Microsoft has announced aggressive upgrade pricing for its upcoming Windows 8 operating system: anyone running a copy of Windows from the last decade can upgrade for $40, making this potentially the cheapest Windows ever.
The upgrade is a bit of a Hail Mary move: selling the OS is a profitable business, but it's possible that at the familar $100-$200 price, uptake of the risky new OS might be less than enthusiastic and the next phase of Microsoft's business may not take off. After all, many businesses and individuals just recently updated to Windows 7, and many are still running the venerable XP. The cost of upgrading again could be a significant deterrent. If Microsoft can't capture a big audience for Windows 8, its whole strategy for the next few years falls apart.
But if Microsoft offers this one-time "pardon" to its many legacy users, it could spur the kind of sales it needs to make Windows 8 the most popular OS they support, albeit at the cost of many millions of dollars. Notably, this is the "Pro" version, not the cheaper "RT" version that is aimed strictly at tablets.
:source: Source: msnbc
Probably doing it, as they know its going to stink like Vista did