With all the buzz about the multiple versions of Windows 7, many have been wondering what the price tag will be for a retail copy. On Friday, rumors about what sort of prices Microsoft had in mind were floating around. The figures instantly earned a lot of ire from potential customers with the first desktop-usable "Home" versions floating in the $260 range. Needless to say, those prices were shocking.
However, only a day later the pricing rumors have been retracted with no reliable source being able to confirm the outrageous figures.
So what will retail Windows 7 prices actually be? At the moment, it's probably safe to assume Windows 7 will fall inline with Vista's pricing given the similarities in the SKUs and target markets for each edition. That certainly doesn't mean it will be cheap, as the "Ultimate" edition for Vista still carries a price tag greater than $300. Hopefully for those that pitched in to get Vista, Microsoft will continue to offer lower-cost upgrade options.
And while on the topic of Ultimate editions. According to Neowin, Microsoft will no longer support the Extras model with Windows 7 as the company believes they are better off dedicating that effort on core development. After an underwhelming number of Extras became available for Vista, this is probably a good decision.