Now you can pre-order Windows 8 Pro upgrades from retail and online vendors

Windows 8 ships on October 26, 2012.

As of October 12th, 2012 Amazon.com, Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot and the Microsoft Store are taking pre-orders for the Windows 8 Pro upgrade.

The cost is $69.99. The retail upgrade gets a box as pictured and DVD media.

Microsoft says the upgrade is green – “We moved to paper based materials (the exception of course being the upgrade DVD inside) which allowed us to make an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel consumption. And we’ve reduced the packaging weight by 41%.” Blogging Windows

Where to find Windows 8 online

– $39.99 Windows 8 Pro online upgrade

– $14.99 Windows 8 online upgrade for PCs after June 2, 2012 

Of course, you can also wait until October 26th and get the online upgrade for only $39.99. See our post Upgrade to Windows 8 and Save $140

Which ever way you slice it, there is a lot of excitement over the Windows 8 launch. You may prefer to have an official DVD or to download from the internet. The DVD purchase is easier if you haven’t burned a bootable (ISO) DVD before.

Upgrades need a legitimate copy of Windows XP SP3, Vista or Windows 7 on the computer before installation. You may have to dig out the old DVDs if the computer is already upgraded to Windows 8 beta.

Of course, if you purchased a Windows 7 PC after June 2, 2012 you are eligible for the upgrade at only $14.99.

Offers expire on January 31, 2013 so the reward for early adopters is about $140 per PC.

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