Slashdot Mirror


Windows Vista Prices and Release Date Leaked

Nieske writes "Prices and the release date for Windows Vista have leaked online. Ed Bott's Microsoft Report has information on pricing, and the release date is currently January 30th, 2007. Are they really going to make the deadline this time?" From the ZDNet article: "In Canada, at least, the rumors of a 'modest' price increase were true, based on this list. Will these same relative prices hold true in the U.S.? Who knows? But if they do, then it's mostly good news for Windows customers. There's no price increase for Home Basic. Home Premium, the Vista version that maps most closely to the OEM-only Windows XP Media Center Edition, will finally be available as a retail product for a slight bump over the Home Basic product, similar to the $39 premium typically charged by large OEMs for Media Center upgrades. And Vista Business buyers will get a break with a small discount relative to XP Professional."

32 of 378 comments (clear)

  1. Not Quite by eldavojohn · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So our "authority" is a man from Microsoft Monitor Weblog that is owned by Jupitermedia, not Microsoft. And he's speculating that these are the leaked prices. Has anyone stopped and thought that if Amazon is posting these, that they probably weren't leaked? Or maybe the fact that Amazon constantly offers products and pushes back the release date means that these aren't the real release dates?

    What I'm guessing is that these are estimates for the release date but it will most likely be pushed back and that these prices are correct and direct from Microsoft. Intentional, though, not 'leaked.'

    --
    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:Not Quite by johnlittledotorg · · Score: 5, Funny

      But "leaked" just makes it sound so so cool. I have to jump right in and post it on my blog too. Gotta show the peeps I have my ear to the streets!

    2. Re:Not Quite by vmcto · · Score: 5, Funny

      The 30th is a Tuesday.

      Is it going to come bundled with the first security patch or will I have to download it separately?

    3. Re:Not Quite by Martin+Blank · · Score: 3, Informative

      Microsoft has been working up with OEMs to allow free upgrades to Vista for computers bought from October on through the actual release date. Customers wishing to upgrade will probably be provided free media to perform the upgrade, as I recall that's how it was handled when XP was nearing its release date.

      --
      You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
  2. from the article, price list by Dance_Dance_Karnov · · Score: 3, Informative

    FULL versions (all prices Canadian)

            Windows Vista Ultimate $499

            Windows Vista Business $379

            Windows Vista Home Premium $299

            Windows Vista Home Basic $259

            UPGRADE versions (all prices Canadian)

            Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade $299

            Windows Vista Business Upgrade $249

            Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade $199

            Windows Vista Home Basic Upgrade $129

    I didn't do the conversion to real money.

    1. Re:from the article, price list by GoatMonkey2112 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I want to see the OEM version prices. Nobody here normally pays full retail price for Windows.

    2. Re:from the article, price list by TheGreek · · Score: 5, Funny
      I want to see the OEM version prices. Nobody here normally pays full retail price for Windows.
      Is "OEM" some new BitTorrent client?
    3. Re:from the article, price list by Dance_Dance_Karnov · · Score: 5, Funny

      remove "full retail price" from your comment, and you would be closer to the mark.

    4. Re:from the article, price list by legoburner · · Score: 5, Funny

      In real money:

      Windows Vista Ultimate 22.9 g / gold
      Windows Vista Business 18 g / gold
      Windows Vista Home Premium 14.2 g / gold
      Windows Vista Home Basic 12.3 g / gold
      Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade 14.2 g/ gold
      Windows Vista Business Upgrade 12.3 g / gold
      Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade 9.4 g / gold
      Windows Vista Home Basic Upgrade 6.1 g / gold

      That's a lot of gold arrrrrr.

    5. Re:from the article, price list by xtracto · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Just go to Amazon and see the prices in USD.

      Wow $399.00 for the Operating System... and, how much is the hardware?, and what can this Operating System can do?
      I guess we (in Mexico) will continue to get it the Aye! way, it would be stupid to think that people will pay $400 for Windows when they payed $300 for the computer.

      Ha!

