During the public launch of Windows 7 yesterday, we threw some pretty important questions to Microsoft executives about the new operating system.
Q. How many versions of Windows 7 are available for the Philippines?
A. There are five versions of Windows 7 available in the Philippine market — Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Home Basic, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate.
Q. Are customers who bought computers lately able to upgrade to Windows 7 for free?
A. Microsoft now allows up to N-2 for the free upgrades if you bought your computer after the October 22 global launch of Windows 7. That means systems with Vista and XP can avail of the upgrade. There are some exceptions, of course.
Q. How about the Family Pack? Is it going to be available in the Philippines?
A. The Windows 7 Family Pack is a promo Microsoft is doing in the US. It is still in test phase and Microsoft is studying its viability in the Philippines. It is not currently available for the Philippine and there’s no exact date when it will become available. You will need at least 3 computers at home to be able to qualify for the Family Pack if ever it becomes available.
Q. How about Student or Academic pricing and discounts?
A. Microsoft has discounts for students and the academe. This will be handled by the respective schools and universities for easy verification/implementation for those who qualify.
Q. Can I upgrade my old Windows XP directly to Windows 7?
A. No, you need to do a fresh install. You can only upgrade to Windows 7 if you currently run Vista.
Q. How about those who have Windows 7 RC pre-installed? Can they upgrade to RTM directly?
A. Unfortunately there is not an easy upgrade path from RC to RTM. Microsoft recommends a clean install with Data Migration of Windows 7 RTM. Read more about the upgrade scenario at http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/.
Q. Until when can I use my Windows 7 RC?
A. The RC will expire on June 1, 2010. Plan ahead for when the RC expires. You’ll get two weeks’ notice, and then beginning on March 1, 2010, your PC will start shutting down every two hours.To avoid interruption, you’ll need to rebuild your test PC to replace the OS with a valid version of Windows, and reinstall all your programs and data before the software expires.
Q. What are the minimum system requirements for Windows 7?
A. RTM Hardware requirements are as follows: 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor, 1GB of system memory, 16 GB of available disk space, support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128MB memory (in order to enable Aero theme).
Q. What’s inside the Win7 DVD installer?
A. Two DVD disks — one for 32-bit and one for 64-bit.
There are some promos and discounts as well at the Microsoft 7 event. On November 7 and 8 (that’s until today only), check out the CyberZone Activity Hall at SM North EDSA Annex for some discounted Windows 7 DVD installers.
Here are the promo prices (save between Php1,500 to Php3,000 from SRP):
Windows 7 Home Basic: Php6,500
Windows 7 Home Premium: Php7,000
Windows 7 Professional: Php14,500
Windows 7 Ultimate: Php15,500
Buyers also get a free high-end webcam with every purchase of Windows 7.
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Will Windows 7 work with my Bayan tel wireless phone?, because Windows Vista does not work withit
Hi,
How can we avail of a student discount? Do I need to be a student of a particular school? baka naman may discrimination to what schools lang ang pwede.. what if I buy it in behalf of my bros who are studyin sa school na pwede? I am graduate na kase..
@rabby -only students with a school email account can avail of the $30 Windows 7 copy. Get one here: http://bit.ly/2q7mrv
Your school should also have applied for the Microsoft Developer Network Academic Alliance.
@yuga – Students with MSDNAA accounts get Windows 7 Professional for FREE – much cheaper than the 30USD discounted copy.
MSDNAA is available for some select colleges/courses. Most of the time, only those enrolled in CS and IT-related courses can avail of this for free.
Lastly, I don’t think the 30USD discounted price does not apply here… or at least I still haven’t heard of anyone who has been able to use the said promo in the Philippines.
Twitter: littlewolf
replied on Nov 8th, 2009 at 8:21 pm (5)
@yuga: That $30 discount promo you linked to seems to be only for US students? Saw your tweet also about this Php1,425 student price and it leads to the same page.
Anyway, I got my Windows 7 Pro already and for free! Upgrading from Vista took a long time to finish but it was all worth it. It truly is the best Windows version yet. Love all the little but useful changes they made.
@yuga, you posted before a vendor’s price before for Windows 7. Is this OEM compared the one you indicated above, as retailed version?
@patrick, just a curiosity. I’m a student at La Salle. How did you get your free copy?
