Windows 8 Pro will be available this October, and it looks as though the retail boxed version will sell for $199 once the opening day promotion expires on January 31, 2013. Until that date, it’s going to sell for just $69.99 in stores or just $40 if you can do without the actual box and don’t mind downloading the ISO image from Microsoft. There’s one more price point that has already been revealed, too. If you purchase a new computer that comes with Windows 7 pre-installed, you’ll be able to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for just $15.
It’s important to note that the $199 figure hasn’t been officially confirmed by Microsoft, so it’s possible that it might be on the high side. Microsoft has proven that it’s going to be more aggressive this time around with its upgrade pricing, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see retail boxed copies of Windows 8 selling for less than their Windows 7 counterparts did at launch. Then again, $199 already represents a substantial price drop — from the whopping $319 Windows 7 Ultimate sold for — since Microsoft is only selling two retail versions this time around.
Another unknown is how much that just-announced Personal Use License is going to sell for. It’s reasonable to expect that it’ll be priced on par with the OEM edition, but it may not carry the hardware purchase requirement.
It all depends on exactly how aggressive Microsoft plans to be. If rumored $199 price for the Surface RT tablet is any indication, there’s a distinct possibility that the new OS will be priced to drive early adoption. There’s more at stake than unit sales this time around, of course. Windows 8 will bring the Windows Store front and center, and Microsoft will want to do everything it can to get users in the habit of purchasing digital downloads right now.
Source: Official Microsoft Press Release Site
