Windows 7 OEM SKUs Available For Sale Now, Start From £91

A number of online UK retailers have started selling OEM versions of Microsoft Windows Vista with Windows 7 Upgrade Order form for as little as £90.90 including free delivery.

Ebuyer sells Microsoft's Windows Vista Home Premium w/SP1 with Windows 7 Upgrade Offer Form for that price and is around £10 more expensive than the original Windows Vista Home Premium. However, customers are likely to get a full version of Windows 7 rather than an upgrade.

Interestingly, both products carry different SKUs (stock keeping units). The new version is labelled 66I-03510 while the "old" Windows Vista Home Premium has the SKU "66I-02059".

The new SKU will contain a voucher entitling the user to upgrade to the equivalent Windows 7 version released October 22nd 2009. OEM products are destined exclusively for system builders in theory although Microsoft and the retailers have been quite flexible with regards to who purchases the kit.

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The new Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit OEM is on sale for £93.04, Vista Business which will become Windows 7 Professional costs £110.92 in 32 and 64-bit while Windows Vista Ultimate with the Windows 7 Offer costs £145.97 (32 and 64-bit). In all cases, the Windows 7 upgrade form adds an additional £10 to the original price.

Equivalent SKUs in retail boxes have yet to appear but they are likely to carry the same £10 premium at launch. As announced yesterday, from the 15th of July till the 14th of August, customers in UK will be able to pre-order Windows 7 Home Premium for £49.99. The price climbs to £79.99 from October 22nd until the end of December 2009 after which the RRP will reach £149.99.