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Windows Vista will cost same as comparable versions of XP

September 19, 2006
REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft Corp.'s long-delayed upgrade of its flagship Windows operating system will cost the same as comparable versions of the previous version, Windows XP, the company said Tuesday. The software maker also said Windows Vista remains on track to be delivered to businesses in November and to consumers in January. Microsoft priced Windows Vista Home Basic at $199, or $99.95 as an upgrade for computers already running the consumer version of Windows XP. Microsoft is hoping most consumers will go for Windows Vista Premium, which will come with entertainment features like the ability to record live television. That version will cost $239. Windows Vista Business will cost $299; the company set the price for upgrades at $199. Another version, Windows Vista Ultimate, will be geared toward people who want to do both personal and office work on their home computers. It will cost $399, or $259 for an upgrade. Vista, the company's first new operating system in five years, touts a sleeker look, improved security features, better protection against spyware and viruses and more intuitive search tools to help users find saved files. The prices are in line with the market for operating systems, said Michael Cherry, a lead analyst for the independent research group Windows on Microsoft. But for most consumers, the cost of buying a machine that can run Vista is more relevant. Vista requires more memory and a more powerful graphics card than XP; people who bought their computers more than a year ago may not have the power to run the operating system at full speed, said Cherry. ''Microsoft will make the point that Vista will run on older machines, but it's either going to run slow'' or without the full graphics-handling capability, Cherry said, adding that he has yet to see what computers fully equipped to run the system will cost. Microsoft also said Tuesday it will make the most recent test version of Vista, dubbed release candidate 1, available to 5 million customers worldwide this week through its Customer Preview Program. ''We're in the last mile for Windows Vista, and the release candidate marks a great amount of progress and a great step toward final release,'' said Shanen Boettcher, general manager of product management for the division that includes Windows. Microsoft will decide whether to release another test version of Vista based on feedback from this round of user testing.