This article on the upgrade pricing for Windows 7 made me think of a book I read recently: "The Paradox of Choice". The author laid out the fact that people tend to freeze up as you offer them more choices, which makes me question this:

So here’s the low-down on pricing for Windows 7. The estimated retail prices for upgrade packaged retail product of Windows 7 in the U.S. are:

• Windows 7 Home Premium (Upgrade): $119.99
• Windows 7 Professional (Upgrade): $199.99
• Windows 7 Ultimate (Upgrade): $219.99

And the estimated retail prices for full packaged retail product of Windows 7 in the U.S. are:

• Windows 7 Home Premium (Full): $199.99
• Windows 7 Professional (Full): $299.99
• Windows 7 Ultimate (Full): $319.99

One of the things that stopped me from getting Vista was the sheer number of versions. I knew I would want the top end (Ultimate) version, but all of the choices made me think I could probably "get by" with something else. Ultimately, I just went with inertia and stayed with XP.

I doubt I'm the only one in that place, and the book I referenced lays out a good case for it. Windows 7 is supposed to be a really good release - so if MS wants to really take advantage of that, they should just release one version, and sell that at a reasonable price. I strongly suspect that they would get a lot more upgrades that way.

Technorati Tags: microsoft, choices