Playing the Windows 7 Price Is Right
Pricing is one of the last details that Microsoft is yet to unveil for the next iteration of the Windows client.
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9.6.2009 Windows 7 in Europe: no upgrades, no IE, up to 2X the price
According to Computer World, things are not looking good for European fans of Windows 7 and Internet Explorer.
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29.6.2009 Windows 7 in the UK sells for half the US price
Looks like the United Kingdom won’t be affected by the strange Windows 7 pricing scheme set in the European Union.
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20.8.2009 What about Windows 7 OEM pricing?
Microsoft still has yet to go public with its Windows 7 price list. But that hasn’t stopped customers and partners from publicly hoping for the best (cheaper than Vista) and fearing the worst (any kind of increase over the cost of Vista).
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16.6.2009 Apple twice the price of PCs
Research by analyst house NPD has shown that, on average, Apple users pay twice as much in the shops as PC users.
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11.8.2008 Microsoft Confirms Over 50% Windows Vista Price Cut – and WGA Failure
Microsoft confirmed independent reports revealing that Windows Vista prices will be cut in half. On August 1, Zan Xiaoqin, representing 8844.com, a Beijing Federal Software online software distributor, indicated that the Redmond company will take drastic measures in China in order to boost Windows Vista in the competition with local pirated copies of the operating system.
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3.8.2007 Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade (WAU) and Family Pack Price Details Leak
Windows Anytime Upgrade (WAU), which first introduced for Windows Vista is a sales program from Microsoft to allow customers with cheaper, lower-end and lesser-features editions of Windows 7 to upgrade to more premium edition of Windows 7.
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9.7.2009 Windows Live to Get First OEM Bundle
Microsoft will imminently announce its first PC-bundling deal for Windows Live.
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14.3.2007 Windows 7 OEM Pricing Emerges
Windows 7 is set to be launched on the market in about three weeks from now, and those people considering choosing it as the platform on their computers are certainly interested in the costs the migration will imply.
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30.9.2009 Xbox 360 price drop on the way soon?
If a promotion in a printed UK advertising catalogue is anything to go by, the cost of the Xbox 360 Premium console with wireless controller and 20Gb hard drive is set to fall to the cheaper cost of the Xbox 360 Core system, just in time to spoil the launch of the PS3.
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20.2.2007 Samsung Pays $300m for Price Fixing
Samsung accepted terms of a plea agreement Thursday that finds the electronics company guilty of conspiring with other manufacturers to artificially inflate the cost of computer memory, thus unnecessarily increasing the prices consumers paid.
As part of the agreement, Samsung would pay a $300 million fine in exchange for prosecutorial immunity for both the company and most of its employees. Seven people, including president of the semiconductor division Y.H. Park, were excluded from the settlement and could still face prosecution.
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1.12.2005 Hard drive price war coming
According to reports, we may witness a price war in the hard drive business industry. At least this is what Seagate Technology CEO Bill Watkins said on Wednesday. Seagate is currently the world's largest hard drive manufacturer and competes with such companies as Western Digital, Hitachi, Samsung and Toshiba.
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13.8.2006 Xbox360 Core Price Drop In UK
Yesterday the Xbox360 Core pack received an official price drop of £10 in United Kingdom, and now costs £199.
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27.8.2006 The high price of creating free ads
From an advertiser's perspective, it sounds so easy: invite the public to create commercials for your brand, hold a contest to pick the best one and sit back while average Americans do the creative work.
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28.5.2007 Xbox 360 Elite Price Drop
Starting Friday, August 28th (tomorrow) the price of the Xbox 360 Elite is getting a one-hundred dollar price cut in the United States.
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27.8.2009 Microsoft Windows Vista OEM Preinstallation Kit available
The Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 (RC1) OEM Presinstallation Kit is now available. Microsoft's Worldwide System Builder team would like system builders to experience the updated OEM Preinstallation Kit (OPK) tools which will be used to preinstall Windows Vista.
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16.10.2006 Microsoft: The Windows OEM License Dies with Its Computer
Licenses for Windows come in various flavors from Retail to Volume, but perhaps the most common of all is provided by original equipment manufacturers together with operating systems preloaded on new computers.