      --
      Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
    6. Re:from the article, price list by MindStalker · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Well back in the early days of Microsoft one of their driving mandras was to make it so that the hardware was a commodity and that you'd be paying mainly for the software. Looks like they have finally reaches their goal.

      Ok you can all go home now.. Microsoft is closed.

    7. Re:from the article, price list by clontzman · · Score: 3, Interesting

      First, you're comparing Canadian Vista prices to US OS X prices. US prices will almost definitely be less (it's lower in TFA).

      Second, how many times will you buy OS X in between releases of Windows? Since XP came out, you've likely bought OS X three times (10.2, 10.3, 10.4) at $129 apiece and soon a fourth. The copy of XP you bought or, more likely, got from an OEM in 2001 is only now getting a pay-for update.

      OS X is more expensive. If you like it more, that's cool, but your argument that it's cheaper doesn't hold up.

    8. Re:from the article, price list by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Why are there so few of them? I want a copy that customized for me.

      I can't wait to watch tech support with all of these versions floating around.

      User: "I have Windows Vista, and I want to do x, can I? How do I?"

      Tech: "Uhhhh...god. Ummmm, what version of Vista do you have?"

      User: "Version, what version? It's Vista."

      Tech: "Is it Home Basic, Home Premium, Homosexual, Gamer, Business, Business Gamer, I Think I'm Running A Business But Might Be Delusional, OpenVista, NetVista, Free...oh wait, Ultimate?"

      User: "It's Home...I think."

      Tech: "Which Home?"

      User: "I just want to do some network stuff. sob-sob-sob"

      Tech: "Is it 9:00am yet? I need a drink."

    9. Re:from the article, price list by spidereyes · · Score: 5, Funny

      More like:

      Windows Vista Ultimate 1 leg 1 arm
      Windows Vista Business 1 leg 1 ear
      Windows Vista Home Premium 1 arm 3 toes
      Windows Vista Home Basic 1 eye 1 ear (you won't be getting Aero anyway)
      Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade 1 arm 4 toes
      Windows Vista Business Upgrade 1 arm
      Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade 1 ear 3 toes 2 fingers
      Windows Vista Home Basic Upgrade 1 eye

      All prices include your soul.

      --

      I say we just grow up, be adults and die.
    10. Re:from the article, price list by jkabbe · · Score: 4, Funny

      Wouldn't it be more useful to list the prices in a gold currency that most people here probably have, like WoW gold? Currently the exchange rate seems to be 0.173 USD per gold, which makes Windows Vista Ultimate come out to about 2600 gold (US servers).

    11. Re:from the article, price list by Yahweh+Doesn't+Exist · · Score: 4, Insightful

      >Apple releases an OS, and the service packs as another OS

      total BS.

      Tiger gives you Spotlight, Dashboard, Automator etc.

      are you saying MS gives these "service pack features" for free? NO, that's what you're paying for Vista for (except you don't get Automator).

      MS service packs give you features that Apple include in the first place, such as a firewall and the ability to go on the internet for more than 12 minutes.

      Apple service packs are free (security updates and "minor" program updates).

      Also Apple only sells full OS versions. if 10.2, 10.3, 10.4 didn't interest you then you can go straight from 10.0 to 10.5 for the same single low price (10.1 was free). Apple releasing more often gives users options about when to update. for MS users the choice is between a very expensive OS or a less expensive but feature-crippled version.

      Also the OS X licence requires no activation and is legal to use on several computers (not sure the exact number since I only have 1 anyway).

    12. Re:from the article, price list by Jarnis · · Score: 5, Informative

      I work at a VAR and went thru a very long and convoluted email exchange with Microsoft about this.

      The end result is: OEM is tied to a computer. However, you can change anything except the motherboard, and it's still the same computer. You can also exchange the board if it's due to a 'defect'.

      And 'defects'... well, accidents happen. It's a dangerous world.

