Customers who purchase a Windows 7-based PC in the next couple of months will be able to upgrade to Windows 8 for just $15 (£9.35) when the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system is released later this year.
The move is an attempt to encourage customers not to wait until the expected debut of Windows 8 later this year to buy a new PC, according to Paul Thurrott’s Supersite for Windows.
Microsoft is believed to be in a position to finish Windows 8 by this summer ahead of an October release and has pledged that the operating system will work equally well with tablets and traditional PCs, with users able to switch between a tiled Metro interface and the more traditional desktop mode.
Slow sales of PCs have encouraged Microsoft to focus on tablets and it hopes this dual system will give the company a potential inroad into the market. Windows 8 will support machines running both ARM and Intel architectures as part of Microsoft’s long term mobile strategy.
It has also been revealed that Microsoft will provide in-the-box upgrades to Windows 8 that will allow users to obtain the features of Windows 8 Pro and Windows Media Center. These will replace the old Windows Anywhere Upgrade system and will be available through the new ‘Add Features to Windows 8’ option.
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