Online retailer Newegg.com today unveiled prices for OEM editions of Windows 7, and as usual, they're significantly lower than the full and even upgrade retail versions. As you are probably aware, these licenses are intended for small-scale system builders, ban users from transferring the operating system from one PC to another, come with no support whatsoever, and only allows performing a clean installation.

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Why buy Windows when you can install Ubuntu OS for free from www(dot)ubuntu(dot)com? You just have to download the Iso file and burn a disc and presto, a free and open source operating system on your PC. No need to buy licenses and it's not shareware. That's the beauty of open source.

Right, I'm sure that makes perfect sense to all the Windows users reading. Instead of plunking down a small chunk of change for a quite nice operating system that works with the largest number of programs out there, go get one for free that works with nowhere near as many programs and chucks familiarity out the window (pun intended). And then they can go ask their friends for help and watch as all of them stare blankly back at them.

OEM prices look good, but nothing like the upgrade discounts Microsoft offered earlier on. The Home Premium upgrade went for $50, hopefully they will offer something similar closer to launch next month.

Looking at a chart of features, to even get Windows XP mode, requires Pro or Ultimate version.
I'm assuming that if I went for the 64 bit version, pretty much all my old 32-bit games/apps are useless on it?

" Comes with no support whatsoever" ..what the hell does this mean? It doesn't update itself?
Who the hell wants that?

No support means you will not get to call Microsoft and get an answer if something is wrong with Windows. You still get all patches, just do not get the service piece that comes with the software. OEM's get the discounts because they have their own support personnel to answer questions when your machine is malfunctioning. Microsoft will step in only when it is determined that the support request is escalated to Level III - means a piece of a code needs to be rewritten.

The best deal is the student discount which I qualify for. Nothing can beat the student discount of $30 for the Windows 7 Premium upgrade of either the 32bit or 64bit version.

Thanks for the pre-order announcements you dicks.

Windows 7, 64 bit edition fully supports 32bit apps. I have been running it (RC 7100) since early May.
All 64 bit apps are installed under the default C:\Program Files folder.
All 32 bit apps are installed under: C:\Program Files (x86)

Of note: Windows 7 is by far the most stable and fastest Windows OS ever.
I used to have to reinstall Windows XP every 3 to 6 months as it bogged down over time.
Windows 7 doesn't seem to suffer this problem, Windows Updates detects all my driver updates. including the ATI full Catalyst suite, onboard Realtek sound drivers and so on. When I update my video drivers I am no longer required to reboot!

Although I never owned VISTA, I feel that anyone who did should get Windows 7 at a DEEP DISCOUNT due to the flawed product that VISTA was / is. I find it incredible that MS was able to come out with such a radically better OS so quickly after VISTA was released. They admit that VISTA sucked yet want people to pay corporate prices for this VISTA release update. The interface is identical to VISTA's, it's what's under the hood that has radically improved. Major stability, performance boost and lessened hardware requirements (less RAM anyways)

great comment, reflects my feelings and impressions precisely ... thanks

no. generally speaking, 32 bit programs run on 64 bit systems.

i was referring to the first GUEST post following the Ubuntu enthisiast's post ...

@Badfinger. That is simply not true, 64-bit Windows is perfectly capable of running 32-bit apps and games. The only thing that I can think of that is required to be 64-bit, is the drivers. I've been using 64-bit for a while now and the vast majority of code that I'm running is definitely 32-bit code.

The only thing you need to worry about are any 16 bit apps that you may still be running although XP mode solves almost all problems if you can't find any other workaround.

oem ftw! why would you buy oem and not know how to use it?

The difference is of course the $50 upgrade is just that...an upgrade, but the $100 OEM is the OS itself basically complete. The upgrade requires an OS to upgrade from.

Microsoft is either scraping the bottom of the barrel here, or W7 is hitting the shelves as buggy as every other OS they have produced. Jokes aside, the beta was very good and I am looking forward to the released OS. I hope the "buy 1 get 2 free" license offer still exists. Just hope they have straightened out the ultra-complex security from Vista and made it as easy as Windows 2000 was, otherwise there is going to be major hassles getting W7 machines talking to other OSes.

Keep in mind Windows 7 still has the compatibilty mode feature that XP and Vista had which isn't the same as this Windows XP mode feature.

Win7's been getting a great deal of promotion, it would be unfortunate to see it not live up to its promise. Price is one thing - performance is another. Windows hasn't been up-to-par, and I think that' pretty evident to every OS X and Linux user.

Back when I was using Debain and Windows, 6-7 years ago, I could see the anti-linux argument. Linux lacks compatibility & user-friendliness they said, and it did. But download yourself a copy of the new Ubuntu (Karmic Koala) and you'll see just how exponentially linux has progressed in the past five years or so.

What really caught me off-guard was having only a mac for a weekend (my XP laptop had an hdd issue). It was astonishing. I soon found myself buying a Macbook and learning all about it.

The stability and power of a unix based operating system with compatibility, design and stealth all-in-one? Damn. And I used to be a Windows guy.

This is why I conclude that those who are Windows fanatics likely haven't experimented much, and often don't really know all that much about operating systems, their history and architecture.