Starting tomorrow, UK customers will be able to pre-order copies of Windows 7 Home Premium E or Windows 7 Professional E at discount prices.
The promotion, which Microsoft claims will run "while stocks last", will allow consumers to order the software from the Microsoft Store or select retailers such as Play.com and Amazon.co.uk. As part of the offer, Windows 7 Home Premium E will be made available at a cost of £49.99, and Windows 7 Professional will be priced at £99.99. Both healthy savings when compared to the October 22nd launch-day prices of £79.99 and £189.99, respectively.
Sounds like a reasonable offer, but what we want to know is; will you, our readers, be making use of Microsoft's limited-run promotion?
Following the infuriatingly-complex announcement of its Windows 7 pricing plans, a number of launch-related questions remain unanswered. As far as we can tell, Windows 7 Ultimate E won't be part of the promotion, and consequently won't be available to pre-order. Instead, it'll simply be priced at £199.99 on October 22nd - how do existing Windows Vista Ultimate users feel about that price?
Furthermore, recent speculation has suggested that Microsoft will also introduce a Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack, allowing for a single copy of the software to be installed on three systems in a single household. However, Microsoft has yet to confirm the existence of a multi-license edition, and it almost certainly won't be part of the pre-order promotion.
UK consumers also have to consider that the Europe-specific "E" editions of the software won't feature a built-in web browser. Will you be willing to adopt an operating system that's browser-less out of the box, or will you be hoping to acquire your copy of Windows 7 from overseas?
As an operating system, we've been highly impressed by Windows. Unfortunately, we're perplexed by Microsoft's confusing retail decisions. What do you think, readers? Will you be pre-ordering Windows 7 tomorrow? Yes or no, we'd love to hear your reasons in the HEXUS.community forums.
