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Windows 7 Family Pack and WAU pricing

Jul. 8, 2009 Paul Thurrott | Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows

It looks like the Windows 7 Family Pack--which provides 3 licenses to Windows 7 Home Premium--could be real. Ed Bott has a post describing the leaked pricing for both this Family and for Windows Anytime Upgrade, which lets Windows 7 users electronically upgrade from one version to another.

I’ve found details confirming both the availability and price of the Windows 7 Family Pack and three Anytime Upgrade products for Windows 7 ... a set of product listings from Expercom includes a WINDOWS 7 FAMILY PACK/ HOME PREMIUM UPGRADE (GFC-00236) with a listed price of $136.95.

Another reseller, University IT Computer Sales, briefly had the same product and code listed on its website at $144.95.

A handful of extra listings in the Expercom catalog finally attach prices to the Windows Anytime Upgrade product line:

  • UPG WINDOWS ANYTIME/W7 STARTER TO HOME PREMIUM UPGRADE
    Microsoft - Model 4WC-00040 $81.95
  • UPG WINDOWS ANYTIME/W7 HOME PREMIUM TO PROFESSIONAL UPGRADE
    Microsoft - Model 7KC-00040 $90.95
  • UPG WINDOWS ANYTIME/W7 HOME PRE TO ULTIMATE UPGRADE
    Microsoft - Model 39C-00040 $137.95

The Home Premium to Professional Anytime Upgrade product is also in the catalog at PC Nation for $92.55 and at PC Mall for $99.99. PC Mall also has the Starter-to-Home Premium Anytime Upgrade and the Home Premium-to-Ultimate package for $89.99 and $153.99, respectively. The PC Nation prices are $83.72 and $142.30, respectively.

I'm surprised Ed hadn't been briefed about that pricing for his book. Anyway, good stuff.

Thanks to Tom Warren for the tip!

