Microsoft continues to fine-tune Vista licensing
If you didn't bite on Microsoft's Windows Vista "Family Pack" promo, the Redmondians are hoping to entice you to buy multiple copies of its latest Windows release under another just-launched promotion.
windows -
comments -
21.3.2007 Windows Vista Home Basic vs. Home Premium vs. Business vs. Ultimate
Microsoft applauded shipping in excess of 60 million Windows Vista licenses in the operating system's first six months of general availability. However, the Redmond company is right on track to correct this little slip up.
windows -
comments -
20.8.2007 Do you need more than Windows 7 Home Premium?
One of the most frequent questions I get these days comes from people who’ve been running the Windows 7 beta and RC and are planning to upgrade to the final version when it’s available on October 22. “Which edition of Windows 7 do I need?”
windows -
comments -
1.7.2009 Windows 7 Home Premium beta released to testers
A trusted source has indicated that Microsoft has released Windows 7 Home Premium beta to a select group of 1000 users to get a firsthand look at the next major release of Windows.
windows -
comments -
8.1.2009 Windows 7 Home Premium full edition for £45 [UK]
If you're a brit and in need of a cheap copy of Windows 7 then its bargain day for the UK today.
windows -
comments -
14.9.2009 Windows 7 Professional $99.99 and Home Premium $49.99 Discounts Now Live
On the same day that it announced officially the pricing of Windows 7, Microsoft also revealed that customers would have the opportunity to buy the two main editions of the next iteration of Windows at discounted prices.
windows -
comments -
26.6.2009 Buy Windows 7 Ultimate for Just $99.99, Home Premium for Just $49.99
While the Windows 7 SKU official pricing is nothing short of being on par with that of Windows Vista's editions, with the exception of Home Premium, Microsoft does have something special in stores for consumers.
windows -
comments -
25.6.2009 Google Whistles a New Tune
Google on Thursday launched a new service intended to give searchers fast links to song lyrics, musical artists and CD titles on the main search results page.
common -
comments -
16.12.2005 EU Threatens Microsoft With New $446 Million Fine
In what was probably an inevitable ultimatum, the only question surrounding which may have been when it would come, the European Commission today publicly issued a warning that Microsoft must turn over what it describes as the “complete documentation” regarding interoperability protocols for Windows, or else face a fine retroactive to last July totaling €348 million (USD$445.7 million), plus €3 million per day thereafter for continued non-compliance.
microsoft -
comments -
16.11.2006 The Pirate Bay found guilty, jail & $3.6 million fine
The Pirate Bay, notorious for providing BitTorrent files of all things copyrighted and illegal have lost a trial in Sweden today.
common -
comments -
17.4.2009 Premium Vista PCs fare well in first week
Microsoft's wish that consumers purchase the premium versions of Windows Vista rather than the most basic version of the OS may be coming true, according to the findings of a research report released Thursday.
windows -
comments -
10.2.2007 Windows Vista Premium Ready PCs….Really???
Thanks to thepodest who wrote this article for
his blog. These are the specs requirements for Premium Vista PCs according to Microsoft.
windows -
comments -
16.6.2007 Hybrid Drives to Become Vista Premium Logo Requirement
At a discussion of flash memory technologies to be included in Windows Vista and "Longhorn" here at TechEd 2006 this morning, Microsoft's program manager for Windows Client Performance Matt Ayres confirmed that inclusion of hybrid hard drives will be a requirement for mobile systems that carry the Vista Premium logo, beginning in June 2007.
windows -
comments -
14.6.2006 MS pushes premium versions of Vista, download options
Microsoft wants to make sure consumers and small businesses know there are myriad ways they can acquire Windows Vista -- particularly in premium versions -- when it becomes generally available on Jan. 30.
microsoft -
comments -
18.1.2007 Home Computer - Home Network - Home Server
In the 1960s & 70s the idea of a home computer was unheard of outside of science fiction circles. Before the late 1980s home networks were unheard of.
microsoft -
comments -
2.12.2007 MSN Premium releases 9.5 version, not dead yet
Much to our surprise, MSN released version 9.5 of MSN Explorer/MSN Internet Access to subscribers as an update on Friday. The release appears to fix a number of issues surrounding upgrades to Windows Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Live Messenger.
microsoft -
comments -
21.11.2006 New Vista Home Page Launches
Microsoft has launched the new vista home page.
windows -
comments -
29.1.2007 Microsoft: virtualization not mature enough for home Vista users
In general, nobody reads end-user license agreements (EULAs). They are long, boring, and full of legalese that few people care to take the time to understand. Occasionally, however, unusual wordings in EULAs are used to question a company's policies and intentions, especially when that company is Microsoft.