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17.6.2008 Get an Insight into the Windows 7 OEM Pre-installation Kit
Here is your chance to get an insight into the OEM Pre-installation Kit (OPK) that Microsoft will offer for Windows 7.
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24.5.2009 Windows 7 OEM Named Partner RTM Information
Here is the correct current information as available for OEM's. Thansk to our fiend for report.
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22.7.2009 Want Windows 7 for 50 Percent Off? Order an OEM Copy
Missed out on the early preorder discounts? Popular retailer Newegg.com has listed the OEM prices for Windows 7, which will be offered at less than half what Microsoft will charge for a retail copy.
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26.9.2009 Sony chops price on Blu-ray player
Sony has announced its plans to slash the price of high definition, according the Associated Press. At a New York press conference, Sony talked up its forthcoming BDP-S300 Blu-ray player. The big selling point? Its $599 price.
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27.2.2007 Microsoft slashes Xbox 360 price in Japan
TOKYO - Microsoft is slashing Xbox 360 prices in Japan by about 13 percent as the price war among video game consoles heats up around the world ahead of the key year-end shopping season.
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22.10.2007 HP and Acer Start Netbook Price War
Hewlett-Packard and Acer have lowered prices of their netbooks as the back-to-school sales season kicks into gear in the U.S., offering bargains for users.
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26.8.2008 Microsoft slashes Xbox 360 price in Japan
Refusing to give up on the game console market in Asia/Pacific, Microsoft has cut the price of its Xbox 360 console in Japan, and is also adding a new model.
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2.9.2008 OEM Logo and Information for Windows Vista - Auto Patch
Thanks to Steve Jobs for this post in forum. You have successfully activate Windows Vista instantly in OEM style by using hardware-level BIOS ACPI-SLIC mod, or one of the two software based OEM BIOS emulator such as softmod SLIC BIOS bootloader and Paradox OEM BIOS Emulation Toolkit.
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20.3.2007 Microsoft Confirms Windows Vista OEM BIOS Crack
Microsoft confirmed the fact that hackers have developed a valid Windows Vista crack designed to exploit the operating system's OEM BIOS activation.
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11.4.2007 First OEM Boxes of Windows 7 RTM Build 7600.16385
Last week, just days after Windows 7 was released to manufacturing, Microsoft started handing the gold bits to original equipment manufacturers.
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27.7.2009 Windows 7 Ultimate cracked and activated with OEM master key
Hackers cracked and permanently activated Windows 7 Ultimate RTM Final Version. Once again hackers wins the cat and mouse battle game from the Redmond giants.
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29.7.2009 Microsoft blacklists leaked Lenovo OEM Windows 7 Key
According to Neowin, Microsoft has responded to the latest Windows 7 cracking scheme by blacklisting the Lenovo OEM master key on computers that are not manufactured by Lenovo.
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31.7.2009 O2 wins Apple iPhone deal - at a hefty price
Mobile operator O2 is preparing to unveil Apple's much anticipated iPhone in the UK tomorrow. But serious questions are being raised in the City about how much ground it has had to give away to Apple in order to clinch the deal.
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18.9.2007Windows 7 OEM prices unveiled, 50% off list price
ComputerWorld is reporting that online retailer Newegg.com has unveiled Windows 7 OEM pricing. Newegg.com has priced the OEM version of Windows 7
Home Premium at $99.99 which is a price reduction of 50% down from the recommended retail price of $199.99. Other savings are available for
Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate at $134.99 and $174.99, respectively. This is a saving of approximately 50% on each version from
the list price. OEM editions are priced lower as you typically do not get retail packaging, little official support and you're not able to
transfer the operating system license from one PC to another.
Read full story.....
neowin.net -
29.09.2009Windows 7 Ultimate cracked and activated with OEM master key
Windows 7 has yet to even be released officially to the general public, and already the dodgy folk on the Internet have fully cracked and activated
the Ultimate version, with help from a leaked Lenovo OEM DVD .ISO file. The news comes from website My Digital Life who state that you can already
pass Windows Genuine Advantage validation offline, OEM style. The leaked .ISO was originally posted on a Chinese forum, which was then downloaded in
order for people to get hold of the boot.wim, and in turn retrieving the OEM-SLP key, plus the OEM activation certificate. Microsoft uses the same
digitally signed OEM certificate, which has an .xrm-ms extension, as that in Windows Vista.
