Microsoft is slated to cease retail sales of Windows 7 and Windows 8 operating systems from today thereby preventing original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) from bundling Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium and Ultimate editions and Windows 8 with their PCs.
This doesn’t mean that retailers will stop selling these systems as they will be clearing off their inventory meaning that they will not be able to restock new systems with pre-loaded Windows 7 and Windows 8. The exception here is Windows 7 Pro which will be available to OEMs for at least another year.
Those who opt for Windows 8.1 Pro will still be offered a Windows 7 Pro downgrade path – a move that seems to be logical from Microsoft’s perspective considering that it doesn’t want to fend off business and enterprise users, who make up for a sizable customer base.
We speculate that Windows 7 licence and device prices will likely go up as retailers will run out of their inventory giving rise to a new under the radar market of second hand Windows 7 licenses.
