Important Notice: Our web hosting provider recently started charging us for additional visits, which was unexpected. In response, we're seeking donations. Depending on the situation, we may explore different monetization options for our Community and Expert Contributors. It's crucial to provide more returns for their expertise and offer more Expert Validated Answers or AI Validated Answers. Learn more about our hosting issue here.

When will Windows 7 be standard on new computers and how should this affect my intent to buy a new laptop?

0
Posted

When will Windows 7 be standard on new computers and how should this affect my intent to buy a new laptop?

0

Windows 7 is launching in mid-October. If you buy at Best Buy between June 26th and the release date, they’ll upgrade you for free when Windows 7 comes out.

0

Windows 7 launches on 10/22. Any PC with Vista you buy from Best Buy after 6/26/09 will qualify for a free upgrade to Windows 7 in late October. I’d imagine the other retailers will follow suit. So new computers will be on shelf on 10/22 but you’ll also see ones still with Vista along side until that inventory is gone. These older systems might have the same components on them as the new ones but with the old OS, and you might get a good discount (and the free upgrade to Win7) on the older stuff. It depends on how well the Back to School season goes in retailer. If there’s lots of inventory left over, there will be sales. If they manage it better, almost all the stuff on shelves will Windows 7 on launch day. I’ve found Windows 7 superior to Windows Vista, but I’m a Mac guy.

0

Another alternative that hasn’t been mentioned: Buy what you want at the end of the month (which will get you the free upgrade), sign up for the Windows 7 Candidate Program now, install it, and get your free upgrade when it’s released. I upgraded a PC recently and have been experimenting with Windows 7 to use the 4 GB of RAM. I’m not fully enamoured of the interface changes compared to XP, but it’s a hell of a lot faster and makes better use of modern hardware than XP does. The Release Candidate is, if anything, more stable than XP SP 3.

0

If you mean ‘standard’ as in ‘industry standard’ and what most big companies will use, that will depend on whether it turns out like Vista; industry won’t be in a hurry to spend on computer upgrades to run a flashy interface, and IT workers probably won’t want to deal with the compatibility problems and user backlash of a changeover, unless there are compelling benefits to doing so. My employer is a bank. They will be skipping from XP to 7 and bypassing Vista, and they’re looking to roll 7 out fairly aggressively. This appears to be a common pattern for corporates.

Related Questions

Thanksgiving questions

*Sadly, we had to bring back ads too. Hopefully more targeted.