The announcement of a Windows 7 family pack should have come to much applause, but instead Microsoft faced an angry mob of customers who were worried that they overpaid when ordering multiple copies during the pre order promotion. If you count yourself among this crowd, it’s time to pack away the pitchforks since the pricing falls very much in line with what you would have paid for three copies anyway.

Windows 7 Home Premium family packs will retail for a very reasonable $149, but it now stands in stark contrast to the individual upgrade price of $119. I think most people would agree that the new family pack pricing is a pleasant surprise, but who would buy an individual upgrade copy when for only $30 more you can get 3? I suppose if you only have one PC this makes sense, but it still seems somewhat disproportionate.

Windows Anytime Upgrade pricing has also been revealed which allows users to pay for the option of “stepping up” to a higher product edition. Moving from Windows 7 Starter to Home Premium will run you $79.99, while the move from Home Premium to Professional will set you back $89.99. If you find you need more, you can also make the jump from Windows 7 Professional to Ultimate for a cost of $139.99. The equivalent upgrades in Vista were about 12% higher, continuing the trend of lowering the cost of Windows for consumers.

What do you think about the pricing?

Source