[Peaches]

Microsoft unveils Windows 7 free upgrades and discounts
Prices that dare you to wait

Microsoft is going into promotional overdrive with Windows 7, four months ahead of the operating system's official launch date.

Set to kick in as they are announced today, two offers give you "free" upgrades along with limited-time discounts - if you sign up to get Windows ahead of the October 22 launch.

The stick to Microsoft's carrot is that the majority of Windows 7 SKU prices - also due to be announced today - won't alter. So if you wait, you'll pay the same as you did for Windows Vista in most cases.

Furthermore, in European Union states, Microsoft will offer "full" copies of Window 7 without Internet Explorer 8 for the price of upgrade editions of Windows 7. Full versions are usually more expensive than upgrade editions, which are designed as a kind of money-off loyalty reward for customers upgrading from older editions of Windows.

Microsoft said it couldn't have offered a retail upgrade version of Windows 7 without IE 8 in time for the official launch on October 22. The company said earlier this month it would deliver Windows 7 in Europe minus IE 8 to satisfy with European antitrust regulators.

http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2009/06/2...rice_discounts/