Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $39.99

bill · July 03, 2012, 05:13:09 AM

QuoteWe set out to make it as easy as possible for everyone to upgrade to Windows 8. Starting at general availability, if your PC is running Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 you will qualify to download an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for just $39.99 in 131 markets. And if you want, you can add Windows Media Center for free through the "add features" option within Windows 8 Pro after your upgrade.

That's significantly less than previous upgrades on Windows. They really want everyone on Windows 8 don't they?

Zwart · July 03, 2012, 01:12:14 PM

Seems to me that Win9 will be out shortly

(and rightly so, if I can believe all the reports and reviews)

bill · July 04, 2012, 06:56:27 AM

Yes, the release schedule is generally back to the pre-Vista days. Windows 8 should be out around August this year and Windows 9 is targeting 2014.

> $39.99 upgrade
I forgot to mention that the promotional upgrade pricing will be in effect for a short time: It starts at the general availability of Windows 8 and lasts through January 31, 2013.

ergophobe · July 04, 2012, 04:58:26 PM

I can upgrade from XP? How many computers sold with XP would be capable of running Win 8?

thesaintv12 · July 04, 2012, 05:02:24 PM

Quote from: ergophobe on July 04, 2012, 04:58:26 PM
I can upgrade from XP? How many computers sold with XP would be capable of running Win 8?

Windows 7 ran on a lower spec than Vista, so maybe they have carried that along?

I, Brian · July 04, 2012, 07:14:46 PM

Quote from: ergophobe on July 04, 2012, 04:58:26 PM
I can upgrade from XP?

Of course you can. Whether you'd want to is another thing.

bill · July 05, 2012, 02:59:28 AM

I haven't seen definitive tests, but the Windows geeks have been saying that Windows 8 has less hardware requirements than Windows 7, so you'd probably be fine.

I put Windows 7 Ultimate on an old Atom processor EeePC netbook, and it runs fine...much better than the XP it came with. YMMV.

littleman · July 05, 2012, 09:29:13 AM

Seems like 7 was widely praised and liked by consumers, this sort of reminds my of the ME upgrade.

Chunkford · July 05, 2012, 09:48:31 AM

Quote from: littleman on July 05, 2012, 09:29:13 AM
this sort of reminds my of the ME upgrade.

Shudders at the thought......

bill · July 05, 2012, 11:54:47 AM

ME was not an upgrade.

I just need some more time to play with my virtual machine's Win8 install to figure out where all the new stuff is. I don't hate the interface yet. Like it or not it appears all Windows, even Server is going to have this Metro interface.

Drastic · July 05, 2012, 02:57:52 PM

You can disable metro and stick with the standard desktop.

I, Brian · July 05, 2012, 06:53:19 PM

Quote from: littleman on July 05, 2012, 09:29:13 AM
Seems like 7 was widely praised and liked by consumers

Probably because it was little different from XP from a user point of view, with just a few graphics touches and couple of extra features.

Once you were dragged kicking and screaming from XP to Windows 7, you found it wasn't so bad after all. Especially after all the Vista problems repored, such as limited driver support, DRM, etc.