Microsoft is set to end promotional pricing for its Windows 8 operating system at the end of the month, raising prices substantially from February 1.
Presently, users can download a copy of Windows 8 Pro for $39.99, with a limit of one upgrade per PC and a maximum limit of five licenses per customer.
From February, Windows upgrade editions and feature packs will be priced for United States customers as:
- Windows 8 Pro upgrade edition online and retail $US199.99 ($A190)
- Windows 8 upgrade edition online and retail $US119.99
- Windows 8 Pro Pack $US99.99
- Windows 8 Media Center Pack $US9.99
Microsoft Australia did not respond to request for comment by the time of publication.
The upgrades are only for customers whose machines currently run Windows XP Service Pack 3, Windows Vista or Windows 7 and there may be shipping and handling fees for physical media.
Microsoft also advises that those wanting to run Windows 8 in a virtual machine or on a second hard drive partition, or building PCs from scratch, to buy the System Builder Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro editions from online or local retailers, as the upgrade versions won't install under those scenarios.
Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that it had sold some 60 million Windows 8 licenses.
The company did not break down the licenses to show how many were bought by original equipment manufacturers versus direct sales to upgraders.
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