US price will increase by whopping 400 percent
The price of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system will rocket at the beginning of February.
Consumers will have to fork out extra for Windows 8 when Microsoft's upgrade offer ends on 31 January. The current upgrade price of £24.99 for Windows 8 Pro is set to rocket based on the software giant's announcement. See also: How to upgrade to Windows 8
On its blog, Microsoft said the Windows 8 Pro upgrade price would rise by five times from $39 to $199 on 1 February, an increase of 400 percent. It said the regular Windows 8 will cost $119.
There's no word on UK pricing at the moment but if Microsoft decides on the same price hike, upgrading to Windows 8 Pro will cost £125. This would exceed the price of a 64-bit DVD of Windows 8 Pro from Ebuyer which is priced at £114 at the time of writing. Read: Windows 8 price in the UK.
For comparison, upgrading to Apple's OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion costs £13.99, without any kind of limited time offer.
See also: Microsoft Surface price in the UK.
The Windows 8 Pro Pack price of £49.99 will also end on 31 January, as will being able to grab Windows Media Center for free.
The exception is that consumers purchasing a Windows 7 PC between 2 June and 31 January will be able to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for £14.99 as long as they register before the end of 28 February, according to the blog.
If you're planning on upgrading your machine to Windows 8, our advice is to get it done before the price shoots up.
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Comments
magic177 said: This is Microsoft trying to scare people into buying windows 8 They are having a hard time selling it now and it will be even harder for them once the price goes up They should fix the OS the way consumers want it and leave it at a reasonable price Its pretty bad when we have to go to third party software to get what we want out of the OSTrust me I loveWindows 8but I will never pay more than 100 bucks for Pro
tracyanne39 said: I really couldnt care less weve already upgraded all our computers to Ubuntu and will never touch Windows again
D2O said: Windows 8 whew what a disaster Someone is drivingMicrosoftinto the ground Companies can handle poor managementmarketing decisions maybe once or twicebutMicrosoftmisses the mark nearlyevery time Microsoft is theantithesisto Applesenormoussuccessin recent years and stillMicrosoftis unable to learn anything from Apple It looks as if Microsoft is to besuccessfulthey NEED toaxmonkey boy Seriously it is time for the ape to go I want to be proud of Microsoft again instead ofembarrassedthat I own a Zune
Xmascod said: Might as well as kick it whilst its down
Johankoll said: Who the hell cares It was cheaper crap and now it will be much much more dearer so MS wont sell it in millions anymore Me being all life Windows man and currently on Win 7 was checking up Linux Mint yesterday and liked it very much
Jh43 said: The price at EBuyer is for the OEM version which is meant for system buliders on new PCs only
Lyle Johnson said: I think so but I think it will recognize the computer you used and email so you gotta change things up
Todd said: Yup what Zach said Many good budget gaming builds were made this year using a 15 dollar OS Thanks MSHey is the 15 dollar upgrade link still working Looks like they locked it down I cant get anything to go thru atm
Zachary Ironside said: I love articles like this Microsoft resuming normal pricing for Windows 81111111 At some point they have to raise prices because none of us would ever buy a computer againI mean how many under 500 gaming computers do I have build before jan 31 and save 100 dollars on Windows 8 pro As many as I can prices on parts are cheaper then Ive seen them in yearsIt just makes sense for OEMs so they can sell products