Windows 8 Pre-Orders Start; $39.99 Download Option on October 26th
by Ryan Smith on October 15, 2012 12:10 PM ESTWith Windows 8 officially launching in under two weeks, Microsoft and its retail partners have finally begun taking pre-orders for Windows 8. As with prior Windows pre-order promotions, several retailers are participating, including a number of brick & mortar retailers along with e-tailers such as Newegg, Amazon, and even Microsoft’s own online store.
Microsoft will essentially be handling the launch of Windows 8 in two phases: pre-order and launch. The pre-order phase is primarily geared towards buyers looking for boxed copies of Windows and with delivery on the 26th; unsurprisingly these boxed copies are priced notably higher than Microsoft’s download options. As for buyers looking to take advantage of Microsoft’s previously announced $39.99 download offer, that promotion will not begin until the launch on the 26th when Windows 8 actually ships. On that note, as previously announced both the boxed and download copies will be offered with promotional pricing, with Microsoft and its partners selling the upgrades at a significant discount until January 31, 2013.
| Windows 8 SKUs | ||||||||
| Windows 8 Upgrade | Windows 7/Vista/XP Upgrade | Full Version | Price | |||||
| Windows 8 Pro Pack | X | - | - | $69 | ||||
| Windows 8 Pro Upgrade (Boxed) | - | X | - | $69 | ||||
| Windows 8 Pro Upgrade (Download) | - | X | - | $39 | ||||
| Windows 8 (Core) OEM | - | - | X | $99 | ||||
| Windows 8 Professional OEM | - | - | X | $139 | ||||
For buyers looking for physical copies, retailers are taking pre-orders for both upgrade and full editions of Windows 8. For Windows X/Vista/7 users Microsoft is offering a single upgrade package, the Windows 8 Professional Upgrade, which has a list price of $99 but is being offered at $69 for the life of the promotion. Meanwhile the download version that will be made available on the 26th will have a $39 promotional price, putting a $30 premium on boxed copies.
As for Windows 8 (core) users – primarily those who buy computers with Windows 8 pre-installed – Microsoft is offering the Windows 8 Pro Pack upgrade for upgrading a Windows 8 (core) installation to Windows 8 Pro. Like the Win7 upgrade, this too is being offered at a promotional price of $69 with a list price of $99.
Finally, full versions of both Windows 8 (core) and Windows 8 are also being offered for pre-order, but only in OEM form at this time. There isn’t a publicly announced discount on these, so the list price of $99 for Windows 8 (core) and $139 for Windows 8 Professional should be the final price, which also closely matches the price for OEM copies of Windows 7. We haven’t seen retail full versions of Windows 8 appear for sale yet, and while there are rumors going around that Windows 8 will be OEM-only, it has not been confirmed by Microsoft.
Source: Microsoft
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imaheadcase - Tuesday, October 16, 2012 - link
Again, like i mentioned from last post you said. EVERYTHING you mentioned is available in Win 7.1. Antivirus is in win 7 already.
2. "better" security is still in win 7.
3. You don't need to use a single peice of AV software, windows malware is very good for majority of users.
4. Use "less ram" and "much more efficiently"? Benchmarks show its neck and neck vs win7. Using more ram is not even a issue AT ALL.
You make no argument for it, and more against getting it. lol
Belard - Tuesday, October 16, 2012 - link
I have Win8 on a notebook as a dedicated Win8 system...Windows 8 isn't worth $1. MS has finally made an OS that is pirate-proof.... nobody wants it.
GL1zdA - Tuesday, October 16, 2012 - link
Have you tried using the SkyDrive integration? I used it with Windows 8 + Office 2013 and calling it integration is a overstatement.Facebook/Flickr/LinkedIn/Twitter/whatever else integration - what's wrong with using a browser? You already have it open all the time.
Share and Search charms - we have Send To since Windows 95 and we had search providers for years.
hardware-accelerated graphic - what? Windows 3.0 did it already.
DPI-independent graphics - again, we have it since at least Windows 95, but developers never cared about it.
improved Task Manager - again, have you used it or just launched it? Still had to replace it with MS's own Process Explorer.
File History - ever heard of "Previous Versions"? We already had it in Vista.
GL1zdA - Tuesday, October 16, 2012 - link
Windows To Go is available only in Enterprise edition, so you need a Volume License to get them. The hypervisor sucks if you want to run Linux with GUI (limited resolution).dagamer34 - Monday, October 15, 2012 - link
I'll be sticking with the download version as I won't have to deal with product keys, the online installer will have it slipstreamed into the installation process for me.kmmatney - Monday, October 15, 2012 - link
Well - I sent in request to cancel my $59 Pro upgrade from NewEgg. I'd rather just download for $39.I wonder if this download version is "retail" or OEM, as I'm really sick of Microsoft accusing me of not using genuine software when I upgrade my hardware. I'm currently using Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit, wqhich I received free from a Microsoft conference I attended. it doesn't say OEM anywhere on the package, but when I upgraded my motherboard and cpu I had to re-activate it. I upgraded the cpu again, and then it wouldn't even re-activate and I had to call Microsoft to activate. Now if I even just add a hard drive to the system I need to call up. I don't want to keep going through this crap...
Spivonious - Monday, October 15, 2012 - link
The download version is the upgrade version. If you upgrade an OEM copy, it is OEM. If you upgrade a retail copy, it's retail. You're basically turning the original license into a Windows 8 license.TormDK - Monday, October 15, 2012 - link
Thats not how upgrades work though.Upgrades are *always* FPP (Retail copies), and as such you are elidible for Microsoft support and all the other goodies that comes from being a Microsoft retail customer.
kmmatney - Monday, October 15, 2012 - link
I believe the last upgrade I bought from MS (a windows 7 Home premium upgrade) didn't require a previous version - I installed fresh on a new hard drive. I just want to be able to upgrade my MB + cpu without Windows deactivating itself.Shambolic - Monday, October 15, 2012 - link
Sadly, I've heard that loop hole has been closed and it must be installed over a previous system, but we'll have to see. Maybe it'll be enough to just show it a previous install disk to get it to work.