Microsoft Brings Back Windows 7 Family Pack (For a Limited Time)

[Rob Williams]

Remember that "Family Pack" offering of Windows 7 that Microsoft taunted us all with close to the OS' launch, and then pulled not too long after? Well, when the deal ceased to exist, there were many perturbed people, and for good reason. The deal is excellent, and I'm not sure anyone knew just how limited the duration of the promotion was actually going to be.

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Read the rest of our post and discuss it here!

 

[OriginalJoeCool]

How long did this promotion run last time?

 

[eunoia]

Is this a big deal because though it's supposed to be "upgrade" the licences are equivalent to OEM so builders buy them all up? I wouldn't mind paying $50 for an OEM licence for an upcoming build since I'm not eligible for any of the student deals.

In any case this isn't available in Canada until at least Oct. 22.

 

[Rob Williams]

Doh, thanks for cluing me in, eunoia. I didn't realize that these were upgrades and not full versions, but even so, the deal still kicks ass. Upgrade copies of Home Premium are still $119.99, so it's like adding two more copies for $30. Hard to beat that.

No clue why there'd be a delay to offer the deal in Canada...

 

[eunoia]

But the wording is vague everywhere, I'm really asking rather than saying. It's clear the box says "Upgrade" but are MS O.K. with using the licence as an OEM for a new build?

Cite for Oct. 22 speculating: http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/04/microsoft-brings-windows-7-family-pack-back-150-covers-three-p/

 

[Tharic-Nar]

Amazon selling for $140...http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Premium-Upgrade-Family/dp/B002MV2MG0

OEM upgrades... doesn't make sense to me, but oh well.

 

[Rob Williams]

OEM upgrades are fine, as long as you don't want to use the license on a completely different PC. If you change out some parts, Windows might still complain, but it's usually fixable quickly, or at worst, you could just call up and get it sorted out. Certainly not the greatest way, but for a price like this, it's hard to complain.

Activation is one thing that deeply bugs me about Windows, though. Since I've installed Windows 7 on my personal rig, I've had it accuse me of having an illegal copy, just because I swapped some part out. Fortunately, my fix has always been instant... simply let it reactivate, which it has without issue. But until I reboot, I'll see that non-genuine message in the bottom right-hand corner.