Solved Now the trouble starts

[tcman50]

F.Y.I., the $39.99 online upgrade allows the option to download .iso, once downloaded, burn it to a disc.

 

[JohnOfE]

I think the $40.00 pricing is good only till the end of January 31, 2013 then goes to regular pricing so take advantage of cheap pricing now any one looking for a copy of Windows 8.

Indeed, but make sure you ACTIVATE IT BEFORE 31 Jan 2013 otherwise your product key will expire and that's $40 wasted. Same goes for the free MCE product key.

This is to stop people from hoarding cheap licence keys and selling them on later.

 

[jimbo45]

The $40 price *( $39.95 ) sounds like the download on the Internet without discs. The store price in the USA is $69.95 for a boxed version with two discs, 64 bit and 32 bit. It is Windows Pro.

This is a real rip-off by itself. A $30 difference in price for the same OS on a 50 cents CD.

Hi there.

It's not the 50 cents CD -- the cost is in the Intellectual property of the OS - costs of developing, royalty payments, "customer service" ( although these days that's usually an abomination these days with remote overseas call centers - endless menu systems, hours to get through and people at the other end who can never answer your questions but only give "canned" responses).

The Distribution medium is a TINY TINY fraction of the costs. Simple Logistics.

Shipping costs aren't normally determined by Ms either. - I recently received some "Educational material" from the US which where I live carries no import / customs duty -- those "Highway Robbers" known as "Federal Express" wanted 10 EUR "Handling Charge" in spite of the fact I'd already paid the US supplier "Shipping Charge".

I'm still awaiting an "Itemized Breakdown" of what the "Handling Charge" consists of. I've written to the marketing dept and as far up the chain as I can find - and I'm not going to be fobbed of with "It's Company Policy" either.

I don't mind [aying for what I've ordered - but it's about time us consumers got angry about these "Extra" always unspecified fees such as "Handling Charges" or "Service charges". If these are part of the price then stick the price on the original INVOICE not as addons after.

(Cheap Airline carriers throughout Europe have to add all prices now so the bill that you see on the web is what you pay -- including things like taxes / airport duties etc which often cost MORE than the flight itself and previously were always hidden such as in the old days Ryanair could advertise a 1 EUR flight from London (Stanstead) to Helsinki. When the taxes etc were added that 1 EUR became something like 300 EUR. !).

Cheers
jimbo

 

[MrShowdown]

I think the $40.00 pricing is good only till the end of January 31, 2013 then goes to regular pricing so take advantage of cheap pricing now any one looking for a copy of Windows 8.

Indeed, but make sure you ACTIVATE IT BEFORE 31 Jan 2013 otherwise your product key will expire and that's $40 wasted. Same goes for the free MCE product key.

This is to stop people from hoarding cheap licence keys and selling them on later.

No! Once you buy the $39.99 upgrade, it will NEVER expire.
The only one that expires on Jan 31 2013 is only the Free MCE key.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

The $40 price *( $39.95 ) sounds like the download on the Internet without discs. The store price in the USA is $69.95 for a boxed version with two discs, 64 bit and 32 bit. It is Windows Pro.

This is a real rip-off by itself. A $30 difference in price for the same OS on a 50 cents CD.

I believe the $40 price is the Windows 8 (regular) upgrade, not Pro edition. One looses their previous OS and it's bit (32/64) sensitive too. The $70 one is stand alone Pro copy, both 32 & 64 bit version. I think it to be a good deal.

 

[bobbyk]

I got the 14.99 deal, which would have been 39.99, except I had the Promo code. My version is Windows 8 Pro. And I had the option to download the .iso, which I did. I got mine on Oct. 26, 2012.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

I got the 14.99 deal, which would have been 39.99, except I had the Promo code. My version is Windows 8 Pro. And I had the option to download the .iso, which I did. I got mine on Oct. 26, 2012.

You may be a better shopper than I. Is yours the stand alone OEM edition or the upgrade?

The only thing I could find online is the upgrade edition to download. I suppose one may be able to obtain the OEM version through a TechNet subscription of which I do not have. I wanted to beat the deadline on prices.

Buy Windows - Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Store Online

 

[bobbyk]

All I know HippsieGypsie is that I did a clean install with no problems. I had read that the early versions were stand alone iso's and that Microsoft changed that later on. All I had to do was enter enter the Product Key after installing from the DvD I created.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

All I know HippsieGypsie is that I did a clean install with no problems. I had read that the early versions were stand alone iso's and that Microsoft changed that later on. All I had to do was enter enter the Product Key after installing from the DvD I created.

