Microsoft really should announce that people who purchase Vista from now on will be entitled to upgrade to the equivilent version of Windows 7 for $10 (for a DVD to be sent to them). There are a number of people who are installing the RC now on their main machine simply because they do not want to pay for Vista now and then have to pay again for Windows 7.We all know thatMicrosoft is likely to offer a discount on the upgrade cost, but until they formally announce the terms, people will be afraid to take the chance.For me, and some others, that's not really a problem. I like the RC and would happily stick with it. However, there are others who will avoid buying a new PC or who will feel forced into using the RC without really appreciating the risk and will then complain about its bugs, potentially giving Windows 7 a bad name before it is even released.Microsoft must already know what the pricing structure is going to be and would benefit from having as many people migrate to Windows 7 as possible, especially in the first few months after it is released. Announce a generous upgrade policy for anyone buying Vista from now until a week after Windows 7 is released as long as they buy the upgrade by the end of the year. Heck, if Microsoft is sensible it will also offer ALL Vista users an upgrade for $25 even if they already own it. Sure, it will cut into Microsoft's potential profits, but those 'profits' don't really exist. If this encourages half of existing Vista users to upgrade, Microsoft will earn much more than they would if the usual proportion upgrades, I suspect. And, Microsoft will have fewer copies of Vista to support and will have a more stable user base into the future, reducing their maintenance cost.Built my own i7-920, Asus P6T, 6GB, 1TB Caviar Black, 4870 with 1GB.

i agree it's not like microsoft are broke, they would win a lot or users over by doing what you say. i certainly would buy it, i am in a gaming clan with over 100 members and i'd say 30% are using the rc version at the moment,the rest are waiting or are too scared to migrate over or just don't want the hassle of moving to another os....personally i am promoting this os to everyone in the clan and to friends as i truly believe this is the best os since win 2000.

I doubt that the money really matters that much to Microsoft (the cost of writingthe software is the same whether one person buys it or 100 million do and if Vista could sell, there is no doubt that Win7 will).In practice, the important issue for them is to maintain their domination of the PC industry since this provides the foundation for all of their business. For Microsoft, having good buzz around Windows 7 is vital. They want people to be deciding whether tobuy a PCwith Vista orwith Windows 7 rather than deciding whether to buy a PC or a Mac because even if most decide to buy the PC, some will not. If they can encouragebuyers toask the OS question rather than the hardware question, they benefit no matter what the buyer decides.That is why I think they should announce their pricing policy sooner rather than later. If people delay buying a PC because they are waiting for Windows 7, some may lose patience and get a Mac. Microsoft may think it is better to wait as a way to build anticipation, but I think that they are being optimistic about the antention span of most non-techies.With regard to your final comment, I prefer XP to 2000, but then I think I was the only person who like ME... I found it much more stable than 98 was.Built my own i7-920, Asus P6T, 6GB, 1TB Caviar Black, 4870 with 1GB.

Siggy - Microsoft has gone on the record and has said that they were going to price Windows 7 "aggressively." How aggressive they will be remains to be seen. But I think they WILL have to be fairly aggressive in their pricing given the state of the world economy. Will they go as low as $25 for existing Vista users? I somehow doubt they would go that low. Pricing it THAT low could bring about a new ton of fertilzer from the DOJ as it could be seen as an anti-competetive move on Microsoft's part. Yeah, I know - that would be a strange thing to consider given the "competition" gives their OS and apps away for free (Linux). But it would be a move that COULD be seen as being anti-competetive mainly because it would be a move to increase market share. And besides... It's NOT Vista users Microsoft needs/wants to migrate. It's the bazillions of XP users they want to move. Vista is still a current and viable OS. XP is now in extended life support mode. There needs to be a means to get those people moving forward and upgrading. You're not the only one who liked ME... I know quite a few people who used it for years until they had no choice but to upgrade.

egads - Well... Now that you mention it... I suppose it could mean higher. After all, Windows 7 is generally being regarded as being a better OS than Vista. Better in many circlesthan even XP. Given that, the powers that be COULD consider that it would be worth MORE than Vista or XP and as such could mean higher prices. But somehow, I doubt they would go that route. While it IS true that Win 7 is better than previous releases, the economy is in the tank. And if they decide to charge say - $600 or $700 for Ultimate (as opposed to the $400 they started off charging for Vista Ultimate), they'd be shooting themselves in the foot. And they know it. They know that they will need to keep the retail price reasonable - likely a bit cheaper than Vista's current pricing. But not so cheap as to be giving it away.