microsoft -
comments -
25.11.2006 Vista Home Basic on 512MB? Hey, it works!
Everyone knows Windows Vista is a resource hog. Everyone says it doesn’t even get out of first gear without a gigabyte of RAM, and it takes 2 GB before it stops stuttering and stammering with each mouse click.
windows -
comments -
12.5.2007 Enable both Aero and Glass in Vista Home Basic
I'm gonna give u some tips for people who are stuck up with Vista Home Basic
I really never wanted to have the Vista Home Basic. But when i got my Lappy i had no other option, but to stick on with this OEM version.
windows -
comments -
28.10.2007 Microsoft Announces the Availability of Vista SP1, XP SP3 and Windows Home Server
Microsoft is currently hard at work cooking the first service pack for Windows Vista and the third and final service pack for Windows XP. On top of these two refreshes for its last releases of the Windows client, Microsoft has also debuted in the area of home servers in July 2007, with the RTM of Windows Home Server.
windows -
comments -
9.10.2007 Vistalizator - Install Multiple Languages MUI on Vista Home, Basic & Starter Edition
Windows Vista Home, Basic and Starter editions are available at low prices compared to Windows Vista Ultimate edition however Vista Home, Basic & Starter editions have many restrictions like support for only one language, No Aero support, no remote desktop etc.
download -
comments -
4.8.2009 Windows XP Home No Longer Qualifies for Windows Vista Upgrades
Windows XP Home Edition no longer qualifies for Windows Vista Business Upgrade or Upgrade + SA through Volume Licensing.
windows -
comments -
17.10.2007 The Piratebay returns home!
It looks like The Piratebay is back home again. The Piratebay had to move because the Swedish police raided their servers. But, after a short stay in The Netherlands the torrent tracker returned to their provider ?PRQ? in Sweden.
common -
comments -
15.6.2006 Home Server: The best kept secret ...
Windows Home Server was a secret for a long time. We had over 1,000 internal testers at Microsoft prior to announcing the product at CES 2007, some of these people used the product for over a year without leaking anything about it.
windows -
comments -
26.7.2007 At Home with HomeGroup in Windows 7
Like many places we’ve spent the past few weeks under quite a bit of snow, which is pretty unusual for Seattle! Most of us on the team took advantage of the snow time to install test builds of Windows 7 on our home machines as we finalize the beta for early 2009—I know I felt like I installed it on 7000 different machines.
windows -
comments -
1.1.2009 Microsoft Home of the future v2.0
In a teenager's bedroom of the future, the interactive wallpaper will combine images of friends, favorite bands and places to create something akin to an online MySpace page in the real world.
microsoft -
comments -
2.10.2006 Microsoft's Testing New Home Page
The software giant is testing a new home page, and do I detect some AJAX?
microsoft -
comments -
18.11.2006 Windows Home Server Preview
At the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week Microsoft previewed its long-awaited Windows Home Server (WHS) product, a Windows Server 2003 R2-based server for consumers that dispenses with the complexities of most Windows Server versions and provides the core storage, sharing, and remote access functionality that digital media and home networking enthusiasts require.
windows -
comments -
8.1.2007 New information on Windows Home Server
Joel Sider, Senior Product Manager, Windows Server PR Microsoft Corp. provided some new information about Home Server.
windows -
comments -
17.1.2007Windows 7 Home Premium beta released to testers
A trusted source has indicated that Microsoft has released Windows 7 Home Premium beta to a select group of 1000 users to get a firsthand look at the
next major release of Windows. The Home Premium beta comes listed with an assortment of features, few less than the public release of Windows 7 due
on Friday to everybody, mentioned in tonight's annual CES keynote. The Home Premium is a perfect suit for home users, with a cheaper price tag,
compared with Vista Home Premium, to Vista Ultimate, and a few less built in programs, that are only available to the full version.
Read full story.....
neowin.net -
08.01.2009Discover Windows Vista Home Premium
Columnist S.E. Slack shares
her favorite features of
Windows Vista Home Premium...
microsoft.com/windowsvista -
23.11.2006Vista Home Premium: $86 Shipped
Good deal at Micro Center: The OEM version of
Windows Vista Home Premium for a mere $80, 1/2 or 1/3 of the retail price and $22 less than Neweggs normal price. With $6
shipping you can be enjoying Vista on the cheap. Just remember that, as an OEM version, it can only be installed on one computer and cannot be moved
to another PC later on.
