If you’ve ever taken a trip to Best Buy, or some other electronics retailer that went out of business trying to compete with the Internet, you’ve likely walked through isles upon isles of Windows software as you were hunting for something else, like a video game or laptop. Well, no more, my friend. The days of buying Windows in a box may have ended.
In the latest Windows Weekly, co-hosts and Microsoft insiders Mary Jo Foley (ZDNet) and Paul Thurrott (WinSuperSite) speculate that Microsoft may drop boxed software all together, and instead only sell Windows on new computers or as an upgrade over the Internet. This would be the first edition of Windows where the standard edition isn’t available for purchase at retail. One important note: Those building their own PC (yep, a few people still do that) might be able to purchase a “System Builder” physical edition, which has been confirmed by Microsoft, according to The Verge. The downloadable upgrade version of Windows 8 will cost $40 when the OS is released this October.
If true, Microsoft will be following in Apple’s footsteps. In recent years, Apple has aggressively pushed users to update Mac OS X software over the Internet, offering updates for as little as $20. Finding a boxed copy of the operating system is now quite difficult in our experience. The strategy has been a success so far. Though it is selling updates at a fraction of the $100+ previous price of operating systems, the vast majority of Mac users now update their system instead of waiting to get an upgrade with their next computer — a habit that PC users have always had due to the difficulty and unreliability of Windows upgrades.
(Image courtesy of Zimbio)
Also if you have a physical disk you can put it on any machine,,but what microsoft wants is you to have to pay for every machine you want to upgrade,because you can’t turn the downloaded copy into a physical disk,and if your computer crashes or your drive fails you have to pay for another copy,so I say NO to what microsoft wants to do, just stick to xp or whatever os you have on a physical disk,because it works or start using Linux and screw windows 8…
From the Windows 8 blog:
“After your download finishes, you can choose to proceed with the upgrade (“Install now”) or install later either from your desktop or by creating your own media. If you choose to create your own media, you will be able to create your own bootable USB or .ISO file which can be burned onto a DVD for upgrade and backup purposes. If you prefer, you also have the option of purchasing a backup DVD for $15 plus shipping and handling.”
My experience with MS is a phone call takes care of this issue. I have lost my windows 7 disk, and when I upgraded I just called support. Took about 8 minutes. So, chillax on the wild speculation and base you opinion on their history of behavior regarding this issue.
just another way for microsoft to keep people from putting their software on multiple computers,
Linux is the way to go,all your external hardware on windows 8 may ore may not work on windows 8or some of your software that you already own. It is better to stick with what works, in windows it’s xp all the way,but if you want the freedom to put on apps,and turn a computer into a media machine XBMC a linux o/s or ubuntu is the way to go…
No physical media?
Another reason to not buy this Bad Idea.
Windows 8 is ugly and its mama dresses it funny.