Microsoft Reveals Windows XP Prices

Microsoft has officially announced the pricing for Windows XP: $199 for individual consumers and $299 for corporate users.

The announcement is occurring on Friday, the same day the software developer is delivering the "gold" disk, which is the final version of the updated operating system, to PC vendors and for disk manufacturing. It also occurs the day after online retailer Amazon.com--for the second time--mistakenly listed the prices for the highly anticipated software.

Microsoft has said it would release two versions of Windows XP: Home Edition for individual consumers and Professional for corporate users. The upgrade version of Home Edition will cost $99, while the upgrade version of Professional will cost $199, according to a Microsoft spokesperson.

Those prices are consistent with the prices Amazon.com listed on its Web site Thursday. As the online retailer did in July, it posted the prices allowing customers to preorder Windows XP, but soon yanked the product from its site.

October Launch

Windows XP is scheduled to be launched worldwide on October 25, Microsoft has said.

Windows XP consolidates Microsoft's Windows line. The Professional version adds the capability to dial into your office PC and control it remotely. Home Edition modifies the function that lets you allow someone to dial in and take control of your PC, chat, or upload files. Server and embedded versions of the OS are still in development.

The updated OS bundles some functions from earlier versions of Windows, such as Movie Maker, Media Player 7, and the Home Networking Wizard, as well as Internet Explorer 6. It lets you switch among user accounts, and one configuration can run in the background (performing a download, for example) while another is active in the foreground.

For Windows 2000, Microsoft recommends a 300-MHz Pentium II processor (233 MHz for notebooks) with 64MB of memory. Whistler is intended to support 64MB systems, but 128MB of memory is recommended.

Early Access

There's been some indication that Windows XP may be available sooner than Microsoft's scheduled October launch date. Several PC vendors have said they will begin bundling the next-generation operating system on machines before then.

Some other vendors say they will ship PCs loaded with Windows 2000 and include a coupon for an upgrade to Windows XP when it becomes available.

Also, in June, more than 15 PC vendors started selling "XP-ready" PCs. These systems are installed with Windows Millennium Edition but configured with drivers and hardware specifications to support Windows XP.