Good news for British Windows 7 fans | The Coffeehouse

andokai

Engadget is reporting it will be half the price that it is in the US.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/19/windows-7-will-cost-half-as-much-in-the-uk-as-in-the-us/

LeoDavidson

Great news for UK peeps, whether or not it's indefinite. Makes a nice change from what normally happens to us with prices! Smiley

GoddersUK
I CAN has cheezburger and you CAN'T has stop me!

In reply to LeoDavidson

#Aug 19th @ 11:33 AM

Good one MS!

Let's hope other companies start to follow suit! Big Smile

ManipUni
Proving QQ for 5 years!

I bet Microsoft just got the figures back from Amazon.com about preorders to the EU...

W3bbo
The Master of Baiters

Windows Vista added the ability for software to be "geographically activated" (whereby you can only activate if you computer is in the right pricing zone). Previously this only applied to Home Basic's reduced pricing in SE Asia, but I imagine they'd do the same thing in this case: the lower-priced Windows 7 would be geographically locked to the UK for activation. I imagine Microsoft will downplay this to prevent the media miscontruing it as "you can only use Windows 7 UK Edition within the UK".

Can't this by bypassed by using a proxy server within the UK?

Bas
It finds lightbulbs.

Great news. That's an awesome price for a consumer OS. I wonder what'll happen in the rest of Europe.

blowdart
Peek-a-boo

In reply to Bas

#Aug 19th @ 2:58 PM

Well we'll see how long it lasts. Part of me wonders if this is because they couldn't simply switch the already ordered versions to a simple upgrade version, with less features. They'd have to cancel all the existing orders, including those using the special pricing and start all over again. The publicity nightmare would have cost them more in the long run.

littleguru
<3 Seattle

In reply to blowdart

#Aug 19th @ 3:01 PM

Hmmm... interesting. I wonder why it is the UK and not Italy Tongue Out

blowdart
Peek-a-boo

In reply to littleguru

#Aug 19th @ 3:19 PM

Because the Windows team are pointing and laughing at Dovella.

dahat

In reply to W3bbo

#Aug 19th @ 12:10 PM

Windows Vista added the ability for software to be "geographically activated" (whereby you can only activate if you computer is in the right pricing zone).

My reading on the subject (seems to often be called 'geographically blocked PID') would indicate that it was something that happened far more in XP (189 hits) than Vista (60 hits) (897 vs 371 respectively on Google)... and almost exclusively related to volume licensed keys and not retail ones... while it may be possible for them to do what you describe... how about we wait and see before throwing around crazy conspiracy theories?

W3bbo
The Master of Baiters

In reply to dahat

#Aug 19th @ 3:47 PM

Thanks for correcting me on its use in XP, I thought it was a Vista innovation.

I don't feel its any kind of conspiracy theory, but a resonable expectation when Microsoft is selling a product so cheaply in a specific region.

dahat

In reply to W3bbo

#Aug 19th @ 4:20 PM

For it to be a reasonable expectation... I would think that previous wide-spread region locking of retail copies in a given area would be required in a nearby or similar (but smaller) market.