San Francisco - Microsoft on Thursday unveiled pricing for
its Windows 7 operating system, which will be available in stores on
October 22 to replace the widely reviled Windows Vista.
The world's largest software maker also announced a programme
starting Friday through which consumers can pre-order Windows 7 for
the next two weeks at discounts of more than 50 per cent. Also
Friday, buyers of new computers running Windows Vista will be
entitled to a free upgrade once the new operating system is released.
'There is a lot of excitement for Windows 7 in the marketplace
today. However, many consumers need a new Windows PC for school, work
or home before October 22,' said Brad Brooks, corporate vice
president, Windows consumer marketing at Microsoft.
'So starting June 26, any customer who buys a PC from a
participating computer maker or retailer with Windows Vista Home
Premium, Business or Ultimate will also receive an upgrade to the
corresponding version of Windows 7 at little or no cost.'
Brooks also announced that the Windows 7 prices would be some 10
per cent lower than prices for Windows Vista. Upgrade packages will
cost 119 dollars for Windows 7 Home Premium, 199.99 dollars for
Windows 7 Professional and 219.99 for Windows 7 Ultimate.
New versions of Windows 7 Home Premium will cost 199.99 dollars,
Windows 7 Professional will cost 299.99 dollars and Windows 7
Ultimate will cost 319.99 dollars.
Windows 7 will be available on October 22 in the following 14
languages: English, Spanish, Japanese, German, French, Italian,
Dutch, Russian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, Simplified
Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Chinese (Hong Kong).
On October 31, a further 21 languages will become available:
Turkish, Czech, Portuguese, Hungarian, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian,
Finnish, Greek, Ukrainian, Romanian, Arabic, Lithuanian, Bulgarian,
Estonian, Slovenian, Hebrew, Thai, Croatian, Serbian Latin and
Latvian.
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