If you are a parent who has hesitated to buy your child a computer for the coming school year because you thought that you should wait until after Microsoft releases Windows 7 in October, hesitate no longer.
Microsoft has announced that free upgrades to Windows 7 will be available for computers purchased between now and Jan. 31 that have any of the most popular versions of Vista installed - Home Premium, Business or Ultimate.
Exactly how consumers will obtain that upgrade depends on where they buy their computer.
Electronics retailer Best Buy will provide the upgrade by way of a download from its Web site, at www.bestbuy.com/windows7/upgrade.
At computer maker Dell's Web site, buyers are encouraged to register for the upgrade when they order a new machine. When Windows 7 becomes available, the company will send each registered user a Windows 7 upgrade DVD, along with a CD containing updated drivers for that user's particular system. Spokeswoman Anne Camden said that there would be no shipping or handling charge for users in the U.S. to receive the materials, which the company expects to send out "within a couple of weeks" of the Oct. 22 release date.
Even those who buy a Dell machine at a retailer need to register online, at www.dell.com/windows7, to receive the free upgrade, she said.
Business supply stores Office Depot and Staples are taking differing approaches. At www.officedepot.com/win7upgrade, Office Depot customers can fill out the forms needed to receive their upgrade via mail, while Staples' Web site sends visitors to Microsoft's page, www.microsoft.com/windows/buy/offers/upgrade-option.aspx.
With Windows 7, Microsoft will continue the pattern, established with Windows XP, of offering multi-tier versions of its operating system: Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate.
For users who would like to upgrade computers they already own, a Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade package will retail for $119.99, and the full package for $199.99. The Windows 7 Professional upgrade will sell for $199.99, and the full version for $299.99. Windows 7 Ultimate will be priced at $219.99, the full version at $319.99.
The company also plans to release a Windows 7 family pack licensed for use on up to three computers, but has not yet revealed its pricing.
The release of Windows 7 brings to an end the troubled reign of Vista as the monarch of Microsoft's software kingdom. Released to business users Nov. 30, 2006, with consumer versions released Jan. 30, 2007, Vista quickly gained a reputation as bloated, slow and untrustworthy. Despite a series of patches to improve the system, that reputation persisted among enough people that Microsoft's plans to ditch Vista's predecessor, Windows XP, generated widespread protest and were repeatedly put on hold.
Indeed, Windows XP gained a new lease on life last year, with the surging popularity of an entirely new type of computer, the mini-laptops popularly known as netbooks. Designed primarily for working over the Internet, the lightweight machines lack the resources to handle Vista well, and Windows XP became the default operating system for the category.
The system requirements for Windows 7 are scarcely changed from those for Vista -- a 1 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM, and 16GB of available hard disk space. But those requirements are not nearly as demanding now as they were two and a half years ago -- today, even a budget laptop will carry 2 GB of RAM and a 160GB or larger hard disk.
For Windows XP users, upgrading to Windows 7 will require upgrading to Vista first, according to the Microsoft Web site. Those who buy a packaged copy of Vista now will be able to receive the Windows 7 upgrade directly from Microsoft when it is released.
The release of Windows 7 comes at a time when Microsoft needs a hit. Last week, the software giant said net income for the quarter ended June 30 showed a 26 percent drop from the year-ago period, to 34 cents per share from 46 cents. It was the third consecutive quarter of year-to-year declines, as the industry is hammered by ongoing weakness in spending. Meanwhile, the company continues with a program, announced in January, to reduce expenses by laying off up to 5,000 employees.
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