I don't want to call this buyer's remorse.
Back in July, I ordered an upgrade copy of Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows 7 Home Premium. The pre-orders were just $49 before July 11 -- less than half of today's $119.99 price -- but I'm still unlikely to crack open my copy when it arrives later this week.
I live in a home with a fleet of cheap computers and laptops, and all but one of them are perfectly happy booting up Windows XP. The one Vista-powered machine I have is strictly an online surfing device, so there's no urgency to upgrade there.
Nearly every review I've read has been positive on Microsoft's new operating system, but they all seem to be in agreement that the upgrade is worth it only for Vista users. It's apparently a real patience-draining chore to go from XP to Windows 7.
My son the Mac-head recently killed the partition on his hard drive on which he was running the beta version of Windows 7, when he realized that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) serves all of his MacBook needs. As it is with most kids, as long as he can surf the Web, IM his buddies and girlfriend, and fire up iTunes, the operating system is inconsequential.
So here we are, two days away from the launch of Windows 7, and I'm already talking about a box that will probably collect dust or find its way into what's going to be a crowded eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) marketplace. There are already more than 100 copies of Windows 7 Home Premium on the auction site, 48 hours before the software's release! The $70 spread between the pre-order and retail price is a dinner bell for cold-footed opportunists who can cash in on some of the difference in a resale.
Investors may also want to warm up to Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) at this point, since reviewers are advising those running XP or computing on older machines to just buy a new laptop or PC with Windows 7 pre-installed.
I have called Windows 7 "the last great operating system," because the feverish push toward cloud computing, smartphones, and handheld Web-surfing gadgets will make it hard for any operating-system platform to be dominant. Then again, since there doesn't seem to be a lot of anticipation for Microsoft's new program, or even Apple's Snow Leopard, outside media and promotional circles, maybe I was a generation too late making that call.
Oh, no! What if Vista was the last great operating system?
Will you be upgrading to Windows 7 this week? Chime in with your opinion in the comment box below.
