Microsoft has activated the kill annoy-the-crap-out-of-you switch on Windows 7 Beta and urged us to install the RC, upgrade coupon plans have been announced, pre-orders are being taken, the Family Pack license has surfaced, and things appear to be on track for the RTM to release just ten days from now.

As mentioned a two weeks ago - and now been confirmed by an 'inside source' close to our chum Paul at Geeksmack - the final build is slated for July 10th and code sign-off will follow on the 13th.

General availability won't come until October, officially. However, since the RTM ISO downloads will be available to Technet and MSDN subscribers soon, they'll probably be available on every torrent tracker in the known universe within hours of the first successful download.

Or sooner, if the crew at Wzor.net is feeling generous.

Got three computers at home? There is reason to believe that Microsoft will let you license Windows 7 on all of them for a very competitive price.

In recent leaked RTM branch builds of WIndows 7 Home Premium, there's been an interesting language chance in the license agreement under "Installation Use and Rights":

b. Family Pack. If you are a "Qualified Family Pack User", you may install one copy of the software marked as "Family Pack" on three computers in your household for use by people who reside there. Those computers are the "licensed computers" and are subject to these license terms. If you do not know whether you are a Qualified Family Pack User, visit go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?Linkid=141399 or contact the Microsoft affiliate serving your country.

No, the link doesn't work yet, but this seems to indicate that Microsoft is going to offer a multi-license pack of Windows 7 Home Premium. Other builds (Ultimate, Pro, etc.) don't contain the Family Pack wording.

It makes sense for several reasons. First, Microsoft offered a similar deal for Vista upgrades when it was released - a two pack for $49.99. Second, they use this strategy to push Office 2007 with the Home and Student edition. Third, Apple does it with Leopard and at one hell of a price: $199 for up to five Macs under the same roof.
CNet's Ed Bott predicts Microsoft will undercut Apple slightly and we'll see the Family Pack priced at $189.99, though it will likely cover three machines as the Office license does.

[via Kristan Kenney]

So you downloaded the first beta version of Windows 7 when it was released to the public in January. You installed it on a separate partition on your Windows XP, Vista, Linux, or OS X box played around with it for a little while and then forgot about it. You never got around to installing the Windows 7 release candidate that came later.

Well, let me tell you what will happen the next time you boot up Windows 7 Beta. You'll be able to use your computer for about 2 hours and then it will restart. Microsoft built a little time bomb into the beta to remind users to upgrade or remove the operating system. Subtle, not so much. Effective? Yes. Annoying? Definitely.

If you want to keep using a free version of Windows 7, it's time to upgrade to Windows 7 RC. But there's a time bomb on the release candidate as well. Starting on march 1st, 2010 it will begin restarting every two hours as well, and come June 1st, 2010 it'll just stop working. But since Microsoft will begin shipping the full version of Windows 7 on October 22nd of this year, you should have plenty of opportunity to upgrade by then.

In the meantime, Microsoft is essentially letting you run (and test) Windows 7 for a year and a half for free. Just remember to download Windows 7 RC by August 15th.

When pricing information for Windows 7 upgrades first appeared, it sounded like more good news for consumers. The leaked Best Buy memo offered a price of $49.99, and Windows 7 fanatics everywhere cheered. That, coupled with the free upgrade coupons OEMs were offering to consumers sure made it look like Microsoft was going to be extremely aggressive with pricing.

Fast forward, and now we know that the rock-bottom price is for pre-orders only and retail copies will set you back $119.99 for Home Premium and $199.99 for Professional. That's only $10 less than Vista upgrades ran initially, and hardly what I'd call aggressive.

Further disappointing news is that Microsoft has now instructed OEMs to cap free upgrades on volume purchase at 25 units. While that's plenty of room for smaller businesses, it's a sharp two-finger salute to medium and large business.

Four small businesses can get 100 free upgrades, but your large enterprise has to pay for the extra 75?

Ouch.

That's not really the kind of announcement that will make IT administrators jump at the chance to get new metal running Windows 7.

