Maximum PC

I hadn't thought of it earlier, but with the release of Win8, will I still be able to purchase Win7? Is there a grace period after the 26th where Microsoft will still sell Win7?

I'm not sure I'm ready to commit to Win8 but I plan on building a computer in the next 6-9 months.

Any information is appreciated. Thanks!

As far as I am aware, yes, Win 7 will still be available, approximately until around October 2013 for retail, and October 2014 for OEMs. If you are interested in building a Win 7 machine, why not buy your copy now while you're thinking about it? It will be supported by updates until January 14, 2020.

"OEM sales stop two years after the release of the next version of Windows. (Sales of boxed retail copies stop one year earlier.) If you assume that Sinofsky’s team will deliver another on-time release, then Windows 8 will hit retail shelves exactly three years after Windows 7, in October 2012. And that’s when the clock starts ticking. Two years later, at the end of 2014, Microsoft will no longer permit OEMs to sell Windows 7. Customers can buy Windows 8, which will include downgrade rights to the previous two versions—Windows 7 and Windows Vista. It will not include downgrade rights to XP."

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/microsof ... vista/4529

First off, thank you for the reply...and that is awesome news! It will be interesting to see how this plays out. If Win8 becomes Vista 2.0, then I'm certain Win7 will be available - probably even after 2014. If, however, it gets even a warm reception, I'm certain MS will highly "encourage" retailers like Newegg or Micro Center to pull remaining copies of Win7. Only time will tell.

FYI, I do have a copy of Win7 (just in case), but with family members want new computers...and I was thinking on building a couple computers next year for my benefit...let's say I didn't want to needlessly stock pile OEMs of Win7. Not to mention, Win8 may be better than anticipated - at which point I'll probably want to try out Win8.

BTW, I just got an upgrade version of Win8 Pro from Micro Center for $43 (including tax) - so I'm set there too!

Thanks again!

This is why I bought a copy of Win 7 Pro 32 bit in May of this year, as soon as I uninstalled the Win 8 preview.

I tried the Win8 preview on a VM with XP Home SP3. I knew the speed would be slow, but the Win8 GUI was just too much of a PITA for me. I assumed - right or wrong, we shall see - that prices for Win7 would rise or availability would tighten up as word of Win8 spread. So far, the vendor where I purchased my OEM Win7 disc has held prices steady for the past five months.
http://www.discountmountainsoftware.com ... cmp=nextag
As time goes by, it will be interesting to see if price and availability go up or down as Win8 is released and used by the public at large.

On a few other PC forums, I saw too many complaints about BSODs and app crashes with 64 bit Win 7 compared to 32 bit.
I have to be honest and say I'm content with 32 bit. I have yet to have a BSOD with my PC running 24/7.

My suggestion would be (and I'm thinking of doing this) is buy a few extra copies while you can (if you have PCs that are still running old Oses--like WinXP or Vista, but that you don't want to move to Win8 yet). At least for me, I have a few that I can't run Win8 on because of software compatability at this point.

I'm even keeping a spare XP PC around myself. But yes, you can still get Win7 and I would imagine you still can at least until the end of January of next year, when all the Win8 promo stuff ends.

I'd also recommend the Win7 OEM packs, if you can still get them... they're cheaper than the upgrades. I believe TigerDirect, Frys, and MicroCenter still sell them.

I would suggest going 64-bit as well. No cost difference really. Just more options later --the ability to use more memory, among other things.
(I have a feeling that Win8 may be the last version of Windows to have a 32-bit version available since 64-bit has pretty much become mainstream over the past 5-7 years).

If you're getting Win8 as a digital download only:
-Image your Windows 7 install with a disc imaging program, such as Acronis
-Buy Win8 now for the promo price now
-Install and activate Win8
-Image your Win8 install
-Once you've verified a good backup image of your Win8 installation, restore your Win7 install.
This way, You can move to Win8 when I want to, since the $15 upgrade for new computers (the promo for new computers purchased after July 31st) must be an in-place install, meaning that you must install from the OS since it is a download (although you can order a DVD for a little more $).

(This is my method of updating to Win8 for now, since I want to download WMC before the "free" download from MS expires in January, but I may not be ready to go "primetime" on Win8 by then).