Thanks for the info, bobbyk. They must have changed things around. You got the best deal! Good for you!

 

[whs]

You can do a clean install with the $39.50 upgrade version. http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/13375-clean-install-windows-8-upgrade.html

 

[bobbyk]

Hmm... with mine I didn't have to do the steps in that tutorial. I just downloaded the .iso, installed it on DVD, installed on my partition which was wiped clean, and enter the Product Key. I did receive the Promo Key as a result of a new product bought between the qualifying dates.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

You can do a clean install with the $39.50 upgrade version. http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/13375-clean-install-windows-8-upgrade.html

Yes, one can do a clean install if one has a qualifying OS, which is omitted in the process according to the EULA. It is not a stand alone OEM edition.

Bobby and others were smart to get it early.

 

[wetibbe]

This all isn't a problem that can be resolved for everyone, everywhere with one size fits all.


Customarily posters furnish virtually NO information about their computer, its, age, system requirements, previous systems, systems - existing hardware/software, thus it is almost universally a SWAG and a stab in the dark.

IT is very complex and complicated with variables well beyond the normal comprehension.

Although personal experiences of one are indeed very valuable, they do not translate universal too others.

I'm well aware of ISO. I just personally have an aversion and an affinity as well as a rule. I just do not gamble with the unknown.

Spending forty buck to get Microsoft discs is to me not at all an issue. I have spendable income. Further any dysfunction is accountable to the supplier. I just err on the side of caution.

 

[Vince53]

The $40 price *( $39.95 ) sounds like the download on the Internet without discs. The store price in the USA is $69.95 for a boxed version with two discs, 64 bit and 32 bit. It is Windows Pro.

This is a real rip-off by itself. A $30 difference in price for the same OS on a 50 cents CD.

Right you are, WHS, but there is method to their madness. MS is experimenting with introducing a new OS every year, costing less than $20, and they want to do it online. No middleman, and it's easier to avoid piracy.

 

[whs]

Right, I have heard that. Didn't they call that the 'Blue Systems' or something like that. That would give them a more even revenue flow. But they can also fall on their nose if people are not buying. They have to show real value for the customer in order to move that.

 

[Ray8]

Let's hope that Windows Blue doesn't end up giving everyone the blues (especially Microsoft).

 

[Mystere]

The $40 price *( $39.95 ) sounds like the download on the Internet without discs. The store price in the USA is $69.95 for a boxed version with two discs, 64 bit and 32 bit. It is Windows Pro.

This is a real rip-off by itself. A $30 difference in price for the same OS on a 50 cents CD.

Right you are, WHS, but there is method to their madness. MS is experimenting with introducing a new OS every year, costing less than $20, and they want to do it online. No middleman, and it's easier to avoid piracy.

It should be noted, that even thought DVD's may cost 50 cents to produce, there are more costs of getting a product into a store than that. There's packaging costs, distribution costs (shipping, the profit distributors must take in order to make it profitable to distribute it, etc..) and then the store has to make money as well. All that adds up on the final price. So calling it a "rip off" means you don't understand where those costs are coming from.

 

[whs]

Mystere, I do of course understand all of that. I have been in this business for 35 years. My point was that with such a big discrepency, it is hard to attract a customer.

 

[wetibbe]

I get the impression that there is still a lot of misconception and misunderstanding as to Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, store bought products and on line downloads.

To back up a moment, the $14 price is a promo to customers who had bought a new computer in mid 2012 that was loaded with Windows 7. My understanding is that the promo will continue into February 2013, then end. They were supposed to furnish proof of purchase and date. Some tried to game the system with computers as much as 2 years old. Some slipped through and some didn't. It was checkered. Somehow Microsoft began checking/verifying circumventing the potential buyer, possibly by accessing some information somewhere.


The $39.95 Microsoft download without disc didn't actually seem to be too clear. In the past couple of days I did apparently get some authoritative information that the download is supposed to be Windows 8 Pro.


Now to the matter of the definition of an upgrade, that too is semantics and loose interpretation. It can mean to upgrade from a previous version or SKU - if you will - for example from XP, or Vista, or Windows 7. And there is too the upgrade from Windows 8 that is pre-installed by the manufacturer. Manufacturers, at least HP, do not install Windows 8 Pro. They install the Windows 8 *( regular ). That version does not have Bitlocker encryption or media features.


When I initially went to Best Buy and talked to the sales person he said there were two versions of Windows 8. Regular would cost $139.95 and Windows 8 Pro was $69.95 but they didn't even carry the Win 8 regular in inventory. I couldn't understand it. What he failed to mention is that you can't buy Win 8 regular in a box in a store. The only way to get it is to buy a computer.

