Users looking to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8 could do so for the bargain-basement price of $14.99, according to sources close to the company.
Although as-yet unconfirmed by Microsoft itself, company watcher Paul Thurrott claims that Microsoft is looking to drive adoption of its next-generation platform with a cut-price upgrade offer of just $14.99 (around £9.33 excluding taxes.)
Under the time-limited offer, buyers of PCs running any version of Windows 7 will be given the opportunity to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro on release. The offer is expected to launch in June, and run until the channel inventory of Windows 7-based PCs is depleted.
Sadly, the offer comes with a rather major caveat: in order to take advantage of the upgrade pricing, users will need to buy a PC with a Windows 8 upgrade voucher in the box. If you already own a Windows 7-based PC, purchased before the upgrade programme began, you'll be paying full retail for your upgrade.
It's also a major departure from the company's previous upgrade programmes, which saw buyers of PCs running last-generation operating systems given a free upgrade to the closest-available equivalent in the next generation.
While the new upgrade programme will see users expected to pay - albeit a token amount - at least they're getting a real upgrade for their money: users buying PCs on the Windows 7 Home Basic release will be upgraded to the full-fat Windows 8 Pro, unlike the previous like-for-like free upgrade offer.
Microsoft has yet to confirm the upgrade offer as genuine, but it makes sense: unlike previous Windows releases, Windows 8 will be available in but two mainstream versions - Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro - making a like-for-like upgrade offer harder to achieve.
The UK pricing of the offer is likely to be announced early next month, as PC makers begin bundling the voucher with their wares.
Although as-yet unconfirmed by Microsoft itself, company watcher Paul Thurrott claims that Microsoft is looking to drive adoption of its next-generation platform with a cut-price upgrade offer of just $14.99 (around £9.33 excluding taxes.)
Under the time-limited offer, buyers of PCs running any version of Windows 7 will be given the opportunity to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro on release. The offer is expected to launch in June, and run until the channel inventory of Windows 7-based PCs is depleted.
Sadly, the offer comes with a rather major caveat: in order to take advantage of the upgrade pricing, users will need to buy a PC with a Windows 8 upgrade voucher in the box. If you already own a Windows 7-based PC, purchased before the upgrade programme began, you'll be paying full retail for your upgrade.
It's also a major departure from the company's previous upgrade programmes, which saw buyers of PCs running last-generation operating systems given a free upgrade to the closest-available equivalent in the next generation.
While the new upgrade programme will see users expected to pay - albeit a token amount - at least they're getting a real upgrade for their money: users buying PCs on the Windows 7 Home Basic release will be upgraded to the full-fat Windows 8 Pro, unlike the previous like-for-like free upgrade offer.
Microsoft has yet to confirm the upgrade offer as genuine, but it makes sense: unlike previous Windows releases, Windows 8 will be available in but two mainstream versions - Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro - making a like-for-like upgrade offer harder to achieve.
The UK pricing of the offer is likely to be announced early next month, as PC makers begin bundling the voucher with their wares.
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