Current Vista Pricing....

[supafly]

Well hopefully its safe to assume that MCE will upgrade to Home Premium.

[aanda6]

After speaking with DSE there is apparantly no upgrade to premium at this stage.

[nigel984]

To state the obvious, I cant say I would trust DSE except to charge full retail price.

[aanda6]

Below is a list of all the upgrade packages that are being offered in australia.

Terms & Conditions

Information on the offer details forms part of these terms and conditions.
The promoter is Microsoft Pty Limited (ABN 29 002 589 460) of 1 Epping Road, North Ryde NSW 2113.
This offer is open to Australian residents only.
Purchase a genuine retail edition of any of the following specially marked Microsoft® Office 2003 or Windows® XP products and/or one of the individual application(s) (Current Microsoft Product) between 26 October 2006 and 28 February 2007 from any retailer in Australia and be the end user of that product and, for $27.00 (including GST, postage and handling), receive the corresponding 2007 edition (Upgrade Microsoft Product)as listed below:
Internet Access and payment by credit card required for redemption.
Purchase - Current Microsoft Product
Receive - Upgrade Microsoft Product

Microsoft Office Student & Teacher 2003
Microsoft Office Home & Student 2007 and Outlook® 2007

Microsoft Office Professional 2003
Microsoft Office Professional 2007 Version Upgrade

Microsoft Office Professional 2003 Academic
Microsoft Office Professional 2007 Academic

Microsoft Office Professional 2003 Version Upgrade
Microsoft Office Professional 2007 Version Upgrade

Microsoft Office Small Business Accounting 2003
Microsoft Office Accounting Professional 2007 Version Upgrade

Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003
Microsoft Office Small Business 2007 Version Upgrade

Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003 Version Upgrade
Microsoft Office Small Business 2007 Version Upgrade

Microsoft Office Standard 2003
Microsoft Office Standard 2007 Version Upgrade

Office Standard 2003 Version Upgrade
Office Standard 2007 Version Upgrade

OneNote® 2003
OneNote 2007

OneNote 2003 Academic
OneNote 2007 Academic

Project 2003
Project 2007 Version Upgrade

Project 2003 Academic
Project 2007 Academic

Project 2003 Version Upgrade
Project 2007 Version Upgrade

Project Professional 2003
Project Professional 2007 Version Upgrade

Project Professional 2003 Academic
Project Professional 2007 Academic

Project Professional 2003 Version Upgrade
Project Professional 2007 Version Upgrade