Read full story.....
neowin.net -
29.07.2009OEM Microsoft Office and OEM Microsoft Windows licensing
OEM Microsoft Office and OEM
Microsoft Windows licensing is
a topic that seems to again be
generating questions and there
are plenty of people out there
who are illegally taking
advantage of others to trying
to make a quick profit by
selling counterfeit or
unlicensed software.
Here are the facts
and answers to many of the
points of confusion around OEM
Microsoft Office and OEM
Microsoft Windows licensing so
you are informed and can
protect yourself from the
scammers out there...
winbeta.org -
02.08.2007Numbers Behind Windows 95, Vista
Here is a rundown of some
quick statistics comparing
Windows 95 and Windows Vista.
All prices are in USD. All
figures for Windows 95 seem to
be verified and although there
are sources for the Windows
Vista figures, Microsoft has
not officially confirmed them.
Windows 95 contained 11.2
million lines of code while
Vista is believed to be at 50
million. Windows 95 had
approximately 200 programmers
while Vista supposedly had
2,000, according one Microsoft
developer's blog.
The common retail price of
Windows 95 was $89.95. The
lowest amount you can pay for
Vista (Home Basic Edition) is
$99, and that's an
upgrade - the full retail
version is more than double
Windows 95's price, $199.
At the other extremity there
is Windows Vista Ultimate
Edition, ranging from $259
for the upgrade and $399
for the full. This of course,
doesn't consider OEM prices,
but I decided to do a little
hunting. At mwave.com, Home
Basic is priced at $89.90
while an OEM copy of Windows
95 is currently going for
$19.95, but that isn't
exactly a fair comparison.
Anyone remember the OEM price
for Windows 95 when it was
released?
neowin.net -
24.01.2007Microsoft blacklists leaked Windows 7 OEM key
Microsoft has responded to pirates by blacklisting the Lenovo OEM key that leaked earlier this week. On Tuesday Neowin reported that pirates were
able to modify their BIOS and activate copies of Windows 7 Ultimate with a Lenovo OEM master key. Microsoft have worked with Lenovo to blacklist the
master key before Windows 7 starts shipping with new PCs in October. According to Alex Kochis, Director of Genuine Windows at Microsoft: "we've
worked with that manufacturer so that customers who purchase genuine copies of Windows 7 from this manufacturer will experience no issues validating
their copy of Windows 7.
Read full
story.....
neowin.net -
31.07.2009Microsoft can't afford to support OEM Vista?
Microsoft might have
$7.6 billion in spare cash in
the bank, but when it comes to
supporting users who purchase
Vista on a new machine, the
software giant is all too
ready to cry poor.
Conventional wisdom
holds that if you feel the
urge to upgrade to Windows
Vista, buying it pre-installed
on a new machine is the best
way to go. The advantages are
allegedly twofold: there
should be fresh and functional
drivers for all the built-in
hardware, and you get OEM
pricing (much lower than the
retail $400-$700 price range)
for your new OS.
That
discount pricing comes with a
nasty twist, however. Because
you've purchased an OEM copy,
Microsoft won't extend to you
the courtesy of a 90-day
support period for Vista,
which it does offer to
customers who struggle through
the upgrade process on their
existing machines. Instead, it
will direct you straight back
to your hardware manufacturer...
winbeta.org -
15.05.2007Vista 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 -
02.10.2007Microsoft block Windows 7 OEM key hack
Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage team
have responded to this week's news that a Windows 7 Ultimate
licensing hack had been identified.