[via Daily Tech]

Right on schedule, Microsoft has begun taking pre-orders for Windows 7. In the US anyway. Customers in the rest of the world will have to wait a little longer. But if you're in the US you can pre-order Windows 7 upgrade packages for about half off, bringing the price of Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade to $49.99 and Windows 7 Professional Upgrade to $99.99.

Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade will still set you back full price, or about $219.99 And at least at Amazon, there are no discounts for full retail versions of the operating systems yet. That means you'll end up paying $199.99 for Home Premium, $299.99 for Professional, and $319.99 for Ultimate.

All versions have a release date of October 22nd. Amazon is limiting pre-orders on Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade and Windows 7 Professional Upgrade to 3 per customer, and the pre-order pricing expires on July 11th or once Microsoft sells a set number of pre-orders. Not that anybody knows exactly what that magic number is.

[via Engadget]

Microsoft has unveiled the consumer prices for Windows 7. Here's the rundown of prices for a full version:

• Windows 7 Home Premium: $199.99
  
• Windows 7 Professional: $299.99
  
• Windows 7 Ultimate: $319.99
  

The prices are lower for users who are upgrading from Windows XP or Vista:

• Windows 7 Home Premium: $119.99
  
• Windows 7 Professional: $199.99
  
• Windows 7 Ultimate: $219.99

But wait, there's more. Starting tomorrow, US customers will be able to pre-order the operating system at much lower prices:

• Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade pre-order: $49.99
• Windows 7 Professional Upgrade pre-order: $99.99

Discounted Pre-order prices will also be available in Canada and Japan for the next few weeks. A pre-order program will launch in the UK, France, and Germany starting July 15th.
There will only be a limited number of pre-orders available. But here's the other bit of good news. If you buy a computer running Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate from a participating OEM or retailer between June 26th, 2009 and January 31st, 2010, you'll likely be able to upgrade to Windows 7 for little or no cost.

There's no information on how much Microsoft will be charging computer makers for Windows 7 licenses, but odds are if you were in the market for a new computer anyway, the cheapest way to get Windows 7 will be to simply buy a new computer. PC makers tend to get much better prices than the general public.

Microsoft kind of, sort of confirmed that that leaked images of the Windows 7 box art we spotted last month were legit when the company posted some nearly identical images on a Facebook page recently. But now it's really official. The Windows team has posted an item on the official Windows Blog showcasing the new packaging.

As you can see, the packaging is pretty simple and actually looks a lot like the Windows Vista packaging. But while the cover art may not have received a major redesign, the overall packaging has. The amount of packaging weighs 37% less than previous Windows packages, and the plastic case is recyclable. There's less inside the box as well. All you get is the case, a paper sleeve, and a brief "getting started" guide.

You can find a picture of an opened box after the break.

Meanwhile, the download program for Windows 7 RC closes on August 15th. You don't necessarily need to install the release candidate by that point, but you will need to download it by then.

It's not surprising that Microsoft is flipping the off switch soon. The company is on track to launch the retail version of Windows on October 22nd, and it's gong to be a lot easier to convince people to buy the software if they can't get it for free.

If they're not leaking announcing leaked builds of Windows 7, they're sharing news from internal memos. Wzor.net has posted the time table for Windows 7's path to RTM:

FINAL ROADMAP FOR WINDOWS 7 [CLIENT-SERVER]:
6/1 - 6/19 BUILDING RTM ESCROW - already assembled RTM ESCROW.
6/22 - 7/10 RTM RECALL - assembly and search for candidates to the final RTM release.
7/10 WINDOWS 7 RTM FINAL BUILD TARGET - build day "gold code".
7/13 WINDOWS 7 RTM SIGN-OFF - the date of signing the final RTM release!

Upgrade coupon plans are in place and some pricing details have been leaked (thank you, Best Buy), but none of this is official yet. We'll just have to wait for Microsoft to quit playing the Hokey Pokey with the Windows 7 product page on their web store or at least for an announcement out of Redmond.

