Возможно, стала известна стоимость лицензии на Windows 8

Может тут будет как с игровыми тайтлами. 59 евро в Европе и 59 долларов по всему миру.

Адекватная цена на лицензию — очень верный ход со стороны мелкософта

учитывая известный маркетинговый ход, 18.99$

Просветите, о каком ходе идет речь? По факту похоже на обычную конвертацию из евро в доллары по текущему курсу.

По теме, радует гуманизация цен. Иметь лицензионный продукт за доступные деньги и пользоваться всеми его преимуществами, очень приятно. Вот бы Adobe так тоже делали, чтобы Photoshop или Premiere можно было купить за $80-100 :)

Если в RTM войти с русским аккаунтом, то будет такая цена:
dl.dropbox.com/u/1234218/i/2012.08/0.png

Product key and download c.2.190.00
Windows DVD c.595.49

Тоже самое было про Win Vista. И хоть сама эта версия была по мнению общественности не самой удачной, но ничего — интерфейс прижился. А если ориентироваться на «привыкли», то мы бы до сих пор с интерфейсом Win3.11 сидели. А то и DOS :)

Странно, что это прошло незамеченным, но с Windows 8 серьёзно меняется политика лицензирования и распространения:
1. В рознице продают только версию для обновления
2. ОЕМ можно легально использовать на самосборном компьютере

Windows 8 System Builder Licensing – Important Changes Coming

As we continue to make progress toward the launch of Windows 8, we want to provide insight into some important changes coming in the System Builder License terms for Windows 8.

Note some of the information was announced on the Windows Team Blog (windowsteamblog.com). The purpose of this communication is to give you more information about these changes so that you can discuss them with your applicable partners.

1. Changes in Retail License.

• As a reminder, for Windows 7, there are two retail license types that are offered
o A full license of Windows 7 for installation by end users on a PC that does not have a previous version of Windows installed on it
o An upgrade license of Windows 7 that upgrades a PC with a previous version of Windows to Windows 7
• The majority of consumers buying the retail license are looking to upgrade. For Windows 8, Microsoft will therefore only offer an upgrade version of Windows 8 through the retail channel. This is the license an end user would purchase who wants to upgrade their current PC from a prior version of Windows to Windows 8.

2. Changes in Windows 8 System Builder License.

• In view of this change, the System Builder license for Windows 8 will include a (“Do It Yourself” or DIY rights) license for end users who wish to build their own PC for their personal use or install Windows as an additional operating system in a virtual machine or a separate partition. These users will also be able to purchase and install the System Builder product.

• End users who wish to use System Builder product for the above purposes will have to accept the End User License Agreement (EULA) in place of System Builder License. Under the terms of the EULA, the licensor is Microsoft instead of the System Builder, and support from Microsoft is not included. In addition, the following key licensing terms will apply to the end user:
o System Builder product may only be used:
As the operating system on a PC you build for personal use OR
As an operating system running in either a local virtual machine or as additional operating system in a separate partition

o System Builder product may not be used:
As an upgrade license to an existing underlying Windows operating system
To legalize from a non-genuine Windows operating system
To license more than five copies of the software (in total) for commercial use

Please note that the changes described here apply only to Windows 8, not to Windows 7.