What exactly is a "Windows 7 Family Pack" ...

[NoobyDoo]

If 3 users get together and buy a Family Pack they would have a good deal wouldn't they ?

Even for 1 user, having two spare licenses for future builds would be nice.

Or, am I missing something ?

 

[Athena]

From the EULA:

...you may install one copy of the software marked as 'Family Pack' on three computers in your household for use by people who reside there.

In other words, three roomates might qualify but thee friends sharing a family pack would be a violation.

It does make sense for people who have, or expect to have, more than one machine at home. As far as we know, the Family Pack option will only be for Home Premium.

 

[RebateMonger]

The almost-certain existence of a $150-or-less Family Pack is great news.

It makes sense that as the number of PCs grow, the price of the OS should drop. The R&D and Support costs per unit will get smaller and smaller as the PC population becomes huge. Also, the development cost of Win7 is certainly lower than the cost of developing Vista.

 

[13Gigatons]

They should offer a 5 license deal for $99 like Apple does.

 

[amheck]

Does the 3-license pack for Win 7 price expire today like the other upgrade offers?

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: amheck
Does the 3-license pack for Win 7 price expire today like the other upgrade offers?

Microsoft has not yet confirmed that the "Family Pack" exists.

 

[TourGuide]

I doubt MS is going to do this for Win 7. The only place I know of they have done this is stripped down Office versions, but never the cash cow.

I call shens.

 

[Athena]

The EULA for the Home Premium version apparently references a Family Pack and there have been reports of price lists posted then taken down. The projected price is $150 for the three-pack.

The Family Pack would be part of Microsoft's marketing strategy to quash XP. They want to make it cheap enough that users will decide it makes no sense to wrestle with different versions on their home networks.

Note: Office is the cash cow at Microsoft; Windows carries its own weight but it's Office that pays for development if everything else.

 

[TourGuide]

Hmm, so Home Premium is going to get the 3 user license for cheap. Probably not going to happen for Pro or Ultimate I would guess.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: TourGuide
Hmm, so Home Premium is going to get the 3 user license for cheap. Probably not going to happen for Pro or Ultimate I would guess.

Probably not, since those are primarily used by businesses.