Windows 7 prices announced

From the Windows Team Blog:

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

For Windows XP users, Tom's Hardware has this news:

Microsoft has said that it will offer upgrade options for users to move from Windows XP to Windows 7, but to be clear, those are only for purchasing software licenses. There will be no software upgrade path.

“I can confirm that customers will be able to purchase upgrade media and an upgrade license to move from Windows XP to Windows 7 - however, they will need to do a clean installation of Windows 7,” a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to The Register. “This requires the user to back up their data, install Windows 7, re-install the programs and restore their data.”

In addition, a limited (but as yet, unknown) number of pre-orders of the Home Premium and Professional upgrades will be discounted, to $49.99 and and $99.99 respectively.