Windows 7 Family Pack about to expire
It’s emerged that the Family Pack offer for Windows 7 is to expire this week in the United States. It appears likely the deal will be withdrawn at the same time or soon after internationally.
The Family Pack offer allows home users to upgrade three XP or Vista computers to Windows 7 Home Premium for a reduced price. In the U.S. the pack has a list price of $149, compared with a total of $357 for three individual upgrades. Some retailers offered the pack at a discount: for example, it costs $125 at Amazon.
Either way, the deal actually worked out cheaper when upgrading just two machines, let alone three. That made it particularly attractive to homes with multiple machines, for example a desktop and a laptop or netbook.
Amazon has now revealed that the pack will be available until 31 December, or until supplies run out. It’s not clear if the latter point is a marketing gimmick, or if Microsoft has imposed limits on the number of sales retailers can make (either individually or across the market.)
This is the second time the offer has been made available. Last year the Family Pack was only available for six weeks, starting with the release of Windows 7. This year the pack was on offer for twice as long, starting on Oct. 3 in the U.S. and Oct.22 in the rest of the world.
While Microsoft is quite within its right to make such a limited term offer, it’s proven controversial both years for several reasons. Critics have noted that as the deal covers licenses rather than a physical product, there’s no genuine stock limit and the short-term offer is clearly intended to boost interest.
The fact that Microsoft being able to sell three licenses for just $30 more than a single license — and apparently still make a profit — also highlights the fact that the company makes a large profit margin on standard upgrades. Of course, that’s true of any software once a company has covered its development costs.
The schemes have also raised the ire of buyers outside the US who consider it unfair that the offer has run for a shorter time in their country, even though there’s no logistical reason this should be the case.
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