It will be interesting to see which appreas first: a leaked VHD of the Windows 7 RTM or Microsoft's announcement that it has been completed.

[via NeoWin]

Microsoft is having a pretty hard time killing off Windows XP. Once upon a time, you could reliably count on Microsoft to release a new version of DOS and then Windows every few years. The new versions typically offered significant improvements in speed and stability as well as new features. But a funny thing happened with Windows XP. Many users found it was good enough for daily use -- even 8 years after the operating system was launched.

Microsoft had planned to phase out Windows XP after introducing Vista, but demand for the older operating system remained high. And while you can't just go out and purchase a boxed copy of XP anymore, you can get it preinstalled on a netbook, and in some cases you can purchase a new computer with Vista and acquire Windows XP "downgrade" rights.

Now it looks like Microsoft will continue to offer downgrade rights for up to 18 months after the introduction of WIndows 7. Computer World is reporting that Microsoft will make Windows XP available as late as April, 2011. The move should give enterprise users who haven't switched to Vista time to make the transition from Windows XP to Windows 7 without rushing.

But it does raise a question. Sure, Windows 7 has improved graphics, an enhanced GUI, and better security features than Windows XP. But is that enough to convince you to upgrade? Or would you be happy using Windows XP for the next 10 years as long as software makers keep pumping out compatible applications?

Remeber the announcement last week that Windows 7 upgrade coupon plans are falling into place? Buy a machine with Windows Vista within the specified window, and you'll get a voucher for a free, spankin' new Windows 7.

What about Apple hardware currently sporting Leopard? Snow Leopard is due soon, after all. So will you get a free upgrade?

Not so much.

It'll cost you $9.95 - not a huge premium, obviously, but it's still more than free. While I'm not an Apple user and not in the market for a new notebook anyway, that offer stinks.

Leopard to Snow Leopard isn't quite the same evolutionary step as Vista is to Windows 7, but that upgrade won't cost a cent? I like the sound of that much better.

Will the fee hurt Apple sales? Likely not. Most consumers probably either won't bother with the update or won't think twice about shelling out ten bucks to get current. But can you imagine the crap storm that would ensue if Microsoft was to pull that when transitioning from one OS to another?

We'd never hear the end of it.

With the drop date quickly approaching, the big OEMs are gearing up for Windows 7.

Acer, Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, and Shuttle have all announced their plans to begin shipping upgrade coupons with systems that are preloaded with Windows Vista. Coupons will be valid from June 26th until January 31, 2010. The conversation with your local shopkeeper will go something like this:

"The Windows Vista laptop is cursed"

"That's bad."

"But it comes with a free upgrade coupon for Windows 7."

"That's good!"

"The coupon is also cursed."

"Can I go now?"

While it's certainly good news for consumers, it could be a punch in the face for netbook sales. We've been told that WIndows 7 runs great on netbooks - heck, my MSI Wind was running the version that published Downloadsquad's first hands-on with the new OS.

What's the big deal? No upgrade coupon for Windows XP to 7, of course. And not many netbook makers have been stupid ballsy enough to ship Vista on the diminutive machines.

Since we've also been told that Windows 7 netbooks are right around the corner, this could definitely cause sales to slow significantly.

[via PC World]

Holy about faces, Batman!

Credit yet another Microsoft-related leak with some truly interesting Windows 7 news. The EU is going to get their wish, and Microsoft will make special OEM and retail versions of Windows 7 available that are totally Internet Explorer free.

Here's the meaty part of the memo:

"Microsoft will offer IE8 separately and free of charge and will make it easy and convenient for PC manufacturers to preinstall IE 8 on Windows 7 machines in Europe if they so choose. PC manufacturers may choose to install an alternative browser instead of IE 8, and has always been the case, they may install multiple browsers if they wish."

Which means we probably haven't heard the last of the shouting just yet. It'll just be about unfairly leaning on manufacturers who decide to include Internet Explorer - even though they might choose to do so of their own free will. After all, a big portion of the general computer-purchasing public still doesn't know what the heck a Firefox is.

[via CNet]