      Only drawback is that once you do change motherboard, you are required to activate the copy over the phone, and if it was a big-name OEM (those that don't normally ask for product key when you use the recovery disc), you may have to replace the key that's on the OEM sticker with a replacement issued by MS phone support. But in the end, the license is still valid - as long as the board swap was due to 'defect' (or, essentially, if you lie it was due to a defect). So in reality OEM is transferrable, if you know what you are doing.

    13. Re:from the article, price list by Aranel+Alasse · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I recently came across this exact issue. Some capacitors on the mobo leaked (definitely what I'd call a defect!), and I had to replace it. The thing that annoys me is that no one tells you ahead of time that the license for the OS is tied to the mobo, when you have a OEM version of the OS. (Sure, maybe something was said in the original agreement (and I'm the paranoid type who actually reads those things), but did I understand that the OS was tied to the motherboard it at the time? Obviously not. They need to be more explicit about that fact.) Why do they do that, anyways? Does the OEM distributor (HP, in my case) work with MS to give you a discounted price on the OS for these OEM versions in exchange for only being able to use it with that mobo? If so, I'd like to suggest that they let you pay MS the amount that the OEM'ers originally got as a discount in order to "free/release" that copy of the OS from that mobo, instead of having to pay full price for a new one altogether (or having to waste your money and several weeks (time wasn't a luxury for me in this case) on sending the computer in to the OEM people to get the motherboard re-tattooed).

      In the end, after switching out the mobo, windows told me to reactivate. When that didn't work, I wasn't even given an option to talk to a real person. In near desperation, I clicked the "change product key" button (uh, you know, the one that says something like, "ONLY push this button if the MS person on the phone tells you to..."), and saw that the edit box was pre-populated with a key that was different than the product key that was on the side of my box. That was weird... I assume it was because the mobo had changed... Anyways, I just typed in the "real" product key that was on the sticker on the side of the box, and called the MS number again. Again, it didn't work, but this time I actually got to talk to a real person, and they gave me a new installation ID which worked fine.

      What does it all mean? It means that that installed copy of XP is on it's last leg, because the installation CD's from HP don't work since the mobo still isn't "tattooed" (it's not in warranty anymore, so it probably would have costed some outrageous price, plus, I didn't have the luxury of time to do that, as I mentioned above). So the OEM's and MS win after all. I'll either have to buy a new OS sooner or later, or else send the machine in to HP to get the motherboard tattooed. But I still wish there was such a thing as a "release" fee which would untie a copy of the OS from the OEM so that you can install it on whatever machine you like.

      For my next computer, I might have to build it from scratch so that I actually feel like I own all of MY OWN hardware and software, and I'm not chained to an OEM or MS like a slave (I'm not bitter... Really.) (Plus, then I won't have to pay the Microsoft tax if I decide to just put linux on it.)

  3. SP1 Release date by Wiseazz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That's the important one!

    --
    My sig sucks.
  4. me too by JeanBaptiste · · Score: 5, Funny

    whether its the stellar video driver support, or the fantastic sound card support, to the plethora of games and business apps that all work flawlessly without hours of tweaking.... you're right, linux kicks ass.

  5. Yawn. Nothing to see here, please move along. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Does anybody outside of Microsoft actually care about Vista? WinXP is fairly stable, it runs all the software (or nearly all of it) developed for every version of Windows since Win95. Also, WinXP does not have perverted-control-freak class DRM embedded into it, like Vista does/will. Personally I view Vista as a significant downgrade from WinXP - it will negatively affect the utility offered by a Windows computer.

  6. Changed to Tuesday because.... by FerretFrottage · · Score: 4, Funny

    that way they can release all the required patches on the same day.

    --
    "Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
  7. Market segmentation by pubjames · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The windows pricing is a classic example of what marketeers call "market segmentation". When deciding how to price a product, you ask "How much will people pay?", and the answer is different people will pay different prices - some people actually want to pay more for essentially the same product.

    It is an increasingly unpopular pricing method because people resent it. Note, for instance, the rapid growth of budget airlines (in Europe at least) - a lot of their popularity can be put down to the fact the traditional pricing model for flights was highly segmented - customers have come to resent paying different prices for essentially the same thing and so the budget airlines, with their simpler pricing model, have grown in popularity.

