Vista is here, minus the price tag!

NEW DELHI: After a wait of five long years, individual PC users will finally get to lay hands on the all-new Windows
operating system Microsoft Vista, but don't ask the company how much you would have to shell out for it!

Vista, along with the new version of Microsoft's popular productivity apps suite - Office 2007 - was launched across the world on Tuesday in glitzy ceremonies and will hit the stands immediately.

But the Redmond, Washington-based software giant was extremely cagey about indicating even an estimated street price for Vista in India. When quizzed, the mighty Microsoft PR battery quipped the end user price would be dependent upon the "retailers and OEMs".

The company claimed it had fixed an aggressive pricing for the product. But facts do not seem to bear that. Microsoft claimed that Windows Vista Home Basic will be priced same as Windows XP Home, which has been retailing around Rs 3,500.

However, industry sources told Indiatimes News Network the street price of Vista Home Basic (full pack and not the OEM pack which most retailers sell) would be around Rs 7,600 plus taxes (US price $199) for an individual buyer.

Similarly, the price for the Vista Home Premium edition would be Rs 9,000 plus taxes ($239), Vista Business for Rs 11,500 plus taxes ($299) and Vista Ultimate for Rs 15,500 plus taxes ($399).

The Office Pro Professional will be retailing approximately at Rs 17,000 and Office Standard at Rs 14,000. However, Microsoft claimed Genuine Windows Vista loaded PCs in India will retail at a starting price of Rs 22,000, of which an estimated OS price could be arrived at around 10-12 percent. That works to around Rs 2,500 and is a very unlikely price, market sources said.

Microsoft has dubbed Vista as the most important release of its dominant OS since Windows 95 was unveiled more than a decade ago. However, media reports suggest that Vista launch has been mired in similar pricing controversies in UK and Australia too.

"Microsoft has been understandably cagey about the Vista prices in India because Vista and Office prices indicate an almost 30 percent markup over the Windows XP and Office 2003 prices which could mark a slow uptake in the market. Naturally, there have been very few pre-bookings," according to a Delhi-based retailer.