We’re just a few weeks away from the long-awaited launch of Windows 8 and online retailer Newegg has just tipped its hand and revealed a variety of new pricing details. For the first time, we’re seeing prices for the “OEM system builder” versions of Windows 8 — the standard version of the OS will cost $99.99, while the Pro version will cost $139.99. Both 32- and 64-bit versions are currently available for preorder. As we heard a few months ago, the Windows 8 Professional upgrade (with physical media) will cost $69.99, but that’s only an introductory price — its full price will be $199.99. Lastly, there’s a Windows 8 “Pro Pack” for $69.99, with no physical media. This upgrade lets you move your Windows 8 standard software to Pro and adds Media Center capabilities (including DVD playback, which isn’t included by default in Windows 8).
Windows 8 OEM pricing revealed as hardware pre-orders begin
To coincide with more software pricing details, we’re seeing some Windows 8 hardware start to hit the market for pre-sale — Dell announced this morning that pre-orders were open for three new PCs. The XPS 12 convertible tablet / laptop hybrid starts at $1,199, the touch-capable XPS One 27 all-in-one desktop starts at $1,599, and the Inspiron One 23 all-in-one starts at $999. There’s also an updated version of the XPS 13 ultrabook with Windows 8 onboard (but no touchscreen) that also starts at $999. Dell’s not the only one ramping up hardware pre-sales — Staples has a dedicated Windows 8 section of its site with a wide variety of pre-orders for machines from Asus, Sony, Samsung, HP, and more. With the new OS launch drawing ever-closer, we expect we’ll see a lot more Windows 8-compatible hardware coming our way in the coming weeks.
Update: Microsoft has just gone and made this all official over at its blog — it confirms the $69.99 upgrades are available now from selected retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot and the Microsoft Store. Additionally, Microsoft also confirmed pre-orders for new Windows 8 hardware from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Samsung and Sony starting today. If you’ve been waiting for Windows 8 before buying a new machine, it seems that wait is over.