winbeta.org -
02.10.2007Amazon Begins Selling Windows
Vista
Online retailer Amazon.com has
begun to accept pre-orders for
Windows Vista, which it says
"will be released on
January 30, 2007." The
company is charging $399 USD
for the Ultimate Edition of
Vista, $239 USD for Home
Premium and $199 USD for Home
Basic. Vista Business is
priced at $299 USD...
betanews.com -
29.08.2006Bargain: Windows 7 Home Premium full edition for £45 [UK]
If you're a brit and in need of a cheap copy of Windows 7 then its bargain day for the UK today. Tesco is currently offering Windows 7 Home
Premium for £49.97, coupled with a discount code from the folks at HotUKdeals, you can get the full edition of Windows 7 Home Premium for
£44.97 delivered. Here's how:Visit the Tesco listingadd to basketcheckoutuse voucher code TDX-SFFT If you're not sure whether Home
Premium is good enough for you then checkout our feature comparison chart to see the difference between the editions. Obviously the copy won't
arrive until October 22 when Microsoft's latest OS is released. Enjoy.
Read full story.....
neowin.net -
13.09.2009Microsoft to offer Vista ?Family Pack? discount
Even though the retail launch
of Windows Vista just a couple
of weeks away, Microsoft is
still continuing to fine-tune
its licensing and pricing
details.
Sources said that Microsoft
will announce some time over
the next few days that the
company will allow Vista
Ultimate customers to purchase
two additional copies of Vista
Home Premium for somewhere
between $50 to $99 a piece.
In order
to qualify for the so-called
"Family Pack" promotion,
customers will first need to
purchase at retail a copy of
Vista Ultimate, which carries
an estimated retail price of
$399 U.S. The deal will not be
offered to those who purchase
Ultimate preloaded on a new
PC, sources said; it will be
for customers buying and/or
upgrading via retail channels
only.
jcxp.net -
16.01.2007Windows 7 sales exceed Vista sales by 234%
Consumer Market Research firm NPD has confirmed that initial sales of Windows 7 have surpassed those of the Windows Vista launch. According to
NPD's weekly tracking service, Windows 7 software unit sales in the U.S. were 234 percent higher than Vista's first few days of sales. The
most popular choice for consumers was the Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade followed by the Pro upgrade and Home Premium Family Pack. According to NPD,
software sales of Windows 7 were strong compared to Vista's sales partly due to early discounts on pre-sales and a wide range of promotions.
Read full story.....
neowin.net -
06.11.2009Microsoft cuts Windows Vista price to $66 in China
As was noted
a couple days ago,
Microsoft has now officially
dramatically cut the price of
Windows Vista in China in a
bid to boost sales of its new
operating system.
Microsoft cut the
retail price of Windows Vista
Home Basic in China to 499
renminbi ($65.80), from 1,521
renminbi -- a 67 percent
reduction. The Home Premium
version of Vista also got a
significant price reduction,
down 50 percent from 1,802
renminbi to 899 renminbi.
The new
prices, which were introduced
Wednesday and outlined in a
statement from the company on
Friday, represent a steep
discount compared to what
users in the U.S. and
elsewhere are charged for the
software. Microsoft's Web
site lists the recommend U.S.
retail price of Vista Home
Basic at $199, with Home
Premium priced at $239.
Microsoft
sold 60 million Vista licenses
by the end of June, but many
in the industry remain
unimpressed by the new
operating system. ..
winbeta.org -
03.08.2007Microsoft to Offer Vista ‘Family Pack' Discount for Ultimate
Please keep in mind that the
source of this news posting is
a blog. Microsoft has not
officially announced or
commented on the discount.
Mary Jo Foley blogged:
"sources said that Microsoft
will announce some time over
the next few days that the
company will allow Vista
Ultimate customers to purchase
two additional copies of Vista
Home Premium for somewhere
between $50 to $99 a
piece."
Only if
you purchase a retail a copy
of Vista Ultimate ($399
USD) do you qualify for the
"Family Pack" promotion. Let
me emphasize that again:
retail does not mean OEM. As a
part of the Windows Anytime
Upgrade marketing plan, a user
would be able to use the Vista
Ultimate DVD to install the
Home Premium licenses on the
additional computers. These
"sources", however, cannot
agree on the price of an
additional copy: either
$49.95 or $99.95. Even
if it is the latter, that's
still over twice as cheap
(Home Premium retails at
$240).
Let's
do some basic math, shall we?
