Microsoft Reveals Windows 7 Pricing, Including Home For $50

Those numbers line up with price information indicated in a leaked internal memo from Best Buy earlier this month.

Starting this Friday, anyone who buys a PC with Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate gets a free upgrade to Windows 7 when it's available. The offer lasts until Jan. 31, 2010, according to Microsoft. If you wait until Windows 7's official Oct. 22 release, the Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade will run you $119.99 and it'll be $199.99 for a full package. Windows 7 Professional upgrades cost $199.99, with full systems for $299.99, and Windows 7 Ultimate upgrades will be $219.99, with full systems for $319.99.

Those cheap $49.99 and $99.99 prices, meanwhile, are part of a preorder promotion from Microsoft starting Friday and lasting through July 11. The prices are 8 percent less than comparable retail prices for Vista and less than half the price Windows 7 users will pay on or after the official Windows 7 launch date of Oct. 22. The offer will be available through retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy and Microsoft Store.

An internal Best Buy memo leaked earlier in June confirmed the June 26 launch date, the July 11 close date, the $49.99 Windows Home Premium upgrade price and the $99.99 Windows 7 Professional upgrade prices.

"There is a lot of excitement for Windows 7 in the marketplace today. However, many consumers need a new Windows PC for school, work or home before October 22," said Brad Brooks, corporate vice president, Windows consumer marketing at Microsoft, in a statement. "So starting June 26, any customer who buys a PC from a participating computer maker or retailer with Windows Vista Home Premium, Business or Ultimate will also receive an upgrade to the corresponding version of Windows 7 at little or no cost."

Microsoft Investor Relations said it would host a Webcast at 8 a.m. Pacific Thursday to discuss accounting treatment for the upgrade program.