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Microsoft Reveals Windows 8 Pro Prices and Packaging

By Ng Chong Seng - on 12 Oct 2012, 11:59pm

Microsoft Reveals Windows 8 Pro Prices and Packaging

(Image source: Microsoft.)

Two weeks to the October 26 launch of Windows 8, and we finally have pricing and packaging confirmation from Microsoft through a blog post.

In the US, the Windows 8 Pro upgrade DVD will cost US$69.99, and reservations at select US retailers will begin today. On October 26, a US$39.99 online upgrade will be available at Windows.com, and done using the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant. Both retail and online upgrade offers will run through to January 31, 2013. (Now, if you've been following Windows 8 news, you'll notice that these are unchanged with what Microsoft has announced earlier in July.) In addition, pre-orders for Windows 8 PCs and devices from OEMs like Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Samsung, and Sony have also officially begun today.

In June, Microsoft announced a Windows Upgrade Offer for buyers of new Windows 7 PCs. To recap, anyone who has bought a Windows 7 PC that’s preinstalled with Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate, and has a matching and valid OEM Certificate of Authenticity from June 2, 2012 through January 31, 2013 will be able to purchase an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro at a price of S$17.99. The redemption will begin on October 26 at windowsupgradeoffer.com.

What about the full, non-upgrade version of Windows 8? Microsoft didn’t reveal any information about this in the blog post, but Newegg - who is now taking pre-orders of the OS - did. According to the online retailer, the Windows 8 OEM System Builder version costs US$99.99, and the Windows 8 Pro OEM System Builder version costs US$139.99. Interestingly, Newegg seems to suggest that the Windows 8 Pro upgrade will cost US$199.99 after the promotion period.

To sidetrack a bit, Microsoft has also confirmed the retail packaging of Windows 8 Pro. There are five illustrations; you can see how they look like on this Facebook page.

If you’re intending to switch to Windows 8, now is a good time to learn more about it. For a start, check out this article where we introduce the new OS, the different versions, and the various upgrade paths. Do check back at HardwareZone as we will be publishing several Windows 8-related articles from now till launch day.

Note: Microsoft Singapore has yet to reveal the local pricing of the Windows 8 Pro upgrade. So watch this space for further updates.

Source: Microsoft, Newegg.

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