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Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/18/win8_upgrade_discounts_ending/

Microsoft to end Windows 8 discounts on January 31

Here's what it will really cost

By Neil McAllister in San Francisco

Posted in Operating Systems, 18th January 2013 22:32 GMT

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Say what you will about Windows 8; at least the upgrade from Windows 7 is cheap. Or it is for now. After January 31 will be a different story.

Ever since Windows 8's October 26, 2012 launch, Microsoft has been offering retail Windows 8 Pro upgrade DVDs for $69.99. Online upgrades have been even cheaper, at $39.99. And customers who bought new PCs or laptops with Windows 7 preloaded got the best deal of all: If they registered with Microsoft, the online Windows 8 upgrade cost them just $14.99.

Microsoft always said these rates were temporary [1], but lots of pundits didn't believe it. Why would Redmond raise its prices, they argued, given how tepid [2] customer reaction to the new OS has been?

Well, put such notions aside. In a blog post [3] on Friday, Microsoft confirmed that when it said its discounted Windows 8 upgrade pricing was for a limited time only, it really meant it.

As previously announced, all of the above prices end on January 31. Starting in February, all editions of Windows 8 will sell for their full list prices, which means the cheapest Windows 8 upgrade will go for $119.99.

Note, however, that unlike the discounted upgrades offered previously, that price just gets you Windows 8, not Windows 8 Pro. If you want the additional Pro features – including BitLocker encryption, domain connectivity, and Hyper-V virtualization, among others – you'll need to shell out a little more for the Pro upgrade edition, priced at $199.99.

If you already have Windows 8 and you want to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro, the Pro Pack upgrade will cost you $69.99 through January 31. After that, the price goes up to $99.99.

These list prices are similar to what Microsoft charged to upgrade to Windows 7 from Windows Vista or earlier, but they're still high in today's computing market. The last upgrade for Apple's OS X – currently the only other mainstream desktop OS – cost just $20, and you can upgrade most desktop Linux systems for free.

Still, many customers won't actually upgrade at all. Instead, they'll get their first taste of Windows 8 when they buy a new laptop or PC. Microsoft claims [4] it has sold 60 million Windows 8 licenses so far, with a good chunk of those going to OEMs who plan to bundle the OS with their new kit.

In addition to ending its Windows upgrade discounts, Microsoft will also begin charging $9.99 for its Windows Media Center add-on pack on January 31. Previously it had been a free upgrade for Windows 8 Pro users.

Upgrade pricing for the UK, Europe, and other regions was not available as The Reg went to press. ®