Microsoft Offers Discount Coupons for Upgrade to Windows Vista OS

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Coupons will allow consumers buying a PC now to upgrade from XP to Vista in 2007, but there are costs.

In an effort to mollify hardware vendors worried that delays in the Windows Vista launch will dampen holiday PC sales, Microsoft is offering a discount to consumers and small businesses that want to upgrade from Windows XP to the Vista operating system.

Microsoft will offer the upgrade coupon to shoppers who buy a Vista-capable PC between this Thursday, October 26, and March 15, 2007, allowing them to redeem the coupons for a free or discounted upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista and from Office 2003 to Office 2007.

The timing indicates that Vista will be delivered at the end of March unless Microsoft again delays its shipment.

The exact cost of the upgrade will vary among PC vendors. For instance, HP will offer its new North American customers a free upgrade from Windows XP Home to Windows Vista Home Basic, XP Media Center Edition 2005 to Vista Home Premium, or XP Professional to Vista Business. The offer applies to those who buy an HP Pavilion or Compaq Presario desktop or notebook PC or an HP Digital Entertainment Center, if it includes a qualified XP system, is Vista-capable, and is purchased within the coupon dates.

Other vendors may charge "a nominal fee" to upgrade from Windows XP Professional, XP Tablet PC Edition, or XP Professional x64 Edition to Windows Vista Business or Vista Business 64, Microsoft says. Read more about Microsoft's upgrade program, called Express Upgrade. PC World took a hard look at the program and found there are costs, both in time and money, that you should consider before buying a new PC in 2006.

Who Is Affected?

The program is a moot point for users under Microsoft's volume licensing program, who are expected to get access to Vista at the end of November.

But consumers, small businesses and companies buying desktop PCs labeled "Windows Vista capable" will be eligible for the Vista upgrade coupons.

Microsoft hopes the coupon program will help drive holiday PC sales. In March, Microsoft again delayed the shipment of Vista moving it from Dec. 2006 to the first quarter of 2007. The move appeared to leave PC manufacturers out in the holiday cold.

Coupons Also for Microsoft Office 2007

A parallel program called Microsoft Office Technology Guarantee Programs will provide similar upgrades to those that purchase editions of Microsoft Office 2003. The PCs and Office software must be purchased from a certified Microsoft OEM or "smaller computer makers, known as system builders," according to Microsoft.

In addition, those who buy stand-alone versions of Office 2003 between Oct. 26 and Feb. 28, 2007 also will be eligible for the Office upgrade plan.

Users under either program will receive discounted offers on Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system, which is now the center of Microsoft's real-time collaboration strategy.

The upgrade program is expected to include free and low-cost upgrades based on the version of the operating system or Office software purchased.

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PC World - Microsoft Offers Discount Coupons for Upgrade to Windows Vista OS
 
Redmond (WA) - Microsoft today announced another solid quarter that pushed revenues beyond $10 billion and profits in the range of $3.5 billion. During the quarter, Microsoft made substantial investments to launch upcoming products such as Zune and Vista and, surprisingly, also encountered rising unit costs of its Xbox 360 console, which sold six million times to date.

The fiscal Q1 2007 earnings result was at the high end of Microsoft's and analyst's expectations and represented an 11% year-over-year increase in earnings, now at $10.81 billion, and net profits of $3.48 billion.

The Business division, which is responsible for products such as Office, Exchange, Project and Visio, remains the main revenue contributor with sales of $3.4 billion (up from 3.3 billion in fiscal Q1 2006), followed by the Client division, which made $3.3 billion (up from $3.1 billion), mainly from the Windows operating system. Online services revenues decreased from $565 million to $539 million. The strongest growth was seen in 'Server and Tools', which jumped 17% from about $2.1 billion to $2.5 billion and the firm's Entertainment Devices division, which saw revenues increase from $596 million to $1.0 billion during the quarter.

However, the balance sheet, which puts Microsoft's current warchest at just over $31 billion, is just half the story, as Microsoft is planning to introduce a range of new products, especially Windows Vista and the Zune portable media player, in the next two quarters. And especially the Entertainment Devices division will face more competition, primarily with the release of Sony's and Nintendo's next generation game consoles. To ensure a safe start of Vista, the company has announced a Vista upgrade program, which essentially locks users into a not necessarily free Vista upgrade. Microsoft estimates that, as a result of tsis program, $1.5 billion of revenue will be shifted from the second to the third fiscal quarter.

The increase of revenues in the Entertainment Devices division was primarily due to an increase in demand for Xbox 360 consoles, software, peripherals, and Xbox Live, Microsoft said. According to the company, 900,000 consoles were sold during the quarter. The tally now stands at six million Xbox 360 consoles that were sold to date. For comparison, Sony expects to sell 500,000 Playstation 3 consoles until the end of the year, while Nintendo expects to sell six million Wii consoles in less than five months after launch.

Microsoft said that its Xbox and PC game revenue increased $319 million, which is an increase of 107% over its fiscal Q1 2006 quarter. The overall operating loss of the Entertainment Devices division decreased, but was offset by a $268 million increase in cost of revenue related to a number of factors, such as "increased sales and marketing expenses related to recent and upcoming product launches including Xbox 360 and PC games, and increased development costs associated with new and upcoming products, including Zune." The company stated that the cost of revenue was "driven" by higher shipments of Xbox 360 units, increasing cost of its online services as well as "higher Xbox 360 unit costs." Especially the higher Xbox 360 unit cost is surprising, as the business model of game consoles tends to be at least partially based on decreasing unit costs over the lifetime of a device.
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Vista coupon program to have a $1.5 billion impact on Microsoft | TG Daily
 
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh !

So my Dream to Buy Legit XP Pro will come true as I can expect Price Fall. I don't know but in US some sites sell OEM Full Pack for $80 while in India I see Rs.10000 or more for same ! Why?

How if I Buy it from Abroad? Your Trusted Source please?

Thanks.
 
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