$50 dollars for the lowest version of Windows 7, is a huge improvement over Vista’s strange and frustrating pricing scheme. Too bad it’s only for pre-order customers (with a limited time-frame to order) who already own PCs with XP or Vista.

What’s this about a limited time? Mike Ybarra, general manager of Windows Product Management, told me that the pre-order deal will go away when a certain undisclosed number of licenses is sold. “We have enough quantity,” he said, adding that the magic number was “equivalent to a year of Vista sales volume at retail.” (Ironically, those of you who want this upgrade offer to last have to hope that the Mojave Experiment worked, at least a little.) Some Microsoft materials suggest that July 11th might be the cutoff for the deal, but from what I understand, that’s an estimate—this is based on supply. Regardless, if you want Windows 7, pre-order the damn thing come Friday.

I think Snow Leopard wins this one.

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