Any money that Microsoft gets from upgraders is free money AND is 100% safe from any anti-trust issues... How can anyone complain when people using one Microsoft OS upgrade to another ?I do not have any figures or evidence of the following, but I am certain that it is true; Microsoft does not have any reason to care about the cost of upgrading their operating systems... the bulk of their revenue comes from OEM sales to Dell, HP, Asus etc. Anything they get from over-the-shelf sales at NewEgg or Best Buy is just frosting on the cake.Thus,Microsoft's OEM revenue is likely to remain stable (Dellpaid forVista licenses even if Dell's customers wanted the XP downgrade). If they can encourage a lot of upgrades, it will make a significant different to Microsoft's income.Remember, the code has been written already. There is hardly any cost to selling each copy (Producing 1DVD with associated packaging and perhaps mailing it) and so this is pure profit.The one thing Microsoft should do to help this is to change their mind and offer an upgrade from XP. They should be able to basically re-use the Vista upgrade tool with some tweaks.Built my own i7-920, Asus P6T, 6GB, 1TB Caviar Black, 4870 with 1GB.

siggy - Uh.. You're kidding.. Right? How can anyone complain? Browse the forum..! There are plenty of people doing just that - and Win 7 is FREE for the moment. Actually... They DO care about people upgrading. They want people to move on from XP. They want to drive the proverbial stake in XP's heart as it's now poised to be the OS that wouldn't die. I seriously doubt they'd try going the route of giving a direct upgrade path from XP - especially at this point. The only option in that case would be a "Backup, Nuke and Pave" operation.

i agree it's not like microsoft are broke, they would win a lot or users over by doing what you say. i certainly would buy it, i am in a gaming clan with over 100 members and i'd say 30% are using the rc version at the moment,the rest are waiting or are too scared to migrate over or just don't want the hassle of moving to another os....personally i am promoting this os to everyone in the clan and to friends as i truly believe this is the best os since win 2000. totally agree, i'm in ther same casebut some of my friends don't have enough money to migrate inmediatelly and the awsner is if microsoft could give a good offer to migrate those persons, who have vista.a interesting point is..will win rc change dramaticaly while we are testing this beta version?

siggy - Uh.. You're kidding.. Right? How can anyone complain? Browse the forum..! There are plenty of people doing just that - and Win 7 is FREE for the moment. Actually... They DO care about people upgrading. They want people to move on from XP. They want to drive the proverbial stake in XP's heart as it's now poised to be the OS that wouldn't die. I seriously doubt they'd try going the route of giving a direct upgrade path from XP - especially at this point. The only option in that case would be a "Backup, Nuke and Pave" operation. The complaints on this forum are (mostly) people providing feedback on problems that they are having, which is the whole purpose of providing the RC... Better to be fixed thanks to a few million free testers than to have millions whining about problems when they have paid for it (er, like what happened with Vista).I think that Microsoft can and should provide an assessment tool that checks the hardware attached to a PC running XP and determines whether it will all work on Windows 7. If so, it would then do the Vista-type upgrade. If the machine is basically capable of running Windows 7 but has unsupported hardware, the tool would then suggest the Nuke and Pave option.In the past, upgraders from two generations back did not matter because the hardware had developed so much that the new OS would not work anyway. However, there are people buying new computers today with XP installed. The hardware requirements for Windows 7 are no worse than for Vista and so it makes perfect sense to allow those upgrades be done as easily as possible.Built my own i7-920, Asus P6T, 6GB, 1TB Caviar Black, 4870 with 1GB.

The complaints on this forum are (mostly) people providing feedback on problems that they are having, which is the whole purpose of providing the RC... Better to be fixed thanks to a few million free testers than to have millions whining about problems when they have paid for it (er, like what happened with Vista).I think that Microsoft can and should provide an assessment tool that checks the hardware attached to a PC running XP and determines whether it will all work on Windows 7. If so, it would then do the Vista-type upgrade. If the machine is basically capable of running Windows 7 but has unsupported hardware, the tool would then suggest the Nuke and Pave option.In the past, upgraders from two generations back did not matter because the hardware had developed so much that the new OS would not work anyway. However, there are people buying new computers today with XP installed. The hardware requirements for Windows 7 are no worse than for Vista and so it makes perfect sense to allow those upgrades be done as easily as possible. Built my own i7-920, Asus P6T, 6GB, 1TB Caviar Black, 4870 with 1GB. siggy - There are indeed people who are having issues and are reporting them. But there are a number of people who have posted their displeasure (and in some cases, that would be an understatement) with Windows 7... Try this post hereas an example. Microsoft already has such a tool - Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor - which is now in BETA. It not only checks hardware but the software as well to warn you of apps that aren't compatible. If I recall correctly, the XP to Vista upgrade was a really ugly mess in many cases. Uglier than the Vista to 7 upgrade. While an upgrade to Vista from a clean, virgin XP install might go fairly well, an upgrade over an old copy of XP that has been around the proverbial block several times, with a bunch of junk that had been installed, uninstalled, etc... It can lead to more problems than it's worth. And that kind of thing could lead to a black eye - one Microsoft would rather do without. And that's probably why they elimiinated that option...