June 9, 2009 by Matt Thomas
Most industry analysts expect Microsoft to go public with Windows 7 prices at some point next week. This begs the question, how much does the software giant think it can get away with charging for the new system?
Many analysts expect that ‘not very much’ will be the answer to that one. Using a recent Windows Vista cost cutting move as a guide, some analysts have predicted as little as $100 dollars will be the asking price for the system. For my money, they could well be right, Windows Vista has been such a disaster that Microsoft need, for probably the first time, to actually make the case for an upgrade rather than just taking it as a matter of course that people would. The easiest way to do that is to lower the price significantly.
However, on the other side of that coin is the fact that continuing to use XP, a system that is two years out of date will be fairly unpalatable to most businesses. Microsoft may well take the stance that committing to another few years of using an out of date system will be too much for most IT departments to stomach. Basically it depends on whether or not Microsoft feels like playing hardball or eating humble pie.
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