Microsoft has finally launched its much hyped operating system Windows 7 on October 22nd and created records on Amazon stores by overtaking Harry Potter novels and the Nintendo Wii pre-orders. However, analysts said that the new OS from the software giant is a minor upgrade from its predecessor, Windows Vista and paying more than $100 for Home Premium upgrade or $200 for Professional and $300 for Ultimate is still too much money for this minor upgrade.

No doubt, Windows 7 is better than Windows Vista, but users question, whether it is practical to upgrade Vista Business or Ultimate to Windows 7?  Consumers can even buy a lot of memory and bigger hard drive for the same amount of money and enjoy higher configuration. At present, Windows XP is still ruling the enterprise segment and homes with 66.2% market share, therefore the price factor for the new operating system will certainly discourage many individuals and firms to buy Windows 7.

Why Windows 7 Costs So Much?

Various researchers said that with such a high price band, Microsoft wants consumers to buy new devices rather than upgrading their old PCs. But, the company earns less while selling its OSs' copies to PC vendors. But, it seems that the sales to manufacturers are far more important than selling individual copies.

However, the company has repetitively dropped its Windows prices in recent years, for example the upgrade for Windows Vista Home Premium was started at $160, but reduced to $130 and now it has been replaced by the $120 Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade.

Pricing for Windows 7

Microsoft has announced that Windows 7 is available in six different editions, but the company added that the Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate editions are available for retail sale in most countries. The prices for the three versions are:
'    Windows 7 Home Premium: $120 for upgrade; $200 for full version
'    Windows 7 Professional: $200 for upgrade; $300 for full version
'    Windows 7 Ultimate: $220 for upgrade; $320 for full version

However, as per channel insiders, Microsoft India has been providing a discount of upto 40% on retail value of Windows 7 compared to US prices. Consumers can buy Windows 7 at the prices described below.
'    Windows 7 Home Basic - Rs. 5,899/-
'    Windows 7 Home Premium - Rs. 6,799/-
'    Windows 7 Professional - Rs. 11,199/-
'    Windows 7 Ultimate - Rs. 11,799/-

High hopes from Windows 7

After the pains of Vista, Microsoft, which powers more than 90% of PCs, has great expectations from Windows 7. According to recent data, in a week time the share of Windows 7 in the operating system market has jumped from 1.89% on October 22nd to 3.67%. Further, the PC industry and chip segments are likely to gain some ground with better sales and increased revenues via new products based on Windows 7.

Discussion

According to various reviewers, Windows 7 is a vast improvement over Vista and has number of features that will encourage consumers to switch to the new operating system. However, the number two operating system, Apple's Snow Leopard is available for $49 or '29 and the Linux OS is available for free, which is also able to do similar tasks that Windows can do.