I’ve finally gotten around to buying Windows 7, but I’m pretty much a complete noob at buying any OS.
So, my question is, where is the best place to buy Windows 7 cheaply?
The one with the cheapest price? There’s not too much to it mate 
.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=windows+7&x=0&y=0
-or-
https://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.phtml?coordinate_group=PI
-or-
https://www.microsoft.com/windows/buy/default.aspx
newegg is cheaper, but you don’t have to pay shipping if you buy a digital copy from Microsoft.
If you can, get the OEM version. You’re supposed to purchase it with a piece of hardware (MB, CPU, RAM, or HDD), but some places will sell it without. It’s usually about $40 (or more) cheaper than the upgrade, but you can get the 64 bit version even if you are currently running a 32 bit OS (you can only upgrade from the same bit version of Vista. EG: 32 bit Vista-32 bit Win 7. The OEM or retail versions require scratch installs or dual-boot installs).
Thank you all very much.
cceplopu, the members of this forum aren’t too favorable of piracy. If you don’t want to be banned I suggest you remove that from your post.
This is actually illegal. Microsoft made their policy on OEM products very clear. Sure, it might work, but it is against Microsoft’s TOS.
Also, whatever you do, do NOT buy off of eBay. I guarantee you that at least 90% of the keys there are from MSDN subscriptions, which is A] Also against Microsoft’s TOS to sell, B] the keys are often resold several times as, in theory, you can activate an MSDN key several times before ALL keys stop working, C] the keys may not work in the first place if you buy from ebay, D] you don’t get Proof of Purchase, support, money-back guarantee, or anything like that.
It’s a pity you weren’t looking back during the pre-order period, got it for £45 (that was for a full edition, not an upgrade). Amazon is as cheap as anywhere, and there’s no postage on something that price (well in the UK anyway).
Russilker, out of curiousity, if he builds the PC himself surely he is the OEM? Would this entitle you to use the OEM version of windows?
Microsoft licenses OEM software so that they sell it directly to pre-approved PC manufacturers. Making a PC yourself does not qualify you as an OEM builder (I’ve tried it). For us end-users, we have to stick with Retail.
At least, that was how it was Windows-XP times. I’m not sure if its changed or not… Your best bet would be to contact Microsoft by email. They do reply within a day.
Ah right, I was just curious really, as I said I got my full retail copy very cheap. Thanks for the advice anyway russilker. MS are a bunch of rip off artists for the most part. Having said that, I find 7 a very polished OS. Especially at the price.
Definitely. It runs better than XP at times on hardware that supports it. Unlike Vista it makes very good use of your hardware configuration.
Whatever you decide to go for, I wholeheartedly recommend Windows 7 Home Premium. The only versions above that are Enterprise and Ultimate (which are equivalent to each other, except for the fact that you usually see Enterprise sold in bundles for businesses), and they include features that aren’t too useful for us casual gamers.
EDIT: As for where to buy, I would buy from NewEgg, if only because their support is second to none. I’ve had issues with Amazon in the past.
I get windows 7 for free.
MSDN academic alliance is great. :jizz:
[COLOR=‘White’]And no, not a pirated version
If you’re a student have a search around. It came up in a thread the other day, while the £30 offer has ended I found it for £50 after some light to moderate googling
Samapico, thank you for that info, I’m off there now! Wish I’d known about MSDNAA 4 years ago!
thats what I’m running. The ONE good thing I could of my college.
It’s decided, when M$ releases an uncrackable OS, I’m going back to studying.
Yeah… Windows 7 can be a bit hard to get used to! Aspecialy if you came from something before Vista. After a month, you will get used of it!
I hated it at first (new laptop), but after messing around with it a while, I’ve come to really like it. I’ve had very few issues or problems with anything and all my games and programs I was using on my old XP rig work great on this one. Only issue I’ve had is with JHLMV - it doesn’t want to close properly and sometimes multiple instances will still show up in the TM and suck away cpu. (multiple instances only show up when you open and close it several times as I often do)
Join some organization that offers the OS to its members for cheap. My brother got 7 Ultimate for $80.
Though he hasn’t installed it yet because he’s afraid it’ll break his precious Pro Evolution Soccer whatever year.
Being a student of an MSDNAA partnered college rocks… Free OS’s. Except ultimate. But who needs Bitlocker or multilingual OS support, really? That’s all you get for the extra money, and the average (english speaking) joe doesn’t ever use those.