Discuss this Article 23

mikegalos@msn.com
on Jul 8, 2009
Wow. All those posts whining over and over for the last few weeks about how "Microsoft is doomed because they're too stupid to get why people need a 'Family pack' price" and "OS X rules because they offer a 'Family pack' price and Microsoft only cares about corporations" and "All that Windows 7 pricing is meaningless without knowing what the upgrade pricing will be between versions". Now that we have a post answering both of those we get Amusing.
Waethorn
on Jul 8, 2009
According to Adrian, the Family Pack might just be a product of the rumour mill.
RaaJ
on Jul 8, 2009
Mike, Don't worry. You can at least count on YOUR stalker to chime in with the obligatory 'Mike, you are arrogant, ... blahblah blahblahblah' comment. On topic, if these prices turn out to be true, it's a great first step with the pricing of the 7 HP UPG, but I think the anytime upgrade prices are a bit too steep.
lotsamystuff
on Jul 8, 2009
@RaaJ: You betcha! "mikegalos" should realize that when you put a phrase like that in quotation marks, it indicates you're quoting verbatim. Could you please point us to the original posts, mikey? I seem to have missed them. On topic: A "family pack" is definitely something MS should get behind, and I agree with RaaJ's second paragraph.
subzerohitman721
on Jul 8, 2009
If this is true, its not bad. Because I can upgrade 3 machines here for under 150 bucks? That wouldn't be too bad. However, I do think the anytime upgrade cost look a bit steep. Not as steep as the Vista ones, but still a bit dicey. I just hope that this is legit because then it would make Windows 7 a doable purchase. However, I stand by my comments that Microsoft missed a huge opportunity to upsell Windows 7 by making the prices so high.
chuckb84
on Jul 8, 2009
Hey Mike, Read what is says, "It looks like the Windows 7 Family Pack--which provides 3 licenses to Windows 7 Home Premium--could be real." Could be real. If it is real, the email address you're looking for is "leadership@apple.com" so you can write and thank them for forcing Microsoft to match their policy on Family Pack licensing. Wouldn't want you to just hear crickets :).
slimshadey
on Jul 8, 2009
Crickets because seriously consumer retail sales mean nothing for Windows in terms of overall sales.
techdribble
on Jul 8, 2009
Windows 7 is still overpriced and while I am happy with Vista I will not be upgrading. Nice OS ruined by the wrong pricing in the current economic conditions. With current $AUD pricing it would cost $1400+ to upgrade 4 PCs (1xUltimate 2xPro 1xhome).
robertsjoe
on Jul 8, 2009
Microsoft is stupid for ripping-off people with such high prices for a minor update to their OS. Unlike Apple's more than reasonable $29.
RaaJ
on Jul 8, 2009
Hey Robert, Did you forget all the while you got a$$-raped royally by Apple into paying $129 or $199 for minor updates? And are you so gullible to believe that all future OS X versions will be sold at $29? Wait, don't answer that! Apple only offers the $29 price for only the customers that bought OS X in the last couple of years - as in customers with Intel CPUs AND whose Macs came with Leopard or those who purchased Leopard at retail. The rest of you suckers have to pay the full price of $129 for one and $199 for family pack - and only if you have an Intel CPU. If you have a PowerPC user, get on the upgrade treadmill and and offer moolah at El Jobs' altar. Not all suckers that buy Snow Kitty will even get all the benefits - OpenCL is only compatible with the most recent lineup of Macs and Nvidia GPUs. In other words, they are paying $29 for a new tweak to Expose and 6GB hard disk space. When announced formally, Windows 7 upgrades will be cheaper than Apple's usual prices for OS X retail boxes. And Microsoft has had volume licenses on Windows [for businesses] for a looong time, and for customers since Vista launched, and on Office since Office 2003. Apple didn't invent volume licensing. Maybe the name 'Family Pack.'
RunTimeError
on Jul 8, 2009
RaaJ: Please don't feed the robertsjoe troll with the same meaningless argument about Apple's pricing that mikegalos and Waethorn pipe up with every chance they get. Simply ignore him.
whiplash55
on Jul 8, 2009
I totally credit Paul for MS offering a family pack. He's been harping on this idea since pre-Vista release. Nice work Paul your hard work finally paid off. Now can you get Win Mobile 7 out the door please, I refuse to buy an iPhone and Android still sucks.(battery life)
robertsjoe
on Jul 8, 2009
@whiplash55: You assume too much about the influence Paul may have on the Evil One. Windows Mobile 7 will be yet another sorry sad mobile OS.
robertsjoe
on Jul 8, 2009
Stop making excuses for Microsoft. People pay the highest taxes of all computer technology out there when you buy Microsoft.
whiplash55
on Jul 8, 2009
Stop making excuses for Microsoft. People pay the highest taxes of all computer technology out there when you buy Microsoft. You don't get MS is the victim now. The EU hassling them over a browser because some worthless company can't compete with a different company? Google sniveling because Vista built in search is better than theirs, so they whine and MS pulls it of the start menu in Vista after sp1. BTW its Apple cutting off their customers running 2 year old or less Power PC's, you could buy a Power PC G4 PowerBook in early 2007 from the Mac Outlet store, those people have just been screwed. MS still supports Win 2000, hows Apple's support on systems that old? I think most Apple fanboys suffer from Stockholm Syndrome, they now sympathies with their captors! They're so used to being hosed, they think they deserve it! Maybe they do...
mikegalos@msn.com
on Jul 8, 2009
whiplash "BTW its Apple cutting off their customers running 2 year old or less Power PC's, you could buy a Power PC G4 PowerBook in early 2007 from the Mac Outlet store, those people have just been screwed. " What's worse is that it was less than 3 years ago that Apple was still advertising the PowerMac G5 as the top of the line, state of the art in personal computers and the people stupid enough to spend $6,000 for one of those overpriced, pre-obsolete systems at full retail are as screwed as those who bought from the Mac Outlet. And some of them are probably on here defending that choice to this day.
realtestman
on Jul 8, 2009
robertsjoe = troll
Dipsh t Admin
on Jul 9, 2009
""leadership@apple.com" so you can write and thank them for forcing Microsoft to match their policy on Family Pack licensing." Once again, Apple suddenly invented quantity pricing? You guys really pull at straws sometimes...
tayme
on Jul 9, 2009
Oi vey...does everything that Paul posts need to turn into a my OSes d!ck is bigger than your OSes d!ck? Really??? Senseless, stupid, mindless drones...all guided by either Redmond or Cupertino. Amazing! @Paul - Thanks for the info...it will give those of us with multiple computers taht we are considering upgrading something to ponder. --tayme
chuckb84
on Jul 9, 2009
Dipsh!t, No, Apple didn't invent quantity pricing; they just brought the idea to consumer sales of operating systems. Now Microsoft has decided that's a good idea and copied it. If it is so great the Microsoft has done this---finally---then it's even better that Apple forced them into by being a competitor. Do you seriously think that Microsoft would have done this without Apple to goad them into it? Every time he mentions the Family Pack idea, Paul has always cited Apple as the precedent. So, if you want to pick nits, take it up with Paul, since he has always put it in those terms. Regardless, Apple just saved all the WIndows drones some money. Competition. Choice. Remember?
whiplash55
on Jul 9, 2009
Nobody ever said competition is bad, and I agree Apple has put out a very competitive product since OSX 10.2. But they did invent the "pay for your service pack" idea that fortunately MS hasn't adopted yet. They just got a lot more honest with their pricing with the Snow Leopard upgrade. Problem with the Snow upgrade pricing is it doesn't apply to Apple users who had issues with Leopard and stayed with Tiger (like I did). They have to pay for Leopard and then Snow to upgrade. The MS Win 7 upgrade applies to Win 2000 and XP users as well. From the MS upgrade site. "* Running earlier versions? * If you have Windows XP or Windows 2000, you can purchase Windows 7 Upgrade versions. But you must back up your files, clean install, and reinstall your applications."
chuckb84
on Jul 9, 2009
Whiplash55, I agree that this works both ways. Microsoft and Apple are in competition and that's a good thing all around. It is true that the $29 upgrade to SL is only from Leopard. However, even from Tiger the upgrade will be simple, not like the "back up your files, clean install, and reinstall your applications" that XP upgraders will face.
tayme
on Jul 9, 2009
@chuckb84 - "not like the "back up your files, clean install, and reinstall your applications" that XP upgraders will face." If they want a clean install, that is still the process with OS X...I prefer that, because, even OS X suffers from drag as apps are installed/un-installed... --tayme

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