If you purchase Ultimate and
two additional Home Premium
copies, you will be paying
$600. That is much cheaper
than buying 3 x Home Premium
which would leave you dishing
out $720. And you get
Ultimate. However, you'll
need at least 3 computers in
the household that are
Vista-ready or you won't
really be saving much.
neowin.net -
16.01.2007Windows 7 Home Premium and Server betas available to public
Microsoft released the Windows 7 betas to the public last week. The software company also sent out a hardware newsletter to its ecosystem partners on
Friday January 9th detailing the Windows 7 beta. In the newsletter the spokesperson mentions "If you are a hardware partner but do not have a
Winqual account, you can access the Windows 7 Beta by entering invitation ID Win7-3HQW-RF74 on the Microsoft Connect homepage." By using this ID on
the Connect site you can gain access to Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Server betas. Last week We revealed that Microsoft is currently only
offering the Home Premium bits only to 1000 testers for Windows Any Time Upgrade testing.
Read full story.....
neowin.net -
15.01.2009Consumer Versions of Vista Available Early
mwave.com lists several
editions of Windows Vista as
in stock and ready to
ship
Although the official launch
of Windows Vista won't take
place until January 30, that
hasn't stopped some online
retailers from making the
operating system available
early. mwave.com is listing
three Vista SKUs on its
website that are in stock and
ready to ship.
The OEM versions
of Vista listed on
mwave.com's website are
significantly cheaper than the
retail pricing for Vista
listed below:
* Windows Vista Home Basic,
$199/$99.95
* Windows
Vista Home Premium,
$239/$159
* Windows
Vista Business,
$299/$199
* Windows
Vista Ultimate,
$399/$259
The editions available
include Vista 32-bit Home
Basic OEM (Microsoft Part
Number: 66G-00576) for $89.90,
Vista 32-bit Home Basic OEM
3-pack (Microsoft Part Number:
66G-00613) for $268.90 and
Vista 32-bit Business OEM
(Microsoft Part Number:
66J-02289) for $139.90. As of
today, there were no listings
for Vista Home Premium or
Vista Ultimate on the
site.
jcxp.net -
22.01.2007Look who's buying Vista Home Basic (hint: it's not home users)
Ed Bott: Who's buying new PCs with Windows Vista Home Basic? Judging by the name, you'd assume those OS editions would be loaded on underpowered
machines headed for tract homes in the burbs and studio apartments in the city. But you'd be wrong.
Based on my observations of
the PC market over the past year or two, I think consumers have rejected Home Basic in favor of Home Premium. But small, budget-conscious businesses
have embraced the low-end OS.
winbeta.org -
10.10.2008Making sense of Windows' irrational pricing and licensing
Ed Bott: A few weeks ago, Microsoft announced it was
cutting the price of
retail, shrink-wrapped copies of Windows Vista. The new suggested price for an upgrade edition of Windows Vista Ultimate is $219, down from $299. The
cost of an upgrade edition of Vista Home Premium drops to $129 from $159. Those price cuts were effective with the release of Vista Service Pack 1 in
mid-March, and the actual prices that people pay (the so-called street price) will invariably be lower: Amazon, for example, is offering discounts on
the upgrade editions of Vista Ultimate and Home Premium for $195 and $95, respectively. The full versions are $300 and $216.
winbeta.org -
15.04.2008Yahoo, Linksys Play a Wireless
Tune
New product allows you to
wirelessly stream music from
your PC to other devices in
your home...
pcworld.com -
27.01.2006IBM Recommends Windows XP
If you shop online for a new Windows computer, every manufacturer recommends Vista on their web site. For home use they all suggest Vista Home
Premium, for business use, Vista Business gets the nod. All the manufacturers sell other versions of Vista of course, most if not all sell Windows XP
too, yet their websites universally recommend Vista Home Premium or Business.
Except IBM.
Yes, IBM no longer
plays in this game. Back in 2005, IBM
sold their personal computer division to Lenovo.
However,
IBM still
sells their old notebook and desktop computers, albeit as "IBM Certified Used Equipment".
winbeta.org -
15.12.2007Why Microsoft must abandon Vista to save itself
While Vista was originally touted by Microsoft as the operating system savior we've all been waiting for, it has turned out to be one of the biggest
blunders in technology. With a host of issues that are inexcusable and features that are taken from the Mac OS X and Linux playbook, Microsoft has
once again lost sight of what we really want.
As we're more than aware, Vista Ultimate comes at a premium. For an additional
$160 over the Premium SKU price, Ultimate gives you a complete backup and restore option, BitLocker Drive encryption, the ever so popular Windows Fax
& Scan, and the "Ultimate Extras." But what started with a promise of "Extras" by summer, quickly turned into an apology from Microsoft and the
eventual release of DreamScene and Windows Hold 'Em (among others) today. And while each of the "Extras" runs just fine, Microsoft's "Extras"
blunder is just another reason why the company must abandon Vista before it's too late.
