Windows 8.1 Packaging And Pricing Revealed – Starts At $120

Microsoft have revealed official details of Windows 8.1’s packaging and pricing on the Windows Blog. The new Windows packaging can be seen above and below and uses relatively clean styling. In terms of availability Windows 8.1 will become available for direct download from October 18th and at retailers soon after. There will be three different Windows 8.1 versions sold and are all standalone operating systems – Windows 8 users will get the Windows 8.1 upgrade for free as they have already purchased Windows 8. Your upgrade will depend on which version of Windows 8 you have, Windows 8 Pro users will be upgraded to Windows 8.1 Pro and standard Windows 8 users will be upgraded to Windows 8.1.The Windows 8.1 Standard version has an MSRP of $119.99.The Windows 8.1 Pro version has an MSRP of $199.99.There is also a Windows 8.1 Pro Pack which allows people to upgrade from WIndows 8.1 Standard to Windows 8.1 Pro at any stage – this costs $99.99. The Windows 8.1 Pro package adds Media Center which isn’t provided with the Windows 8.1 Pro version mentioned above. Windows 8.1 Pro Users need to pay $9.99 to get the Media Center add-on.

Users coming from Windows 8 will be able to upgrade through an upgrade package but users coming from Windows XP and Vista will not and will require a clean install.

More details here.

Images courtesy of Microsoft