13 responses to “Windows 7 Home Premium for $50?”

1. 

   Barbara Jean June 7th, 2009 at 03:56

   I have a personal laptop with Vista Home Premium and for my purposes, I’ve been satisfied with it. Can you post an article telling users like me why we should upgrade to Win7? What would the benefits be and is there any risk or downside to sticking with Vista for now?

2. 

   woody June 7th, 2009 at 04:33

   Barbara -

   I have a series of articles on Windows 7 coming up for Windows Secrets Newsletter.

   Bottom line: for fifty bucks, it’s a steal.

3. 

   Colin June 7th, 2009 at 10:09

   This is what Microsoft should be doing. I’ve always thought that after making such a bad OS (Vista), they needed to give people Windows 7 for free or cheap. This will help their image as many people will upgrade and be happier. However, as a user of Vista which Best Buy even admitted doesn’t work, I’d be even happier with something for less than $50, just because I feel that it’s Microsoft’s fault that Vista was so bad, so they should fix the problem. Hopefully they’ll lower the price later for Vista users, though I doubt that will be the case.

   Woody–any thought on Home Premium vs. Ultimate? I assume Ultimate has nothing worth paying that much for, but I don’t know.

4. 

   Agn June 7th, 2009 at 20:19

   Isn’t it a bit too early to jump to any conclusions? People are sometimes so eager to see what they want to see.

   It could very well be a time-limited offer price; after your quote (if one can call it that) about “pre-selling” and the start June 26th, it says: “This will be available for 16 days through July 11, 2009, on Bestbuy.com”.

   The above said, I think there are several reasons why we will see cheaper upgrades and full versions, or just slightly adjusted prices. One of them is that a lot of development went into Vista that could be used in Windows 7. Getting a new success OS out there etc. etc. But it does indeed look good.

5. 

   woody June 7th, 2009 at 20:38

   Colin -

   Very few people need the extra items in Professional, a fewer still need the extras in Ultimate.

   I’ll have details in Windows 7 All-In-One For Dummies, but there’s a good overview on Ed Bott’s blog.

6. 

   john June 8th, 2009 at 13:47

   hi woody another question for you hope you can sum this up for me its about ready boost for vista is it any good and is there any thing wrong with it i would like to use it if it work properly and good?

7. 

   woody June 9th, 2009 at 05:07

   Except in rare situations, it’s junk. See “Windows Vista All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies.”

8. 

   john June 9th, 2009 at 15:50

   hi woody another won for you if you can if i had windows home premium with sp1 preinstalled on my pc is there any way of reinstalling it if i half to with out the cd i have the key on the side of my pc for windows home premium it doesnt say sp1 though and i didnt get a vista home premium cd with it?

9. 

   woody June 9th, 2009 at 21:57

   John -

   Your best bet is to contact the company that sold the computer to you.

10. 

    john June 10th, 2009 at 13:42

    i could’nt just get another vista home premium with sp1 and insert it in the cd tray and then use the key on the side of my pc to reinstall vista home premium with sp1?thats really what i want to know if i can use any vista home premium with sp1 cd and install it on my system?

11. 

    woody June 11th, 2009 at 07:29

    John -

    If your original Windows was Vista Home Premium SP1, for example, the answer is yes: you can use a Vista Home Premium SP1 CD to re-install. Make sure you get your key first, using something like Magical Jellybean. Instructions are in all of my books, I think.

12. 

    john June 11th, 2009 at 15:06

    it has the key on the side of my pc so i can use that yes?

13. 

    woody June 12th, 2009 at 08:32

    Yes. You may have to call – instructions come up when you try to activate – but the person who answers the phone will step you through it.

    I’ve never had any problem at all activating Windows, if the correct version is installed and I have a “birth certificate” on the computer case.