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What’s Here and What’s Near
By Dale Walls
Here we are, the big month where Microsoft will release the latest versions of its most widely used product lines; specifically the new Windows Vista operating system, Office 2007, Windows Media Player 11 (WMP11), and Internet Explorer 7 (IE7). WMP11 and IE7 have been released as free downloads from Microsoft’s web site last month.
The Vista operating system and Office suite of applications will be released to the business community who has taken advantage of Microsoft’s Software Assurance licensing during this month as an upgrade. Public releases of the products are scheduled for January 30th, 2007 although pricing is available now. Due to an article published by ZDNet UK that Microsoft was going to push the public release date forward by 2 months and launch in December of this year. This article has since been pulled from the Internet leaving everyone to wonder about the validity of this claim. To date the official date from Microsoft for the public release is still January 30th, 2007.
The pricing breakdown of the Vista operating system is as follows:
- Windows Vista Home Basic
Windows Vista Home Basic Full: $199.00
Windows Vista Home Basic Upgrade: $99.95
Windows Vista Home Basic Full (Additional License Only): $179.00
Windows Vista Home Basic Upgrade (Additional License Only): $89.95 - Windows Vista Home Premium
Windows Vista Home Premium Full: $239.00
Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade: $159.00
Windows Vista Home Premium Full (Additional License Only): $215.00
Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade (Additional License Only): $143.00 - Windows Vista Business
Windows Vista Business Full: $299.00
Windows Vista Business Upgrade: $199.00
Windows Vista Business Full (Additional License Only): $269.00
Windows Vista Business Upgrade (Additional License Only): $179.00 - Windows Vista Ultimate
Windows Vista Ultimate Full: $399.00
Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade: $259.00
Windows Vista Ultimate Full (Additional License Only): $359.00
Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade (Additional License Only): $233.00
Information on the features of each version can be found at Microsoft’s web site.
As you can see above there are some options available to users not to allow for the discounted price on the purchase of additional licenses once you’ve already started rolling out Vista in your home or business.
Now the big question that you’re wondering: “Should I wait to buy my new computers until after the public release date in January?” Microsoft’s answer: Express Upgrade to Vista. This Express Upgrade program will allow retailers selling Microsoft Vista Capable PCs between October 26, 2006 and March 15, 2007 to offer free or nominal cost upgrades. For example the following upgrade paths will be available:
Free Upgrades (could incur nominal fees) | |
From this version of Windows XP |
to this version of Windows Vista |
XP Media Center Edition 2005 |
Vista Home Premium |
XP Professional Edition |
Vista Business |
XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 |
Vista Business |
XP Professional x64 Edition |
Vista Business 64 |
Upgrades offered at a 50 percent discount off of the retail price | |
From this version of Windows XP |
to this version of Windows Vista |
XP Home Edition |
Vista Home Basic |
XP Home Edition |
Vista Home Premium |
Note: These options are subject to vary between retailers.
Those purchasing their new computer systems during the same time frame with Office 2003 OEM versions loaded will be presented with a similar upgrade program known as the Microsoft Office Technology Guarantee. You can submit for coupons to redeem your upgrade versions of Vista and Office here .
On a final note, all of these products are major upgrades and include significant changes to the programs themselves. Internet Explorer 7 will be available via Automatic Updates after November 1st. If your business uses the browser as a part of your daily operations for things such as online ASP applications or internal web-based applications, please make sure to test IE7 or verify with your vendor that their product is compatible with the latest version. Microsoft has made a lot of opportunity for us to get our hands on these products early (pre-release) to test without major financial investments. Take the opportunity to test wherever possible to avoid surprises and issues.
In all these latest versions bring a tremendous amount of value to our business operations in the way of new features as well as bringing to light some features that have always been there but we just didn’t know about (this holds particularly true with Office 2007). Much more than the previous versions, these latest launches have been programmed with you in mind. Look to see more productivity with the launch of these products within your organization.
Dale Walls is President of Corsica Technologies, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner & Small Business providing complete IT Solutions for businesses, government, and home computing in Maryland, DC, and Virginia. Feel free to contact Dale at 443.262.9290, or by email at dale@corsicatech.com.
