Windows 7 - Windows 7 Family Pack + Anytime Upgrade = BARGAIN?

http://www.ghacks.net/2009/08/01/windows-7-family-pack-and-anytime-upgrade-pricing/
It's shown there everything you actualy need to know in order to understand what I am talking about.

If you're looking for Windows 7 Ultimate for more than ten computers like I am, this might be your big break.

The Family Pack pricing is $149.99 in the US.
The Anytime Upgrades are as follows:
Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Home Premium: $79.99(marked red as it is unimportant in this thread)
Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional: $89.99
Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 7 Ultimate: $139.99

Does this click... at all to you?
So let's put this into a scenario.
Jill buys the Windows 7 Family Pack and pays $149.99. She understands she can install Windows 7 Home Premium onto the three computers in her household as the family pack allows her to do so.
She then finds that she wants more out of Windows 7: Home Premium and buys herself the Windows Anytime Upgrade. With this she can upgrade all three of her Home Premium's to Ultimate, without paying extra!

Windows 7 Family Pack($149.99) + Windows Anytime Ultimate Upgrade($139.99) = $289.98
So altogether she's paying a maximum of $300 for three Windows 7 Ultimate's, where she'd normally pay $600 for it.


So let's put this into a worse scenario and say that Windows Anytime Upgrade uses Activation Keys that are only able to be used once.
So now she'd have to buy three Windows Anytime Upgrades at $139.99 per copy.

3 * Windows Anytime Ultimate Upgrade($139.99) = $419.97
Windows 7 Family Pack($149.99) + Windows Anytime Ultimate Upgrades($419.97) = $559.96

The price of three Windows 7 Ultimates is $659.97.

How does it sound?

Guaranteed you will have to purchase a WAU for each machine.

You'll have to purchase the Ultimate upgrade for each installation.

Also remember that the Family Pack will be upgrade versions themselves, so you'll need a prior genuine Windows for each.

So you're looking at $50 + $139 Anytime Upgrade for each = $189.

And the normal Ultimate upgrade version of Windows 7 is $219. It's a $30 savings per install going via the Family Pack, but you're adding an extra step to each install (e.g. Vista -> 7 Home Premium -> 7 Ultimate) to get it.

For more than 10 installations you're likely better off looking at the reason you're doing that many. You're probably better off looking at volume licensing, OEM builder versions, or Technet subscription depending on which is most appropriate.

The thing that I really want to know is the price for those three things.

I'm not planning on doing a Technet subscription since I'm only looking for something dealing with Windows 7. Not anything else like SDK, DDK, or any of that stuff.

I've looked at volume licensing and I really have no idea what the deal is with Windows 7 + Volume Licensing. I read on various websites as well as a PDF that the only way to get Windows 7 Enterprise(exact same as Ultimate) is by getting this Software Assurance thing. I have no clue what Software Assurance is though

And I have NO idea what OEM builder is either.

Are they are technical reasons why you need Ultimate? Volume licensing is for businesses, govenment agencies, educational facilities or non-profit organizations.....that's not going to be an option for you.

OEM Builder license is meant to be a Windows license that a computer systems builder can use to install onto the computer being built. The license is OEM..which means that it can only be used on the 1 computer and cannot be moved later to another computer. In addition, all technical support for the system has to be provided by the person building the computer and not Microsoft.

Software assurance is a program that Microsoft sells to their volume license customers. It helps to spread out the enormous cost to licensing server and desktop applications to customers over multiple years while offering free upgrades to future products during the contract period. I believe the normal period of time is 3 years....and MS takes quite a bit of heat because quite often there ISN'T an upgrade during this 3 year period of time.

So, image this scenario

Customer: Hi, I'd like to buy a copy of SQL Server 2005 enterprise.
MS. Ok, well that will be $15,000 per CPU for the enterprise license, are you interested in software assurance to help lower your cost?

Customer: How much is that.
MS: Well, with Software assurance, that SQL license will be $7,500 a year for 3 years...but if we come out with a new version of MS SQL during this time you get it free. So, instead of paying $15,000 per CPU up front, you can pay $7,500 this year, $7,500 next year and $7,500 the following year.

Customer: What if I skip software assurance. Can I buy SQL Server 20xx at a later time.
MS: Yes, but you will pay full price again...approx $15,000 per CPU.

Also, WAU will let you go from Starter straight to Ultimate. The blog post didn't list every possible upgrade path (e.g., Pro->Ult, Starter->Pro, etc.) because the point was to highlight some of the common cases, not every possible case.