Merry Christmas: Microsoft preps holiday Vista coupons
WinInfo | at | by Mike
Later this month, Microsoft will publicly unveil a program called Express Upgrade that will allow customers who purchase Windows XP-based PCs between October 26, 2006, and March 15, 2007, to get a copy of Vista at a reduced price or for free. The program, naturally, is designed to ensure that PC sales won't suffer during the crucial holiday-selling period, since Vista is arriving in January, or about a month after the holiday selling period ends. Under terms of the program, customers who purchase a PC with Windows XP Home Edition will be able to upgrade to Windows Vista Home Basic for $49 or to Vista Home Premium for $79. Customers who purchase PCs with XP Professional, XP Professional x64 Edition, XP Tablet PC Edition, or XP Media Center Edition will get Vista Home Premium for free. Seems fair, and remember that customers who have Vista Home Basic, Vista Home Premium, or Vista Business will be able to upgrade to Vista Ultimate directly from within the OS.