As I had previously and exclusively revealed (first on Twitter, on July 6, and then about 9 minutes 40 seconds into the July 10 episode of Windows Weekly podcast), Microsoft is bringing back the Windows 7 Family Pack for this holiday season, starting in October. It will ship in the US on October 3, in Canada on October 5, and all other markets on or after October 22. As with last year, the Family Pack is only available "while supplies last," whatever that means. Just make more, Microsoft. Geesh. :)
Here's the official word:
All summer long we’ve given you some great reasons to purchase a new PC and make the move to Windows 7, an operating system loved by a whopping 94% of folks who use it! Here’s one more: starting October 3 in the U.S., Windows 7 Family Pack will be available for purchase at participating retailers and online at the Microsoft Store. Purchasing the Windows 7 Family Pack gives you three upgrade licenses of Windows 7 Home Premium for the low price of $149.99. To take advantage of Family Pack, you’ll need a PC running a genuine copy of either Windows Vista or Windows XP that is capable of running Windows 7. The Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor can tell you which features and editions of Windows 7 will run on your computer(s).
For those of you who don’t live in the U.S., Family Pack may be coming your way too. It goes on sale in Canada, UK, Germany, France, Australia and many other markets on or after Oct. 22 (Windows 7’s 1 year anniversary!)
According to IDC’s Consumerscape 360 data, there are 2.1 PCs per household in the U.S., but, as we all know, networking isn’t easy. Windows 7 has built in features – like HomeGroup- that make it easy and quick to get all of your home PCs connected and sharing files, music, photos and printers.
So, don’t delay. The Windows 7 Family Pack will be available soon while supplies last.
(This was supposed to go live a bit later in the day, but CNET has once again done their usual end-run around the NDA, so here it is.)