    It is interesting that Apple do not do this, they don't even have separate "upgrade" prices. If you want the latest version of their OS or basic software (iWorks or iLife), then you pay one price. As a customer I like that.

    1. Re:Market segmentation by wild_quinine · · Score: 3, Interesting

      No, the reason budget airlines have grown in popularity is that they are undercutting ALL of the segmented prices of the major airlines. Trust me, if British Airways had a 'Cargo Class' flight that was cheaper than all the 'budget' airlines, I'd be packing myself into a suitcase and going on a cheap holiday. The reason that Apple don't have seperate upgrade prices, is because their market is loyal enough that they can be meticulously gouged, and will still come back for more. Enjoy your overpriced branding, really knock yourself out - but my money only goes so far.

  8. Let's get this straight by clickclickdrone · · Score: 4, Interesting

    They want me to pay $450 for something that will almost certainly force me to upgrade some bits of hardware to give it a chance of running, will potentially fail to run some of my software and in return does what exactly? Look pretty whilst constantly asking me if I'm sure?
    Call me negative but I'm not exactly in hurry to join that particular queue.

    --
    I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
  9. Re:version version everywhere by CaymanIslandCarpedie · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Tom, come now. First, the ultimate pricing is $399/$259 (full/upgrade) USD. And can you point to an example where a MS product has been not "fully" working because it is running on a "lower" version? I cannot think of any off the top of my head at least. I have Office professional at work (XP Pro) and at home (XP Home) and I get the exact same functionality. Same with my games, development tools, etc, etc. Now I cannot say for sure there has never been such a case, but as I cannot think of any I'd be very interested to hear any examples.

    There are certainly some applications which require a certain version (Media Center, IIS, etc, etc) but I cannot think of a single example where a MS application supported by both Home and Pro versions have ever had the Home version crippled in some way. I may well be wrong and would be interested to hear examples if I am.

    --
    "reality has a well-known liberal bias" - Steven Colbert
  10. I didn't need this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    to figure out Vista's release date.

    i was just going to watch the Weather Channel and check for frost warnings for Hell and its surrounding counties...

  11. Re:version version everywhere by gumbi+west · · Score: 3, Interesting
    You may recall this slashdot article which outlines how all the versions will be crippled relative to ultimate. I also recall that the transparency will only be activated in the higher up versions.

    The biggest deal is that the ability to rip a DVD is only in the home upgraded version, and the ability to use non-M$ networking protocols is only in the pro.

    Starter is a joke and will only run 3 pieces of software at once. This version of Vista is like an "upgrade" back to Windows 3.1.

  12. Compare to Mac OS X by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Vista Ultimate: $399

    Mac OS X: $599. To be fair, there is a Mac Mini bundled with.

  13. His American prices are guesses by blanks · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The prices he lists are for canada only. The information for America is just him guessing what the prices will be.

    "Based on current U.S. prices (which I wrote about last week), I would expect Windows Vista to sell in the U.S. for the following prices (full/upgrade):"

    "Of course, these are guesses only. Some discounts will probably be available in the retail channel"

    This isn't leaked information, it's guesses made by the guy.

  14. OB bash.org by xtracto · · Score: 5, Funny

    Slightly modified to mantain it on topic

    [Th3No0b] Im going to be the next hitler
    [Th3No0b] Im going to burn all the MS-Windows servers and 1 BSD server
    [RageAgainsttheAmish] why the BSD server
    [Th3No0b] See? no one cares about Windows
    [RageAgainsttheAmish] lmao

    --
    Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
  15. Re:It is now cheaper to buy a Mac by RzUpAnmsCwrds · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here's a point: ALL Mac OS X sales are upgrades because Mac OS X only runs on Macs which were already preloaded with OS X in the first place.

    Here's another point: Most people get their copy of Windows preloaded on a system. OEMs don't pay anywhere near retail for Windows XP. Windows XP Home, for example, is around $85-$90 for OEM System Builders and about 1/2 that for the big tier-1 OEMs.