Publisher 2003
Publisher 2007 Version Upgrade

Publisher 2003 Academic
Publisher 2007 Version Upgrade

Publisher 2003 Version Upgrade
Publisher 2007 Version Upgrade

Project Professional 2003
Project Professional 2007 Version Upgrade

Visio® Standard 2003
Visio Standard 2007 Version Upgrade

Visio Standard 2003 Academic
Visio Standard 2007 Academic

Visio Standard 2003 Version Upgrade
Visio Standard 2007 Version Upgrade

Visio Professional 2003
Visio Professional 2007 Version Upgrade

Visio Professional 2003 Academic
Visio Professional 2007 Academic

Visio Professional Version Upgrade
Visio Professional 2007 Version Upgrade

InfoPath® 2003
InfoPath 2007

InfoPath 2003 Academic
InfoPath 2007 Academic

Windows XP Home Edition
Windows Vista™ Home Basic Upgrade

Windows XP Home Edition Upgrade
Windows Vista Home Basic Upgrade

Windows XP Professional
Windows Vista Business Upgrade

Windows XP Professional Upgrade
Windows Vista Business Upgrade


To be eligible to receive an Upgrade Microsoft Product you must then:
download and fully complete the voucher from www.microsoft.com.au/upgradeguarantee and
submit the voucher together with the original sales receipt and box lid for the product purchased (Upgrade Claim) to Microsoft at PO Box 1037, North Ryde NSW 1670.
Upgrade Claims must be received by 5pm (Sydney time) on 31 March 2007(Closing Date).
The original sales receipt you send to the promoter must be legible. Hand written receipts and delivery dockets will not be accepted as proof of purchase. Upgrade Claims will be deemed invalid if either the voucher, original sales receipt or product box lid is not enclosed in the application received by the promoter.
Upgrade Claims not received by the promoter by the Closing Date will be forfeited.
This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer, discount or special. The promoter will not accept liability for any Upgrade Claims that are lost or damaged.
Upgrade Products will be mailed out from 1 February 2007. Please allow 4-6 weeks delivery from the time your Upgrade Claim has been received and verified by the promoter.
Upgrade Claims will not be accepted on back-ordered products purchased outside of the purchase period in Condition 4 above or products that are still awaiting arrival into store or delivery to the customer.
The promoter, or any related third party assisting with the conduct of this offer, will not return any materials provided in conjunction with this offer (including valid and invalid Upgrade Claims, original sales receipts or the voucher).
The promoter's decision on all matters pertaining to this offer is final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into. This offer is subject to the promoter's verification checks and procedures, as determined by the promoter in its absolute discretion.
Liability for any tax on any benefits provided to participants pursuant to this offer shall be the sole responsibility of the participant.
Details from all Upgrade Claims will be collected and used for the purposes of conducting this offer (which may include disclosure to third parties for the purpose of processing and conducting the offer) and for publicity purposes surrounding the offer. By submitting an Upgrade Claim, you consent to the use of your information as described. You may access and/or change your data by following the procedures in the promoter's privacy policy which is available at http://microsoft.com/australia/privacy . The promoter will only use your personal details for marketing purposes outside those described above if you choose to "opt in" to join the mailing list when prompted.

[centaur]

Originally Posted by ThePrez

is there a comparison chart so that we can quickly compare the difference between the versions?

I came across this chart on another site, and found it to be relatively helpful....

http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/...7581&SiteID=17

It is fairly comprehensive, though, and it seems that only 2 versions will have the MCE as standard. That is a crying shame. Watching the prices being shown in this thread, MCE would want to be standard on ALL versions, regardless of the "start Button" and "Mouse Pointers"...

I cant imagine how vendors are going to explain ALL these versions to the buying public. I had problems getting people to understand between Home and Pro, , now I have to do all these versions. I can see that people will buy the cheapest one, then bitch when they find out that they have to pay extra for more features that they didnt know they needed, or sometime down the track, find out they need, OR, they will blame the Vendor because he didn't sell them the right version. (Put on your mind reading cap or consult your crystal ball)

I can understand the various needs of the consumer, but surely they could have put some more thought into it and kept it down to maybe 3 versions. Then try to tell people that the version that has ALL the fruit will cost as much as the PC, that will be a joy to behold. Thanks $Microsoft.

[impact]

For your amusement....

Was looking at the dell site - as I need another laptop, and have been hanging out for the coupons to include the free Vista upgrade.... So over at Dell we have :-

Upgrade to Home Premium - USD$42 for shipping & handling
Upgrade to Business - USD$42 for shipping & handling

I was hoping to get a discount on Ultimate - so I could use the upgrade on a MCE box... I want to use terminal services to log into that box - and its just silly that ultimate is the only option for that!!! But alas these are the only upgrade paths...

HP / Compaq dont seem to state too much about getting 'free' (but expensive shipping & handling) upgrades to Vista for Australians.... just a web page to say to come back Mid November

[supafly]

Upgrade to Home Premium - USD$42 for shipping & handling

Is this deal only for dell? cos this is what im looking for. It would be good if microsoft would offer something with another version of windows to upgrade to premium home for a small price.

[vlad]

Originally Posted by supafly

Is this deal only for dell? cos this is what im looking for. It would be good if microsoft would offer something with another version of windows to upgrade to premium home for a small price.

For new computer buyers, only, so it will not stop you from buying now. Unless you want to save USD42$ and wait when Dell will put Vista on.

[centaur]

I have an update for the pricing of Windows Vista... The following article os from the computerworld.com website. It goes as follows;

November 08, 2006 (Computerworld) -- Microsoft today officially finished the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) version of its upcoming Windows Vista operating system, with its head of development admitting he's relieved that the much-delayed operating system is finally ready to ship.

"This is a good day. I am super happy," Jim Allchin, co-president of Microsoft's platform products and services group, said in a conference call with journalists and analysts this afternoon.

The RTM version is the first step toward the widespread availability of the operating system, which is slated to be available to corporate volume license customers via the Web or on CD sometime before Nov. 30, and to general consumers on Jan. 30, 2007.

