Do you think you have plenty of time to decide whether to upgrade to Windows 7? If you want to get it for a reasonable price, you may have a lot less time than you think...

The bad news is that Microsoft has announced upgrade pricing for Windows 7 and frankly the prices are too high. Since Windows 7 is really what Vista should have been, charging $199 to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional from an equivalent version of Vista is excessive and unfortunate. While the rumors of free upgrades from Vista were always too good to be true, $200 to buy a fixed version of Vista (which no matter what Microsoft says about the new features is how most typical users will view Windows 7) is unlikely to gain Windows any friends or help slow the flow of PC users migrating to Mac. It'll be one more chance for users to rethink their options.

The silver lining is that Microsoft is offering a 50% discount to those willing to take the plunge now. This is quite a leap of faith of course, as the product will not start shipping in final version until October. But starting June 26 (tomorrow) until July 11 in the US, July 5 in Japan, and August 14 in UK, France and Germany consumers can pre-order for up to 50% off from major resellers including Best Buy, Amazon Software Store , and Microsoft. Also starting tomorrow customers who order a new PC with Vista Home Premium, Business or Ultimate will receive a free upgrade to Windows 7.

Of course the problem is that you have to take the plunge almost sight unseen. If you use the public trial version of Windows 7 to get an idea of whether it will work for you, then you'll need to do a re-install as the "Release Candidate" is time-bombed. From all the early reports Windows 7 really is what Vista should have or at least could have been and the upgrade at the discounted price will be well worth the money. So if you expect to keep your machine for another couple years then the upgrade seems like a good value. Otherwise if you wait until you can see the final product you'll have to wince at the final price.