The Windows 8 SKU (stock keeping unit) prices will most probably be one of the last details that Microsoft will share with the public, save perhaps for the retail boxes, if the company’s history of Windows releases is to be taken into account.

It will certainly be interesting to see the pricing strategy for the next version of Windows, especially in the context of the new rival products from Apple and Google.

When Windows 7’s pricing strategy was still a mystery, I was ready to bet that the Redmond company would ask less money for the new platform, compared to Windows Vista. And I was right, somewhat.

At $119.99 for the upgrade and $199.99 for the full version, Windows 7 Home Premium was indeed cheaper than Vista Home Premium - $159.99 for the upgrade when it launched, and $239.99 for the full OS.

Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate editions featured price tags of $199.99 and $219.99 for the upgrade licenses and $299.99 and $319.99 respectively for the retail variants. In all fairness, Home Premium is THE SKU for end users, and its price is the one that users care most about.

The operating system landscape today is a tad different than it was at the end of 2009, when Windows 7 shipped.

A key change on the platform market is the introduction of Chrome OS, a free and open source operating system from Google.

Source: Windows 8 Pricing vs. Chrome OS (Free) and Mac OS X (Just $30) - Softpedia

Except that you need to already have a computer running Snow Leopard to be running Lion....where you could upgrade to Windows 7/8 from 2000, XP and Vista. This means even people with there Core 2 Duo macs purchased in 2007 who may not have upgraded to Snow Leopard will need to do so first in order to gain access to the mac app store where they can then upgrade to OSX 10.7

That article is so slanted I'm surprised it hasn't fallen over.

Admittedly, I'm not exactly partisan, although I do use Linux, I am definitely a Windows man, and honestly wouldn't touch an Apple product with a bargepole. So maybe I'm being a bit biased towards Windows, but this is the way I see it.

Chrome OS will only ship on OEM "Chromebooks". Ie netbooks. Therefore to look at the Windows upgrade pricing structure in comparison is a bit silly. The only fair comparison would be to compare it to OEM machines form Dell, HP etc. where you get Windows at a knock down rate anyway. Now if Chromebooks ship for considerably less than Netbooks of the same spec with Windows 7/8 preinstalled, then they may have a point. Comparing it to the upgrade license however, is just silly.

Mac users pay a premium for their machines. It's no secret that Apple typically charge up to 40% more than you would be able to get a PC with the same specs running Windows for. Therefore the only logical assumption is that you must be paying more for the OS. In that case, getting upgrades for $30 suddenly makes the high initial cost somewhat worth it. In this case you can compare the upgrade edition, and yes OSX is alot cheaper, but then Windows users paid ALOT less for their OEM Windows than Mac users did for what is effectively OEM OSX. This one is probably a draw,

Many people probably can find windows 8 at just $30. Students got Windows 7 professional for that price I think. Also, with there were many deals when windows 7 first came out. It wouldn't be surprising that many people will NOT pay more than $100 for their upgrades.

There's also the issue with how much of an upgrade Snow Leopard really is. The interface remains the same, while Windows 8 gets a brand new "start menu" for tablets and also probably will end up with a new aero.

Originally Posted by Rolf

Many people probably can find windows 8 at just $30. Students got Windows 7 professional for that price I think. Also, with there were many deals when windows 7 first came out. It wouldn't be surprising that many people will NOT pay more than $100 for their upgrades.

There's also the issue with how much of an upgrade Snow Leopard really is. The interface remains the same, while Windows 8 gets a brand new "start menu" for tablets and also probably will end up with a new aero.

Well with Windows 8 every machine (well at least desktops) will be able to handle Aero since its been included in the Standard VGA Driver in Windows 8.

Aero even appears in Windows 8 Safe Mode.

hopefuly