Windows 7 UK pricing shocker

POOR HARD DONE BY BRITS looking to buy a copy of Microsoft's long-awaited apology for the whole Vista debacle, otherwise known as Windows 7, will be pleased – and probably a little shocked – to discover that they can get their hands on a copy of the operating system for close to half the price our colonial cousins will have to pay.

Battered by the constant rain of the third summer in a row which never actually arrived, the embittered populace of Rip-off Britain finally has something to smile about. Though being the suspicious lot that we are, we can't help but look for the catch.

Indeed, the pricing could possibly be a glitch in the amazon.co.uk pricing engine. The recommended retail price of a full copy (not an upgrade) of Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium is pegged at £149.99, but the pre-order price is currently a squeek under £65.

US consumers will have to pay $200 or about £122.

How long this will last, we have no idea but we suggest that, if you have already committed yourself (some would say if you're determined to use Windows you should, indeed, be committed) to buying W7, it might be an idea to get in there sharpish.

Rumours that the UK version of the OS would not include Microsft's web browser Internet Exploder 8 on the orders of some European mandate have also been scotched by a statement from Amazon  which reads: "The latest information available is that all editions of Windows 7 will include the Internet Explorer 8 web browser, pre-installed for immediate access to the internet."

Some global companies (stand up and be counted Adobe and Apple) ignore exchange rates, in many cases basing their international pricing policy on simply deleting the $ sign and adding a £ symbol – an instant mark-up of around 40 per cent, even on digitally delivered products.

British technology buyers have long bemoaned this apparent iniquity in cross-border pricing, and to see Amazon and Microsoft redressing the balance, even in a seemingly small and insignificant way, brings a little ray of much needed sunshine to these shores.

Let's just hope Bill Gates isn't trying to ingratiate himself with the British public because he's planning to follow in the footsteps of stringy-buttocked baby snatcher Madonna by moving to London on a permanent basis.

Ubergeek Gates swanning around the capital affecting a Dick Van Dyke-style Mockney accent is quite simply too high a price to pay for a bit of cheap software. µ