Seattle Tech Talk Blog

In an effort to get consumers to upgrade their older computers to its newest operating system, Microsoft said Friday that it plans to cut the prices of packaged versions of Windows Vista by as much as nearly 50% in some countries.

Effective with release of the boxed edition of Vista Service Pack 1, expected to be available at stores within the next several weeks, the price for a full, retail copy of Windows Vista Ultimate in the U.S. has been reduced 20% to $320 from $400. The upgrade version of Ultimate has been cut to $220 from $260. The full version of Vista Home Premium falls 19% to $130 from $160, according to Microsoft.

Computer users in Europe and emerging markets will see even bigger price cuts. In the U.K., the price for the full version of Vista Home Premium drops 44% to 131.92 pounds from 233.60 pounds. The list price for Home Premium in South Africa will fall 41% to about Rand 1700.

Microsoft said Vista price cuts in emerging markets — where the company faces the most competition from open source software — will be as high as 48% in some countries…

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