Windows 7 Home Premium To Cost $200?

Martin | Jun 23, 2009 | Comments

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A recent Business Week article entitled Windows 7: Microsoft vs. the PC Makers outlines the problems that PC Makers like Dell, HP or Sony have with Microsoft’s Windows 7 price expectations. According to the article PC Makes have to cope with lower hardware sale prices, the rise of the low cost netbook market and Microsoft’s expectations. Microsoft is expecting PC Makers to pay $50 for the Windows 7 Home Starter Edition which is two to three times the price that they currently pay for Windows XP licenses. Windows 7 Starter has been designed for the low cost market only which means that Microsoft does not allow PC Makers to license the operating system for larger notebook or desktop computer systems.

More interesting than that is the comment of Mike Abary, a senior vice-president at Sony’s (SNE) Vaio PC unit, who mentions that Windows 7 Home Premium would raise the price of larger notebooks by $200.

The cost of Windows could rise more sharply on other machines. Microsoft has told PC makers the $50 Starter Edition will be available only for netbooks with screen sizes smaller than 10.2 inches and chips that aren’t capable of playing most games or watching video. Larger netbooks would have to use Windows 7 Home Premium, which would add $200 to a unit’s cost, says Mike Abary, a senior vice-president at Sony’s (SNE) Vaio PC unit.

The question here is if the $200 is a special price for PC Makers or the retail price of the Windows 7 Home Premium operating system. Only 16% of all users who have voted in our latest poll expect Windows 7 to cost $201 or more with an additional 16% thinking that it will cost between $151-$200.

Would you buy Windows 7 Home Premium if it would cost $200 or even more than that?

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About the Author: Martin Brinkmann is an Online Journalist from Germany who discovered his love for technology in high school. He is currently working as a freelancer for several publications and runs his own Internet website Ghacks

  • Jim Polwort
    I'm excited about Win-7, and I've been beta testing it, and running the RC for several weeks. It promises to be a decent OS, and what Vista should have been. But a $200 price tag? I don't think so. I might pay that much if it was a completely redesigned OS built from scratch, but this is just a glossy version of Vista, that's been fixed, and polished up a bit, with a few bells and whistles here and there. The Premium upgrade should be between 50 and $100. Otherwise, in today's economy, people just aren't going to shell out that kind of money. Just my 2c worth.
  • Stephen
    You apparently did not notice that this is 1) about what PC manufacturers will pay for new licenses, and 2) purely speculative and based upon deciphering comments by a couple industry people outside of Microsoft. It means nothing with respect to upgrade costs. Actually, it means nothing on any other front as well. Just another badly written and poorly informed article using rumors as if they are facts. More often than not, I think this site should be called windows7rumors.com.

    Stephen
  • WINDOWS 8 beta 1
    Wow, that's only ~€150!
  • simon
    I'm sure i'm not the only one that doesn't have that kind of money to spend on an operating system,especially when i have vista that works(just about).I would love to have it when it comes out...but that luxury is for people with money to burn,which i don't have.I have to wait till it goes well below £100 before i can even consider it.
  • Stephen
    Why don't people read these articles. It is not about upgrade pricing - it is meaningless discussion of rumors regarding either OEM pricing on new systems or Windows 7 at retail and it can't even address which.

    Stephen
  • smilingman
    The reason it is not meaningless is because it can give you a idea at what the retail pricing is going to be. If OEM are paying $200 then you can be sure that retail is going to be higher.
    It also means that netbook will cost $200 dollar more it OEM's want to add a bigger screens and that is bad for consumers.
    True this is hear say, but it gives some insight to whats happening inside the industry.
    How it seens that MS is once again making mistakes with OEM's and eliminating its users.
    I guess I will be using Win7 RC till it expires. I will not be going back to WinXP, I have gotten a taste of a next-gen OS and it is Win7.
  • the only thing that will be in my home. is Windows 7 Ultimate.
  • Mark
    The way I see, that just a confirms something I've thought for a while, Windows 7 will cheaper then Vista at launch. I'm pretty positive that Vista Home Premium was $250 when it first came out and I figured Windows 7 would be cheaper simply because it took half the time to make thus it cost less money to develop. I was still expecting it to be cheap then $200 though from Home Premium. If it IS $200 then I expect Ultimate to be maybe $300 as opposed to $400 for Vista Ultimate, and I think Professional will be at the $250 range, but that's just my predictions.
  • smilingman
    If OEM's are paying $200, then this is how I see retail.

    Win7 HP = $250

    Win7 Pro = $350

    Win Ultm = $500

    I hope I am wrong, GOD I hope I am wrong.
  • uhh
    FUCK THAT SHIT I'M PIRATING
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