@love – yup, OEMs.
@patrick – MS Philippines Executives told me about a website so when I looked at it, it showed a number of Philippine schools and universities eligible: http://bit.ly/JcWbX
FYI, the launch of Windows 7 in Cebu will on Nov 21. Not sure if it will be available before then though.
@berkano – PC stores that have nationwide branches will more likely carry Windows 7 ahead of launch in your city.
Based on the pc shop (cebu) where I ordered my windows 7 home premium, hopefully, it will be available this week. Hopefully, before Nov 21.
Twitter: teknisyan
replied on Nov 8th, 2009 at 11:56 pm (11)
I did download and still using the RC build of windows 7, if the retail or GM version of Windows 7 is as good or even better than the RC build, then I guess MS really took sometime, effect and money to build one heck of an OS.
I did a number of comparison between XP, Vista and 7, it appears that Windows 7 is vista outside but most of the enhancement are mostly under the hood. You can visit: http://teknisyan.blogspot.com/search/label/Windows%207, for the screen shots and comparison.
“Q. Are customers who bought computers lately able to upgrade to Windows 7 for free?
A. Microsoft now allows up to N-2 for the free upgrades if you bought your computer after the October 22 global launch of Windows 7. That means systems with Vista and XP can avail of the upgrade. There are some exceptions, of course.”
How do I avail of this free upgrade?
Sad… Dell offers free upgrade to windows 7 for users who purchase a computer starting June. Sayang computer manufacturers don’t offer same thing here.
Added notes, saw some Windows 7 ultimate being sold only for 14K not 15K.
Thanks for the link sir Abe! Glad to find my school listed there. Hehe.
@Love: A good friend gifted me a license.
Any idea if upgrade disks will be sold here?
“Here are the promo prices (save between Php1,500 to Php3,000 from SRP):
Windows 7 Home Basic: Php6,500
Windows 7 Home Premium: Php7,000
Windows 7 Professional: Php14,500
Windows 7 Ultimate: Php15,500″
So what would the prices be without the promo?
@Ric – MS execs say they’ve now settled with the full installer instead of the upgrade. That means no more upgrade disks. The SRP is 8k, 9.5k, 15.5k and 16.5k respectively.
@yuga – doesn’t the website only tell us which schools has MSDNAA? MSDNAA offers students free Windows 7 Professional copies, not discounted. Correct me if I’m wrong though… The list of schools with MSDNAA, also, is incomplete.
I’ll just wait until my laptop crashes on me…hehehehe…by then, I’ll probably get a laptop with Win7 with less than 20k and 10 hours of battery life (probably next year)
sir yuga, the price of windows 7 home premium is 5,900php @ complink marquee mall here in pampanga.
I hope AMA Computer Colleges are available for the student discount..
Twitter: kelvinservigon
replied on Nov 10th, 2009 at 12:58 am (23)
The student discounts for Windows 7 copy is interesting. I hope it is available in Provincial universities, too.
See the complete list of MSDNAA schools here.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/academic/dd861350.aspx
KNOW MORE ABOUT WINDOWS 7 BY ATTENDING THIS ONE OF A KIND EVENT!!!!
COMDDAP EXPO 2009!!!
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MAXIMUM EXPOSURE will be the country’s biggest procurement platform for everything I.T. this year. Expect the best bargains, big product discounts, slashed rates, and special bundling on the coolest gears, gadgets, software, and so many more.
If I buy a laptop with Windows Vista/7 and I decide to remove it before accepting EULA, can I get a refund?
If I buy a Win7 using student discount, will I get a soft copy (DVD installer) of it? Or just an activation code?
is there a free upgrade of vista home premium to windows 7? if there is such how can i upgrade my vista?
hai nman npakgnda ng W7
hahai tiyaga muna sa xp sp3 ko
meron s piratebay nyan a W7 haha gagana kya un kso katamad nmn n mgreformat uli
probably nxtym
lupit tlga ng GUI kasi ng 7
May I get an activation number from you of Microsoft Office (any version will do). I have an HP laptop, Compaq Presario C700 Notebook, Microsoft Windows Vista 32-bit.
I have no credit card but need to know how much it will cost me and send the payment to you if i can afford.
Thank you in advance.
Catherine Salazar-Ornopia
Cebu City 0927-818-8588