26 Jun 2009,
WASHINGTON: Microsoft on Thursday announced prices for Windows 7 and offered free upgrades to buyers of personal computers before the new operating system hits the stores in October.
Brad Brooks, corporate vice president for Windows consumer marketing, said Microsoft will offer free upgrades to Window 7 to people who buy Vista-equipped PCs between Friday and the October 22 release date of Windows 7.
Vista is Microsoft's much-criticized previous operating system and the Redmond, Washington-based software giant is hoping that Windows 7 will help erase bad memories of Vista in the minds of consumers.
Brooks said in a video released by Microsoft that the free upgrades would apply to people who purchase PCs running Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate.
The upgrade program will be available until January 31, 2010.
The offer of free upgrades is seen as an attempt to prevent people from putting off a decision to purchase a PC until October. An estimated 90 percent of the world's PCs run on Windows.
Microsoft said Windows 7 will be available in 14 languages on October 22: English, Spanish, Japanese, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Chinese (Hong Kong).
It will be available on October 31 in 21 other languages: Turkish, Czech, Portuguese, Hungarian, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Greek, Ukrainian, Romanian, Arabic, Lithuanian, Bulgarian, Estonian, Slovenian, Hebrew, Thai, Croatian, Serbian Latin, and Latvian.
Because of a European Commission anti-trust inquiry, the Windows 7 version going on sale in Europe will not include Internet Explorer, Microsoft's Web browser. Microsoft announced earlier this month that it had decided to remove the Web browser because of the regulatory wrangling.
Microsoft said a Home Premium Upgrade of an existing PC to Windows 7 would cost 120 dollars in the United States while the Professional Upgrade would cost 200 dollars and the Ultimate Upgrade 220 dollars.
It said the Home Premium version of Windows 7 would retail for 200 dollars in the United States. The Professional version will sell for 300 dollars and the Ultimate version for 320 dollars.
Microsoft also said it was offering users in the United States and several other countries the opportunity to pre-order Windows 7 at a more than 50 percent discount -- 50 dollars for the Home Premium version and 100 dollars for the Professional one.
Amid slumping PC sales worldwide, Microsoft has been aggressively pushing laptop computers recently in a series of new advertisements in the United States as a low-cost alternative to the more expensive machines of rival Apple
No comments:
Post a Comment