After a Lenovo OEM Windows 7 image leaked and was used to extract a license key, Microsoft have worked with the manufacturer to blacklist the rogue
key and replace it - on genuine Lenovo PCs bought with the new OS - with a working version.
winbeta.org -
31.07.2009MS: It's Okay to Buy Vista OEM Software
Microsoft has given the go
ahead for users to buy the
low-cost OEM copies of Windows
Vista now appearing on sites
like Newegg.com; however, they
would be expected to adhere to
the licensing terms just like
any other computer
manufacturer...
betanews.com -
30.01.2007Consumer Versions of Windows Vista Available Early
The official launch of Windows
Vista is planned for January
30. Some online retailers
have, however, made the
operating system available
early. mwave.com states that
it has Vista 32-bit Home Basic
OEM for $89.90, Vista
32-bit Home Basic OEM 3-pack
for $268.90 and Vista
32-bit Business OEM for
$139.90, all in stock and
ready to ship. Vista Home
Premium and Vista Ultimate are
currently unavailable.
Customers are limited to two
copies of Vista Home Basic OEM
or Vista Business OEM and they
must be purchased with
hardware for licensing
reasons. You can probably get
away with ordering a really
cheap piece of hardware and
still saving a lot over the
retail price of Vista.
Overclockers UK has previously
also started listing OEM
versions of Vista.
neowin.net -
22.01.2007Microsoft recruits Altech for OEM distribution in Australia
Microsoft has struck an OEM distribution agreement with Altech Computers for its Windows Vista, Microsoft Office and Microsoft Server products lines.
The OEM partnership is the vendor's first in nearly 10 years.
Microsoft SME and partner director, Pip Marlow, said the two
companies had partnered closely over recent years.
The new relationship would expand its scope and enable Microsoft to deliver
more support to the local system builder market, she said.
"Altech is the destination for small system builders - they do a
phenomenal job supporting that part of the channel," Marlow said. Altech now shares OEM distribution rights with Ingram Micro and Synnex.
winbeta.org -
12.11.2007Microsoft sends harsh reality check to OEMs
Last week, Microsoft sent
certified letters to its OEM
partners regarding Vista's
anti-piracy technology -- or,
more accurately, what happens
if they dare ship a system
with a "non-genuine" copy of
Vista.
The answer:
The system is crippled for 30
days, then hosed entirely
until you pony up for a
license. This is apparently
what Microsoft means when it
http://oem.microsoft.com/downl
oads/public/US/wgavista/genuin
e.pdf>warns of a "diminished
user experience."
This would be fine if
Microsoft were a reasonably
competent organization and
Windows Genuine Advantage
worked flawlessly. True
pirates deserve to be
punished. But Microsoft isn't
and WGA doesn't “ at least,
judging by the many letters I
got from Cringesters who
bought legit OEM copies of XP
from major manufacturers, only
to have WGA label them as
pirates. ..
winbeta.org -
04.06.2007Staggered Windows 7 RTM schedule puts pressure on OEM production
Despite having recently been handed the RTM version of Windows 7, Taiwan-based OEM PC makers have said they will not be able to start rolling out PCs
with Windows 7 off their production lines until September, instead of mid-August as projected previously, since they are still waiting on tools from
Microsoft as well as final validation tests from independent software and hardware vendors.
winbeta.org -
03.08.2009Microsoft Responds to Reported OEM BIOS Hacks
The WGA team have finally
provided a written response to
the reported OEM BIOS Hacks
regarding Vista:
I
know many of you are aware of
reports of hacks that attempt
to exploit our OEM BIOS based
activation. We're aware of
this type of hack and I wanted
to take a minute to describe
how these work and how we plan
to respond.
First, what is OEM BIOS
based activation?
Here's a little more
information on how OEM BIOS
based activation works. This
form of product activation is
also known as OEM Activation
or just OA, which is how
Microsoft refers to it and how
I will refer to it in this
post. Back at the launch of
Windows XP when Microsoft
introduced Windows Product
Activation, we recognized that
as easy as end-user activation
is, it still represented an
extra step.
neowin.net -
12.04.2007July 1: No more Office 2003 for OEMs
Its only been six months since
Microsoft launched Office 2007
at retail. But as of July 1,
2007, Microsoft wont be
making the OEM version of
Office 2003 to its PC
partners, aka "OEMs."
