The Windows 8 Pro upgrade price has inexplicably been slashed on Microsoft's online store.
Source -
Windows 8 Pro price slashed to £45 | News | PC Pro
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The Windows 8 Pro upgrade price has inexplicably been slashed on Microsoft's online store.
Interesting.
Not at all clear wnat that is.
Possibly they are trying out another sale to see how it goes - before rolling it out.
You can get still get win 8 Pro upgrade including the media for that online.
I think that is because the retailers couldn't shift them.
Now it appears MS are trialing an official price slash.
Might help a bit, hard to tell.
As far as I know, one has always been eligible to upgrade from the 8 beta/preview versions.
Windows 8 Pro, Upgrade Edition [Upgrade from Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7] (PC): Amazon.co.uk: Software
I am not sure how much it would help if it was literally free.
The bit about upgrading from CP and I think rp and dp as well was on MS site a long while ago. They just wanted as many as possible to get the thing.
I am not sure how much it would help if it was literally free.
The bit about upgrading from CP and I think rp and dp as well was on MS site a long while ago. They just wanted as many as possible to get the thing.
I thought all the Beta (DP, CP and RP) versions have expired and the upgrade requires a legal activated version on the system to qualify for the upgrade.
Jim
I take "valid base licence" to mean you must have had a paid-for copy of Windows on the PC before you installed the preview. Says something similar here too:Each upgrade license applies to only one PC and you can install the upgrade only on PCs that have a valid base license and one of the following operating systems: Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP (SP3), Windows 8 Consumer Preview, or Windows 8 Release Preview
Incidentally I also noticed that when the official upgrade price period ended at the end of January, UK retailers PC World briefly had a period (for a few days in February) where you could buy a boxed Windows 8 Pro upgrade for £45 if you ordered on the web, and £190 if you bought it in store, which presumably very few people did.
But after a very short time they made it £45 online and £50 in store, which I think it's been ever since, although just looking now I notice it's now £50 however you buy it from them.
I guess it's possible that Amazon, PC World etc. stocked up on Windows 8 copies at the original lower price, and since Windows 8 hasn't perhaps been the success Microsoft hoped, they have ample supplies left which they can afford to sell at the lower price, so Microsoft have lowered their price to match - after all why would you buy a download (with no media) from Microsoft for £190 when you can get a boxed version with media for £45 from a nearby store?
I think it's as per my earlier post - legally you need a "valid base licence" to upgrade, which I assume means you need a paid-for copy of XP/Vista/7.From the PC Pro site -
'....To install Windows 8 Pro, customers must be running Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 Consumer Preview, or Windows 8 Release Preview.....'
I can understand the first 3, they are paid for (presumably) installs. The last are not. So for an upgrade to install on these PC's.......