Windows 7 twice as expensive in US than in UK
updated 09:55 am EDT, Wed August 19, 2009
UK Windows 7 at half price
Copies of Windows 7 Home Premium in the UK will cost half of what they do in the US, a Crave report found on Tuesday. Full versions of Windows 7 Home Premium will cost the equivalent of $107 (£65) to Brits, while Americans will have to pay $200 (£122). The difference is such that even an upgrade version will cost more in the US, at $120 (£72). Such a practice is unusual given historically high prices for technology in Britain.
Copies of Windows 7 are already being offered for pre-order by Amazon in the UK. The previously planned Windows 7 E version for Europe, which lacked any form of Internet browser, has been dropped and so isn't contributing to the price drop.
An Amazon spokesperson calls the pricing indefinite, while Microsoft hasn't explained the difference when asked. Some believe the software giant is honoring the promised pricing for Windows 7 E, which wouldn't have allowed direct upgrades from Windows XP or Vista. It's suspected that Microsoft will revert to regular prices at the start of 2010.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 2008
Microsoft knows that
people who live in the U.K. don't like to spend money on anything. They don't buy anything unless it's perceived to be a bargain and Windows is not a bargain at any price.