Microsoft ends Windows 8 promo pricing next week

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 US$199.99 
• Windows 8 upgrade edition online and retail US$119.99 
• Windows 8 Pro Pack U$99.99
• Windows 8 Media Center Pack U$9.99 

iTnews has contacted a Microsoft Australia spokesperson for local price changes.

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.