Dead Cheap Windows 7 OEM/System Builder

[Sassa]

Dead Cheap Windows 7 OEM/System Builder, Pricing Details Revealed

Home Premium €88, Professional €116, and Ultimate €156


How would you like to buy Windows 7, all major editions, at prices half of those for the retail versions of the operating system? Sounds like a pretty sweet deal? Well, that’s because it is, with the exception of a few small downsides. But fact is that full SKUs, not the upgrade releases of Windows 7 can be acquired dead cheap in comparison with the retail boxes of the platform. The pricing details for the System Builder/OEM flavors of Windows 7 are now available to the public, but as generally is the case, not from Microsoft, but from one of the company’s partners.

Future-X, a German online retailer, has already posted the pricing details for the System Builder versions of Windows 7 (via Geizhals – via WinFuture). In this context, the 32-bit and 64-bit flavors of Windows 7 Home Premium come with a price tag of 88.50 Euros. x86 and x64 Windows 7 Professional System Builder costs just 116,90 Euros. The System Builder version of 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate is just 156,50 Euros. Future-X even features a System Builder edition of Windows 7 Home Basic, at the same price of Home Premium (read rip off) 88,50 Euros. And yes, these are the full, feature-complete editions of Windows 7, not the upgrade versions. The full retail editions of Windows 7 cost 199,99 € for Home Premium, 309,00 € for Professional and 319,00 € for Ultimate.

I haven’t been able to find the prices in US dollars for System Builder versions of Windows 7. Still, if I had to guess, I’d say that customers in the United States will be able to buy System Builder versions of Windows 7 even cheaper. I suspect Windows 7 Home Premium will be approximately $88, Windows 7 Professional $116, and Windows 7 Ultimate $156. Mind you, this is just a guess on my behalf.

Here is the description accompanying the products, courtesy of Google Translate: “As SB (System Builder) / DSP (Delivery Service Pack) or OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) version contains only the disk with the full version of that software, but no documentation and no-charge support by the manufacturer. Patches, bug fixes, service packs, and free updates are available via the Internet by download or automatic update function. The software may be freely sold without hardware binding. This was decided by the Federal Court.”

It is important to understand the channels through which Microsoft sells Windows. First off, the company is handing over Windows 7 to original equipment manufacturers, large computer manufacturers that pre-install the OS on new computers. Windows 7 is also sold by retail outlets worldwide, including online shops. In addition, the Redmond-based company is also offering Windows 7 to System Builders, at a considerably reduced price compared to the retail version.

The cheap price is possible because the SB (System Builder) / DSP (Delivery Service Pack) or OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) versions of Windows 7 doesn’t come with a pretty box, it doesn’t feature any documentation, and there is no free support. These are among the small downsides I mentioned in the first paragraph.

However, Microsoft is limiting, at least in theory, the sales of System Builder versions of Windows 7, by making it mandatory that the product be bundled with hardware. Still, as the message on Future-X notes, the SB variants of Windows 7 can be sold even if the sale is not made in concert with that of hardware products.

However, customers that are looking and are ready to jump at the chance of grabbing a bargain should understand the main downside of Windows 7 SB. The System Builder of Windows 7 can only be installed on a single computer, and it will become intimately connected with the motherboard. So intimately in fact that customers will not be able to install a System Builder copy of Windows 7 on any other machine, even if it removed entirely from the first. In fact, if the computer that Windows 7 SB is installed on dies on you, the operating system will die with it.

At the same time, customers will only be able to upgrade their computers to a certain extent. An extensive hardware upgrade will make a System Builder version of Windows 7 believe that it is on a new computer altogether, which it will consider a break of the license, and will start acting like it was pirated.

The System Builder flavors of Windows 7 will be released concomitantly with the general availability of the operating system, on October 22, 2009. European shops will even sell three copies of Windows 7 Home Premium SB in the same package for 274,40 Euros, 364,04 Euros for 3xProfessional SB, and 507,92 Euros for 3xUltimate SB.

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[7Dreams]

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I dont Get it.

 

[jfar]

OEM the way to go.

 

[jfar]

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Thanks for the information.

 

[Sassa]

Thanks for the information.

You're welcome.

Edit:
And thanks for the reps!

 

[jfar]

I dont Get it.

What dont you not get?

 

[djfirestorm]

Cant upgrade? F that, its a ploy to sell an avid system user a copy every year.

 

[patio]

I have no idea what you mean here...

 

[chev65]

I knew OEM price stucture would be more affordable like it was with Vista. I usually purchase the OEM versions for what ever system I'm building at the time. Thanks for letting us know about it, I figured the OEM versions would get here eventually for a reduced price.