‘Anytime upgrade’ could be ‘never’ for Windows 7 netbook users
Microsoft is including all editions of Windows 7 on an installation disc to encourage users to pay an extra fee to upgrade from their original choice. But one analyst says pricing and other factors make it unlikely many will take advantage of this scheme.
The ‘Anytime Upgrade’ program uses the multi-edition disc to allow users to simply pay online and upgrade from one edition to another. Microsoft will be particularly keen for people to do this on netbooks where many manufacturers will opt to install the entry-level Starter edition to save on costs.
The problem is that the $80-90 fee for upgrading from Starter to Home Premium (effectively the standard consumer edition) may seem pricey from multiple viewpoints. It’s about 70 percent of the price you’d pay to upgrade Vista Home Premium to Windows Home Premium, meaning that most users might as well have bought a Home Premium machine in the first place.
And it’s likely to seem particularly expensive when seen as a proportion of the cost of most low-price netbooks. Stephen Baker of the NPD group told Computerworld, “At those prices, there won’t be many opportunities to [convince users to] trade up. If people are buying cheap [PCs] they’re buying cheap for a reason.”
In theory the ‘Anytime Upgrade’ system doesn’t have to run through a DVD. PC manufacturers are able to install the full range of Windows 7 editions on the computer ready to be unlocked as and when the user opts for the upgrade.
However, it’s likely that option would be more popular among manufacturers of higher-spec machines. Not only would many netbooks struggle to perform well with the top-end editions of Windows 7, but on those which could cope, users could well feel duped if they believe their Windows 7 experience has been artificially limited to try to squeeze some extra cash out of them.
That anger would have been particularly strong if Microsoft had gone ahead with plans to limit the Starter edition of Windows 7 (designed for netbooks) to only run three applications at once. Dropping that limit has quelled a possible outrage, but does mean users have less incentive to upgrade from the Starter edition.
Related Posts:
July 21st, 2009
Face it, the vast majority of PC’s live their entire lives without an OS upgrade. Just because it is already in hand doesn’t make it any appreciable amount more likely that trend will change.
January 11th, 2010
It’s a %&(#$ RIP OFF! Typical of Microsoft! I bought a new Laptop and of course toy cannot buy any computer without an OS unless you build it from scratch. I have a full blown version of Windows 7 Ultimate but it will not go non my desktop. The whole reason I decided to upgrade to a new computer. I could NOT upgrade the version on the laptop it was going to make me go to the web site and do the anytime upgrade and pay another $139! I don’t know anybody else but I will NOT pay to suck files off the internet and not have the media. What happens if I want to reload the system. I don’t trust they will allow me to. Just Microsoft once more ripping off the consumer because we really don’t have a choice and they know it.