Windows 7 - Pricing in India and other Tit-bits for the impatient

Windows 7 has finally been released (22 Oct 09) and it comes in five different flavours in India – Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate.  (US has only four flavours - Home Basic missing there!!)

Here are the approximate rumoured pricing in India (not yet on the stores self!!):

• Windows 7 Starter - Not found in retail stores. Comes pre-installed in systems
  
• Windows 7 Ultimate – Rs 11,799
• Windows 7 Professional – Rs 11,199
• Windows 7 Home Premium – Rs 6,799
• Windows 7 Home Basic (not listed in official US site - only available in India)– Rs 5,899

For any reasonable use, you need atleast the 'Professional Edition' - as per me of course!!! Rs 11,200.00 approx!!!

You can compare the features of Win7 over older Windows versions here. For details of features of each of the different versions of Windows 7, see this CNET article here.

Surprise of surprises was when I wanted to check the Windows 7 licensing policy - or what they call the End User License Agreement(EULA)!!! The Microsoft Official site for the EULA said "The Windows^® 7 operating system is currently in development." (see snapshot below!!) Wow!!!!

However, you will not be able to buy the Windows 7 software off the self (OTS) in India yet!!! This is because all importers of packaged software (Microsoft products included) to India are caught in a dispute with the country's customs department over the interpretation of new taxes on packaged software that were introduced in July 09. In view of this, the consignments of the Windows 7 packaged software for retail sale is stuck and will not be available in retail stores soon!!

Hardware issues. The Windows 7 hardware requirement claims to need 1 GB RAM minimum, and recommends 2 GB for good performance!! However, read the fine print on the Windows 7 site if you want to use the system in Windows XP mode, which states "Windows XP Mode requires either OEM pre-installation or post-purchase installation of Windows XP Mode (which runs on Windows 7, Windows Professional or Ultimate) and a virtualization technology, such as Virtual PC."  This would also require an additional 1GB RAM and 16 GB Hard disk space. Hard disk no problem - but be sure to have a minimum of 3 GB RAM in your systems if you want to comfortably use Windows 7.

And if you don't want to spend the $$$ for yet another Windows upgrade, do consider using any Linux Distribution for Free :-)