PC makers, said Allchin, are getting copies of the Vista RTM immediately. "We are giving it out as fast as we can," he said.

Nevertheless, consumers and small businesses will not be able to buy PCs with Vista preinstalled from stores or small manufacturers before the Jan. 30 launch date, he said.

Vista is also not yet available for consumer download, although Microsoft has said that it will be available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers sometime this month.

Allchin believes that the adoption curve for Vista among consumers will be "fast and immediate." While conceding that businesses will need to "decide on their own whether to deploy quickly or wait for their refresh cycle," Allchin said that improved management and deployment features such as an already-available application compatibility testing kit should speed up rollouts.

"The reasons for waiting just aren't there," he said.

Allchin also touted Vista's improved security, with features such as Address Space Layer Randomization, which makes each Vista machine sufficiently different that the chance for worms to jump from one Vista PC to another is "much smaller."

Vista has been five years in the making, and represents the longest lag time between releases of Windows in Microsoft's history. The company has said that it does not expect the development of the next release of Windows to take nearly as long as this one did. Although Microsoft is not committing to timetables, company officials have said that they are targeting a time frame closer to two years than five years for the next operating system release.

PAGE 2

The next release will most likely represent a more incremental change than does Windows Vista, which includes major changes to the user interface, as well as highly revamped security and networking capabilities.

At Microsoft’s Vista blog, Allchin, who is stepping down after Vista's launch, celebrated its release.

There is also a Q&A on Microsoft’s site with Sven Hallauer, release manager and director of program management at Microsoft.

Pricing for Vista

When Windows Vista is available to consumers, it will have the following pricing:

Windows Vista Home Basic will have a suggested retail price for the full-packaged product of $199, with a suggested upgrade retail price of $99.95. Home Basic does not include a number of Vista features, such as the Aero interface.

Windows Vista Home Premium will have a suggested retail price for the full-packaged product of $239, with a suggested upgrade retail price of $159.

Windows Vista Business, which includes a variety of tools and features aimed at corporate users, will have a suggested retail price for the full-packaged product of $299, with a suggested upgrade retail price of $199.

Windows Vista Ultimate, which includes all of the major features of Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Home Premium, will have a suggested retail price for the full-packaged product of $399, with a suggested upgrade retail price of $259.

The volume pricing for Windows Vista Enterprise has not yet been announced.

The release to manufacturing of Vista follows by two days the RTM of another important Microsoft product -- Office 2007. Customers in Canada and the U.S. will be able to begin downloading the Office suite on Dec. 1.

Editor's note: Computerworld will have a full review of the final version of Vista as soon as it is available.

(US Pricing...)

These prices are a lot easier to swallow than some of the ones I have seen. Let the debate begin....

[arkay]

$399 US is $519 AUD today. Add to that the extra shipping and import duties and everything else we always get hammered with, I'd say off the top of my head an addition $100 and you're up to $619 for Vista Ultimate...

It aint that good and I damn well hope they are prepared to support it better than ever before for a price tag like that.

Cheers,

Arkay.

[centaur]

Originally Posted by arkay

$399 US is $519 AUD today. Add to that the extra shipping and import duties and everything else we always get hammered with, I'd say off the top of my head an addition $100 and you're up to $619 for Vista Ultimate...

It aint that good and I damn well hope they are prepared to support it better than ever before for a price tag like that.

Cheers,

Arkay.

SUPPORT, pfft, what support. When XP was first released, we started selling it in the shop. A few curly problems got us, so we would ring Microsoft support, and then get told to format and reload. Thanks for coming........

As for the pricing, if it stays as it is, so true, but look at games, we pay $100 for a game here and they pay $45 for it in the states. The importers must have the impression we are rich hillbillies.... I reckon we will be lucky to get away with that price shown above. Now, as I have said in past posts, try explaining to customers that price for the OS, and that is once you have hammered out which version they need, or MIGHT need in the future. I know you can pay for upgrades, but what customer is going to cop that. They will want it all in one package, and pay bottom dollar. And watch out vendor if they dont get what they think they are getting or might need in the future.

Well, I have had my rant, and bitch.

Otherwise, have a great day...........