• W7 Starter Edition – 199.95 vs. 99.95
• W7 Home Premium – 259.95 vs. 159.95
• W7 Professional – 299.95 vs. 299.95 (Vista Business)
• W7 Ultimate – 319.95 vs. 399.95

If we compare the launch prices for two operating systems, we can see that Microsoft jacked up Starter Edition by $100 when compared to Vista Starter Edition, Home Premium is jacked up by the same amount. Professional (Business) Edition remained the same, while Ultimate got cheaper by 80 bucks. The differences become even more interesting if we take a look at current situation – roughly a year ago, Microsoft cut the Vista prices by as much as 20%.

Following is a comparison between actual prices:

• W7 Starter Edition – 199.95 vs. 52.99
• W7 Home Premium – 259.95 vs. 129.95
• W7 Professional – 299.95 vs. 299.95 (Vista Business)
• W7 Ultimate – 319.95 vs. 319.95

Now, the differences are even greater. You will pay almost $150 more for W7 Starter Edition, exactly twice the much for Home Premium (single W7 Home Premium box equals two Vista Home Premium boxes), while Professional (Business) and Ultimate remain the same.

Judging by what we are seeing now, the wave of positive PR should yield in additional hundreds of millions dollars, since Starter and Home Premium are most sold versions with netbooks and notebooks. This will put additional pressure on notebook manufacturers and you can expect that those manufacturers will be forced to offer cheaper components inside their computers in order to meet up for these jacked up prices. OEM pricing will differ, but don’t expect wonders.

The value of good PR for Windows 7? One Benjamin Franklin.

If you ever wanted to know what is the value of positive reviews from journalists around the world – the answer is somewhere between $80-150 per retail box. Looking it from othe other side, this can also be interpreted into the cost of negative reviews.

UPDATE: February 9, 2009, 15:02 CET – ArsTechnica posted a retraction of this rumor. As usuall, I will state that this story was a rumor to begin with, and we won’t know the truth until Microsoft officialy release the prices. You can expect MSFT to disclose pricing when W7 enters RC-1 stage.

The post UPDATE – RUMOR: Microsoft jacks up Windows 7 prices appeared first on VR World.

After spending last couple of days offline, I logged on today and learned that two sites posted news that Microsoft does not want for people to download the beta version of Windows 7.  This was surprising to me, since only thing that Microsoft did was put the 2.5 million user cap. Their servers melted down and people downloaded 2.5 million ISO images. Well, Microsoft decided to show that the company really turned the corner and became more user-friendly than any software vendor out there (yes, brave words from me about MSFT, but facts are facts).

The company removed 2.5 million download cap http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/01/10/here-s-where-we-stand.aspx , hired additional hosting services outside MSFT campus to cope with the load and prolonged the beta download until January 24th. The only caveat was how to get the keys if you’re not TechNet/MSDN subscriber.

Well, friends at Neowin posted a great article about how to legally get a key to Windows 7 Beta http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/01/10/psstheres-how-to-get-your-windows-7-beta-key . And the way is really easy. All you have to do is have Windows Messenger account and log in on the TechNet’s page http://technet.microsoft.com/ . Then, copy&paste one of addresses from down below and voila – keys will be generated for you (yes, copy and paste in the same window/tab).

• 32-bit Windows 7 DVD Key Generating Page
• 64-bit Windows 7 DVD Key Generating Page

My keys... in nice, shortened version :-P

Ain’t life great? Go, download the ISO images and enjoy in next gen of operating systems from Microsoft. Honestly, I am thinking about ditching 64-bit Vista Ultimate and putting W7 B1 as my default 64-bit OS (I use 32-bit XP, 64-bit Vista + 64-bit Ubuntu).
You can download the images by clicking here:

• 32-bit Windows 7 Beta 1 ISO Image – direct download from Microsoft MSDN site
• 64-bit Windows 7 Beta 1 ISO Image – direct download from Microsoft MSDN site

The post Microsoft invites everybody to download and try Windows 7 Beta! appeared first on VR World.

Most popular sites like The Pirate Bay, isoHunt and ArenaBG are peaking with requests from users that are dying to see what Windows 7 is all about. Colleagues at ZDnet also didn’t stay astray; they downloaded the latest version (6.1.7000.0.081212-1400) as well, and posted a very detailed preview. Judging by their feedback, this beta is so stable that Microsoft does not need to work on W7 anymore. Given by sour taste left by Vista, I could not agree more. C’mon Microsoft, release this baby as soon as possible.

When it comes to release date, it seems that my sources were dead right and that this operating system is on track with release in August 2009, in time for Back to School. Will we see 22 and 24″ touch screens from Dell, HP and others in tandem with W7? That remains to be seen.

Oh right, if you want to download the beta version of Windows 7, you have to have bit-torrent client installed. Personally, I prefer to use µTorrent (microtorrent). Be warned, as with all beta software, I am not responsible if you mess up your computer in any way. But if you don’t have at least two partitions (dedicated one for the OS, other for data and apps), chances are that you are not the best candidate to evaluate beta software.

The post Download Windows 7 today! appeared first on VR World.