price.
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Don't be so mopey about this (sorry mope :))! It's inexpensive software and that's something everyone can get all gushy about, even developers because, if there's more Windows 8, then there are more potential sales for them.
 
juicedown said:
Nice deal, but it got me thinking... When Windows 7 released, they sold the Pro version to students for only $20 each. Will they be offering the same deal for Win 8? It would be a shame if they didn't.
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I would think so. I actually got an early adopter $35 upgrade deal from Microsoft to upgrade XP to Win 7 (non-student retail). I also got the $20 student deal after that. So I imagine they will make a similar deal since the more students they get to adopt their OS, the more they indoctrinate them into the MS cult.
 
How fundamentally different is Windows 8 from Windows 7? I am pretty happy with WIN7 right now and definitely don't want to upgrade without some incentive other than it just being cheap.
 
wonderfield said:
That's reasonable, actually. Microsoft is subsidizing the cost of Windows licenses with fees levied on developers in Windows Store, which explains the relatively low entry price.
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Yeah, just like Apple is using to subsidize the price of Mac and iPads.

Really, the fees for developers and even the store revenue aren't much profit when you consider the cost of validating apps, running the store, etc. And they'll make less money than Apple on larger titles after $25,000.
 
SkribbelKat said:
Don't be so mopey about this (sorry mope :))! It's inexpensive software and that's something everyone can get all gushy about, even developers because, if there's more Windows 8, then there are more potential sales for them.
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Any reason to down Microsoft even when Apple does the same thing, you'll find no one better at it.;)
 
Nice price, but I still don't like Win8. Will stick to 7 and see what happens with Win9.
 
I haven't done any research on Win8. Aren't they taking a lot of features out and adding them to their appstore? Just curious if they took out all those extra features that say came with Win7 editions (like Media Player, Bitlocker, MS Backup, Defender and such) could that also explain the price being lower. Basically you'll have to pay for those apps on their store anyway which may drive the cost back up to 100+??

Granted the average user doesn't use most of the applications that windows included anyway its not a huge deal. Just more of an informational question.
 
TheMadZealot said:
How fundamentally different is Windows 8 from Windows 7? I am pretty happy with WIN7 right now and definitely don't want to upgrade without some incentive other than it just being cheap.
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This. $40 bucks is great and all. But apart from yet another GUI complete revamp, that isn't thought of too well...what does my $40 get me, other than yet another iteration of the Windows Control Panel I have to learn where everything is located in?
 
Upgrade disk require an existing OS. What happens when I want to do a clean install? Probably gonna have to pay full price right?
 
Eh, I dunno. I like Server 2012 though. How about a 7>2012 upgrade for $40?
 
hammerforged said:
Upgrade disk require an existing OS. What happens when I want to do a clean install? Probably gonna have to pay full price right?
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Windows 8 installation media can be created from within the setup. Seeing as this was a comment answer on the blog post on a question regarding the need to keep windows 7 media laying around for safekeeping, I'm guessing the Windows 8 installation media will suffice to reinstall the OS (as in: it sets some registry key to clarify that it's ok to do a clean install with it, similar to Windows 7).

I always wondered how this worked on Apple machines that didn't come preinstalled with the latest osx version as well, seeing as Apple doesn't seem to believe in optical discs from the 21st century.
 
My rig is running Vista and my laptop is running XP since I never took advantage of the cheap prices offered to students for Win 7. Now that I want to get with the times, there are no more good discounts on Win 7. I might just do this.
 
hammerforged said:
Upgrade disk require an existing OS. What happens when I want to do a clean install? Probably gonna have to pay full price right?
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Nope, in the posts below the article, they've already said you can perform a clean install with the upgrade version. :)
 
Still not budging from windows 7. On top of that i cant think of a single time i had a good experience upgrading from one version of windows to another. Full install or bust for me.
 
SkribbelKat said:
Nope, in the posts below the article, they've already said you can perform a clean install with the upgrade version. :)
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You just format the disk during the install, pretty straight forward and what average people would do anyway. I don't bother to reformat a disk during installs of 7 or 8 since it's built in unless I'm doing some type of partitioning.
 
Disposed said:
Still not budging from windows 7. On top of that i cant think of a single time i had a good experience upgrading from one version of windows to another. Full install or bust for me.
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Yup, and full installs that are not an upgrade of an existing OS are possible with the upgrade version! ^^ I'm pretty sure they knew that people were going to think that so they've already pulled that particular argument out from under all you negative Nancy types. :p So nyah!
 
I think I'd be happier with the $40.

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Disposed said:
Still not budging from windows 7. On top of that i cant think of a single time i had a good experience upgrading from one version of windows to another. Full install or bust for me.
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I built my previous computer in 2004 (XP Pro) and over the course of the next three years I installed and uninstalled a crapton of programs. I built my current rig in 2007 and gave the old one to my mom. Around last October it started getting a little buggy, probably due to the fact that I never once formatted it. She told me she wanted to get the newest OS so I did an upgrade to Win 7. She hasn't had any issues since.
 
Disposed said:
Still not budging from windows 7. On top of that i cant think of a single time i had a good experience upgrading from one version of windows to another. Full install or bust for me.
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At least in my experience, not saying that you are doing this but most of the people who had major trouble with a upgrade were upgrading because their install was screwed up already and they think a new OS will fix it. That usually makes things much worse.

If your install is normal, and you remember to uninstall deep hook utilities like Antivirus or Defragging programs it reduces the cause for error. 7 Especially went a long way around being able to back out of it if it runs into a issue, even at the last moments.

And as others mentioned, there were several ways to use a upgrade disc to do a full install, even on a brand new drive with a few registry changes once it's installed, or even doing a double install if going into the registry scares you.
 
Still not sure its worth it even at that price, the UI kills my productivity too much.
 
How is Windows 8 for something like an HTPC? Is there any reason to go Win8 over Win7 for that usage?
 
Hmmm, very tempting indeed. I might have to download the "consumer preview' to test and see if I like it first.
 
even for 40 bucks i think i will stick with win 7. if i ever get a tablet i might pick up a win 8 version but for main pc win 7 is all i need for now
 
SkribbelKat said:
Yup, and full installs that are not an upgrade of an existing OS are possible with the upgrade version! ^^ I'm pretty sure they knew that people were going to think that so they've already pulled that particular argument out from under all you negative Nancy types. :p So nyah!
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Yeah your post saying as much didnt show up until i posted mine. Its good news you can do a full install from the upgrade but still not enough to make me move. :p
 
DeathPrincess said:
No. Especially as one doesn't look like it will include media center/DVD playback for free. :(
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They're offering media center as a free download which includes the DVD codec junk you need to play moooooooo(cow)vies again. So yeah, it can do the HTPC thingies too and Microsoft covered that base for the home theater naysayers just like they did for the full install peoples.

They soo owe me a Microsoft mouse pad for this!
 
Disposed said:
Yeah your post saying as much didnt show up until i posted mine. Its good news you can do a full install from the upgrade but still not enough to make me move. :p
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Well that's okay too! If you like older versions of Windows, there's nothing wrong with that. I'm just excited to see the cost barriers go almost completely away. I always thought the upgrade versions were overpriced and lots of other people did too since there isn't really a lot of upgrading going on out there.
 
Sold. I was on the fence about whether I wanted to spend the money to upgrade (because Storage Pool looks fantastic for what I need) but for just 40 dollars? Fucking sold, man.
 
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