Now, after you have bought your computer with Win 8 OEM regular, and it is home, if you want to "upgrade" to Windows 8 Pro, you need to go back to the store and buy Windows 8 Pro upgrade. That upgrades Windows 8 regular to Windows 8 Pro. That's also $69.95. Costco was carrying both boxed but has now only the Windows 8 Pro complete and no longer carries the Win 8 reg to Win 8 Pro upgrade. Staples only stocks the Windows 8 Pro, NOT the Win 8 upgrade to Win 8 Pro. Either of those two cost $69.95 in most stores.

So when we speak of upgrade we may mean from XP, or Vista, or Win 7 or even Win 8. And upgrading from some ancestor in the family tree it may be a cousin, or an aunt or an uncle. XP and Vista as well as Win 7 had a variety of variations, basic starter, premium, ultimate, enterprise. So Windows 8 also has a variety of variations, except that now for the first time they have an electronic down load and some new capabilities wherein a mouse and keyboard can, or may, be eliminated and a touch feature can be used, i.e., your finger.

I have no idea at all as to how much HP pays Microsoft for each Windows 8 OEM that goes onto each computer. But for anyone who buys a new computer with Windows 8 OEM *( that's regular ), when, and/or if, they want to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro it will cost either $39.95 now for the download, of $69.95 from the store. And After the promo ends on January 31, 2013, the scuttlebutt is that it will jump to $199.99 for store bought Windows 8 Pro complete in a box with 2 discs, 32 bit and 64 bit.

After January 31, 2013 I haven't a clue as to how Microsoft will treat the upgrade from Windows 8 OEM regular to Windows 8 Pro, if it will even exist which it probably will...... however, conventional wisdom says it should be also $199.99.

The $14 deal to upgrade a recent computer with Win 7 to Win 8 Pro is also a question mark after February 2013.

There is also the question of where the $140 builders license price will go after the other promos end.

Maybe too - it is worth mentioning again that the $39.95 download will be whatever your computer has 32 bit or 64 bit but NOT both. Not that it may mean much. The store bought Win 8 Pro with both 32 bit and 64 bit discs can only be installed once. The other disc is neutralized and cannot be used. You can't get a second key code.

And there is a $10 to $13 charge to buy the WMC Windows Media Center " additional application" that allows connecting a TV. I have no clue as to what that price will become after the promos.
___________________________________________________________________________________

I should also mention that I went to the link posted above - "How to clean install Windows 8 Pro" and I have a problem with the system requirements stated, particularly as they pertain to 1 GB Ram at 32 bits. What they don't tell you is that if you upgrade from XP on a computer that has 1 GB of RAM you are going to be one really unhappy person with an old jalopy that is worse than it was with XP. And if your monitor is marginal you will be dismal.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

I get the impression that there is still a lot of misconception and misunderstanding as to Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, store bought products and on line downloads..........

When I initially went to Best Buy and talked to the sales person he said there were two versions of Windows 8. Regular would cost $139.95 and Windows 8 Pro was $69.95 but they didn't even carry the Win 8 regular in inventory. I couldn't understand it. What he failed to mention is that you can't buy Win 8 regular in a box in a store. The only way to get it is to buy a computer.

There is a lot of confusion, at least on my part. Thanks for the good information.

Here's the buzz I found out today. I sensed something was wrong when checking my confirmation email on the sale and looking at the order in my MS account, so I chatted online with another rep this morning. Sure enough the MS store rep on the phone the other day sold me the wrong product even though I was explicit in explaining that I wanted the stand-alone OEM system builder edition. She ordered me the Windows 8 Professional on DVD media, but it is the upgrade edition. That's all the online MS store sells even via the phone. They do not have a stand-alone edition as of yet and the rep couldn't tell me when that would be released.

You're correct in that the only way to obtain a full version one is buying a new computer with it being preloaded.

While chatting with the MS rep this morning I asked if it would be legal under the EULA to dual boot with 7. He told me that in speaking with his supervisor that it was, but that it wasn't available through the MS store. So, I found and bought the OEM system builder edition at another online store for $109.00. Still not bad considering. Just for grins I emailed myself the chat session with the MS rep this morning to confirm what the supervisor stated in case they come back at me.

I guess MS is promoting PC sales in that that's the only way to obtain a full legal stand-alone copy for now. They are to release one at some later date according to the rep. Perhaps it may be after the $14 promo ends in February 2013? I'm not sure.

Edit: BTW, they made it easy for my returning item. The rep initiated the return and emailed me a return shipping label to print out with no expense to me. I love this modern technology.