Even heavily discounted promotional pricing hasn't been enough to convince some would-be consumers to pick up an Upgrade copy of Windows 7, which requires a validated OS already be installed. You could suck it up and pay retail, or wait for OEM copies to emerge and save a bit of scratch, but until now, nobody knew exactly how much you could expect to pocket.
Newegg.com today listed prices for OEM versions of Windows 7, and as expected, the savings are failrly significant. Here's how it breaks down:
Compare those prices to $200 for the retail version of Home Premium, $300 for Professional, and $320 for Ultimate. And if you pre-order before October 20, Newegg's offering a further discount on OEM copies, with Home Premium priced at $100, Professional at $135, and Ultimate at $175.
Some caveats appl. Keep in mind that OEM copies are technically tied to the PC they were originally installed on, and while we've had some luck porting OEM installs from one machine (or mobo) to another with a quick call to Microsoft, nobody knows how this will shake out with Windows 7.
OEM copies also ship sans support, you won't get the shiny retail packaging, and you can only perform a clean install.
Comments are closed on this article
StonedMagician99
September 30, 2009 at 4:12am
Actually, the Home Premium version is only $100, but whatever.
Zazubovich
September 29, 2009 at 3:59pm
That's what I paid for an OEM copy of Win98 SRII back in the day.
As for Adobe, as long as there is GIMP there is no reason to complain about the pricing. As long as there is Open Office, likewise. Heck, as long as there is LINUX there is no reason to pay for an OS. Support open source where you can I guess. Look at niche market software companies that are still going strong-endnote? Champion/Red Wing? On and on.
dracx619
September 29, 2009 at 9:16am
free retail legal version of pro for my big machine, cheap oem version for my laptop...i could use cracked but i rather not. to much of a hastle staying one step ahead of msft...fantastic!!
szore
September 29, 2009 at 8:40am
You can just download a cracked version on Bittorrent and not pay a penny!
Caboose
September 29, 2009 at 10:51am
Did you grow up under power lines, or eat paint chips (leaded or unleaded) when you were a child?
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
vhernandez2005
September 29, 2009 at 8:38am
I love Newegg! I buy all my products from Newegg, not only because they are cheap and they have great shipping timing, but because of their customer service! I love their support that is included. 5 EGGS!!
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