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The Official Microsoft Windows 7 Pricing

Written By Milo

Earlier reports indicate that Microsoft is going to sell Microsoft Windows 7 much higher than Windows Vista, making it the highest paid consumers operating system so far.

On Wednesday, Microsoft did the opposite. They have announced the pricing for Windows 7 and it looks cheaper than Windows Vista, at least for the promo. The upgrade from either Windows XP or Windows Vista Windows 7 Home premium only cost $49, Windows 7 Professional for only $99. This promo runs starting Friday, June 26 until July 11 and only good an a certain unspecified limit.

The pricing announced by Microsoft coincides with the leaked out internal memo from Best Buy through its employees.

The upgrade promo is available through Amazon, Best Buy, Microsoft’s own store, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Costco, Staples, Wal-Mart and other retailers.

Microsoft Corporate Vice President Brad Brooks feels the pricing is a very good deal: “That truly is a price that we have never even come close to in terms of an operating system release. “We’ve still got a business to run.”

Brad also adds that Windows 7 is pricier than the Snow Leopard which is only charging $29, but he argues that Snow Leopard is just a Leopard upgrade—“Even their chief software architect called (Snow Leopard) an upgrade of Leopard. The way I look at it, its a service pack and we don’t charge for service packs.”

Aside from the current promos, below are the pricing for the boxed Windows 7 on October 22 for those who already own a Windows license:

1. $119 for Windows 7 Home Premium

2. $199 for Windows 7 Professional

3. $219 for Windows 7 Ultimate

Below are the pricing for the boxed Windows 7 on October 22 for those who do not own a Windows license:

1. $199 for Windows 7 Home Premium

2. $299 for Windows 7 Professional

3. $319 for Windows 7 Ultimate

The Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade is lower by $40 from the product’s original price. The Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate versions are priced similar to Microsoft Windows Vista while the Home Premium is lower by as much as $239.

To note, upgrade prices only apply to users moving from either Windows XP or Windows Vista to Windows 7; however, clean installation is applicable from Windows Vista to Windows 7 only.

The current pricing of Windows 7 is cheap considering the upcoming promo, do you plan to avail of the upgrade discounts?

How to Guide: Map an FTP Drive in Windows Vista Explorer

Written By Milo

Did you know that you can map an FTP drive right from the explorer of Windows Vista? There are third party applications like Filezilla that can do this for you and provide a lot of functionalities, but if you want a quick transfer of files, the explorer of Windows Vista should do the trick.

Below are the steps to mapping an ftp drive in Windows Vista:

1. Open Windows Vista explorer

2. On the address bar, type “Computer” (see image below)

3. On the menu bar, click on “Map Network Drive” (see image below)

4. Select the drive you want to use for the FTP mapping

5. Type the ftp address in the “Folder” text box (see image below)

6. The mapped network drive should be at “Z” as chosen in the “Drive:” drop down (see image above)

This is a quickfix, but again if you want a full featured FTP application, you should use Filezilla.

Modest Launch for Windows 7

Written By Milo

New Zealand is going to be the first country to release Windows 7 on October 22 given that it’s international dateline puts it ahead compared to Europe and the United States.

What should the people of New Zealand expect? Party? Laptop giveaways? Nah, Microsoft spokesman already confirmed that the the launch would be interesting and exciting but it wouldn’t be extravagant, as Microsoft wants to be appropriate to the times.

The release of Windows Vista was accompanied with huge marketing budget that saw Microsoft converting the home of Khandallah businessman Shaan Stevens into a Microsoft Windows Vista showroom. The company served champagne for breakfast and had given out notebook computers to selected bloggers.

Despite the modest preparation for the launch of Windows 7, the power and effectiveness of the software should encourage people to buy the operating system. As I have previously said, Microsoft is keeping a low profile and letting the features and the stability of Windows 7 do the talking.

Microsoft Has Low Expectations on Windows 7

Written By Milo

Bill Veghte, senior executive vice-president of Microsoft Windows business predicts that Windows 7 is going to start slow. He notes—In the short run, these [Windows] product releases impact PC growth rates very, very modestly,”. The comment was made during the UBS Global Technology and Services conference yesterday.

There wouldn’t be any question on the consumers willingness to buy Windows 7. Given that the operating system will be pre-loaded on PCs and the hardware sales are going up during the holiday season.

Bill did not answer questions about the Windows 7 pricing however; he said that there would be three editions of Windows 7. The Windows 7 Starter Edition is branded as “good”, the Windows 7 Home Premium is called “better” and the Windows 7 Professional is branded as “best”.

The enterprise aren’t likely to jump out the gate and begin implementing Windows 7. It would take between 6 months to 1 year after the launch of the new operating system before we can see momentum in this area.

Microsoft is being humble on the launch of Windows 7 contrary to their marketing strategy for Windows Vista where they went out roaring. When problems were encountered on the operating system, the market closed down on them.

Image from Microsoft press pass.