Eric Ligman, Senior
Manager of Small Business
Community Engagement with
Microsoft, reminded OEMs and
customers of the pending
cut-off date in a blog posting
dated June 18:
"After June 30, 2007 ,
OEM
Microsoft Office 2003 will no
longer be availble from
Microsoft. Some authorized
OEM Microsoft distributors may
have some remaining inventory
left for a short time after
June 30th; however, Microsoft
will no longer be shipping OEM
Microsoft Office to
them." ..
winbeta.org -
18.06.2007Windows Vista SP1 Update Available via Microsoft OEM site
It looks like Microsoft has posted the final Vista SP1 bits to their
OEM site which is accessible to anyone that registers. The file is a 1.13GB .img which combines the 32-bit and 64-bit update
executables into one image:
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) is now available for download. Windows Vista SP1 will deliver
improvements and enhancements to existing features that significantly impact customers, but it does not deliver substantial new operating system
features.
Download Windows Vista SP1 here. The download contains Window Vista SP1 for five languages: English, French, German,
Japanese, and Spanish. Note Additional languages will be available soon.
Once you download the Windows Vista SP1 package, you
will need to extract the appropriate .exe file for the language you wish to install.
winbeta.org -
12.02.2008Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Release Timelines Shared at Computex
Steve Guggenheimers anniversary keynote address at leading OEM conference also highlights partner opportunities with upcoming Microsoft innovations...
microsoft.com/presspass -
03.06.2009XP OEM Licensing Extension Is Urban Myth
Contrary to all the blog buzz, Microsoft hasn't extended OEM Windows XP "downgrade" licensing by another six months. What Microsoft has done is
agree to provide OEMs with Windows XP media until June 30. Surely, somebody will accuse me of playing semantics. Not so. It's called accuracy in
reporting, and pretty much everybody has it wrong.
The blogosphere buzzed with excitement, ridicule and accusation over the weekend about
the rumored extension. Seems like anybody and everybody wagged the "We told you that Vista sucks" finger at Microsoft. I don't doubt that
several OEMs want to continue offering Windows XP after Jan. 31, but they didn't need any extension to do it.
neowin.net -
08.10.2008The Problem with Bundling
Joe Wilcox: On Friday I spoke with two product executives from a major OEM about some forthcoming new PCs and notebooks. During the conversation, I
asked about their Windows Media Center strategy. The OEM no longer has one, and Vista integration is the reason.
The response is
surprising, because Media Center integration into Vista was supposed to benefit Microsoft, its customers and partners. But that's not how this OEM
sees it. Reasoning: The discreet SKU's disappearance makes Media Center differentiation more difficult among OEMs, so there is no real competitive
advantage. The product executives expressed concern that Media Center promotion for the OEM's products might benefit competitors.
The conversation was a broad indictment of Microsoft's whole Vista SKU strategy. Rather than differentiate products around Vista SKUs, the OEM
has instead returned to emphasizing performance metrics and made product design a greater priority. That's opposite the intention of Microsoft's
Vista SKU strategy, which was supposed to encourage greater differentiation around operating system capabilities.
winbeta.org -
10.12.2007Vista Won't End Windows XP Availability
I can't count how many times
people have asked me if
Windows XP would be available
on new PCs following Vista's
release.
In the
near term, the answer is as
much a factor of user demand
and OEM and system builder
policies. That said, Microsoft
will make Windows XP available
from 12 to 24 months after
Vista's general availability,
depending on the sales
channel.
According to Life-Cycle
Policy Website, Windows XP
Home, Professional, Tablet PC,
Media Center and 64-bit
editions would be available in
direct OEM and retail licenses
for 12 months following
Windows Vista's general
availability, which is
scheduled to be Jan. 30, 2007.
System builder licenses would
be available for another
12--or total 24--months from
Vista's general availability.
License
availability doesn't
necessarily mean operating
system availability. I presume
Microsoft will get Windows XP
off retail shelves as quickly
as possible after Vista ships.
OEMs are another matter. While
I generally like Windows
Vista, I agree with some users
of the "gold" code that say
the operating system feels
unfinished, like a work in
progress. Some customers
choosing to wait may ask OEMs
or system builders for Windows
XP.
jcxp.net -
24.12.2006