The first indication that Microsoft
should abandon Vista is...
winbeta.org -
27.09.2007MS pushes premium versions of Vista, download options
Microsoft wants to make sure
consumers and small businesses
know there are myriad ways
they can acquire Windows Vista
-- particularly in premium
versions -- when it becomes
generally available on Jan.
30. On Thursday, Microsoft
said that for the first time,
users will be able to
purchase its Windows OS by
downloading it over the
Internet. On Jan. 30,
various consumer versions of
Windows Vista, such as Windows
Vista Home Basic, Windows
Vista Home Premium, and
Windows Vista Ultimate, will
be available on Microsoft's
Windows Marketplace e-commerce
site, said Bill Mannion,
director of marketing for
Windows. Microsoft Office 2007
also will be available on
Windows Marketplace, marking
the first time customers can
purchase the productivity
suite by downloading it.
Microsoft has sold
games, some of its less
popular applications, and
partner software on Windows
Marketplace, but it previously
has not sold its core Windows
and Office products there,
Mannion said. The company
revamped the site in August,
adding a new feature called
Digital Locker, which keeps
track of a customer's license
key online so that software
can be downloaded and securely
purchased over the Internet.
This feature is one of the
reasons Microsoft now feels it
is safe enough to distribute
Windows Vista and Office over
the Internet, he said.
Microsoft also will make clear
on Thursday it's pushing hard
for consumers to buy the
premium versions of Vista --
Home Premium and Ultimate.
neowin.net -
18.01.2007Windows Anytime Upgrade & Family Discount Announced
Nick
White, Product Manager at
Microsoft working on the
Windows Vista launch team and
Featured Communities leader
has posted up the pricing for
the Anytime Upgrade option
available from within Windows
when you buy a version of
Vista lesser than
"Ultimate".
On
January 30th Windows Anytime
Upgrade will allow customers
to purchase and download a
digital key to upgrade to a
more feature-rich edition of
Windows Vista. The user will
then complete the upgrade
process by inserting the
Windows Vista DVD that came
with their PC or with their
retail purchase of Windows
Vista. The program will be
available in the US, Canada,
Europe and Japan.
The pricing is as
follows:
- Home Basic
--> Home Premium:
$79
- Home
Basic --> Ultimate:
$199
- Home
Premium --> Ultimate:
$159
- Business -->
Ultimate:
$139
Micro
soft have also launched the
Windows Vista Family Discount,
as posted here earlier in the
week. This offer applies to
the US & Canada only, here's
how that works:
- Buy a retail copy of
Windows Vista Ultimate (full
or upgrade version)
- Between 30 January -
30 June, order up to two
copies of Windows Vista Home
Premium online
- Pay
only $49.99 for each copy
of Windows Vista Home Premium
- Valid in North
America (US and Canada)
- On 30 January, go here
for details; we've also a special
site for our
French-speaking
customers.
neowin.net -
19.01.2007Deployed: Windows Vista SP1 RC on ALL of my PCs
Brandon LeBlanc: Today Nick announced the availability of the release candidate for Windows Vista SP1. I had a chance to get the RC build of Windows
Vista SP1 installed a few days ago. I decided to roll the RC out on all of my PCs which showcase a variety of device types and scenarios:
- My Main Desktop PC running Windows Vista Ultimate x64 - check.
- My Test/Work PC running Windows Vista Business - check.
- My Dell Vostro 1500 Laptop running Windows Vista Ultimate - check.
- My Samsung Q1 UMPC running Windows Vista Home Premium - check.
- My Digital CableCard PC running Windows Vista Home Premium - check.
In installing the RC on my PCs, I did a combination of
using the standalone installer and Windows Update. Before proceeding to install the SP1 RC bits, I first needed to uninstall the SP1 beta bits first.
Users looking to install the Windows Vista SP1 RC will need to uninstall any previous version of SP1 prior to the installation of the RC from either
Windows Update or the standalone installer.
winbeta.org -
06.12.2007Is Microsoft 'capable' of stopping Vista Capable lawsuit?
Microsoft would dearly love the Vista Capable lawsuit to just go away, but once the wheels of justice start grinding, can any amount of grease stop
the squeaky wheel?
Microsofts Vista Capable class action lawsuit is in the news again, this time because Microsoft wants an
appeals court to reverse the decision to have granted the case official ˜class action status.
The whole situation bubbled up
because a number of consumers felt duped by the Vista Capable sticker that implied a computer with such a label would be able to run Vista, presumably
at least the ˜Home Premium version of Vista with the fancy Aero graphics, instead of the Vista Home Basic version which had no such capability.
winbeta.org -
11.03.2008
