I hate myself right now

[MichaelZ3RO]

So about a year ago I bought a prebuilt PC and eventually used some of its parts in a new PC. Today I replaced all my old parts and put them back into the prebuilt PC. Except the hard drive which I kept because it was 2tb and I bought a new 1tb one for the rebuilt PC. I just finally understtod that my hard drive has windows while the other PC Doesn't. My friend is expecting to buy older one soon and I don't know what to do. He's already gonna pay 350 I can't tell him that he need 80 more dollars for windows. Im really not sure what to do this is giving me great anxiety, someone please help me 🙁 I'm thinking maybe I can get windows 8 if it gets really cheap on Black Friday, does it ever?

 

[Darkbreeze]

There is very little likelihood of MS ever dropping the prices on their OS's due to a holiday sale. Holiday sales are tools used to move inventory that is otherwise slow moving or to make room for newer hardware. Windows is, in lieu of another OS like Linux, always in demand, always a necessity and doesn't take up much room in warehouses or on showroom floors so it's unlikely to see much push for price drops. You might see a very small change temporarily by individual vendors, but it's not likely.

 

[Alfrodo]

You could install a free technical preview of Windows 10:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCcQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwindows.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Fwindows%2Fpreview-iso&ei=hDRwVMPsGo-5iQK6z4HIDw&usg=AFQjCNEhU_V-Px6vY3kIzbCC6Rzv5rkAFQ&bvm=bv.80185997,d.cGE

 

[Retrowire]

darkbreeze, I've seen a nice discount on all Windows OS' every Black Friday for years now.

MichaelZ3RO, currently Windows 8 is 99.99 on Newegg. It could possibly drop to 89.99 or even 79.99 on Black Friday based on what I've seen.

Keeping that in mind, Windows 7 is still a great Operating system, and I would suggest buying that to hold your friend over until they'd like to upgrade the OS themselves. If they're expecting Windows 8 however, you may have to come clean unless you do buy it for them. Windows 7 is also 99.99 on Newegg right now, but you can shop around and you WILL find a better price, especially by Black Friday.

In fact, because Microsoft is eager to move Windows 8 and get people off of Windows 7, you're more likely to see cheaper Windows 8's than 7's.

 

[Retrowire]

You could install a free technical preview of Windows 10:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCcQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwindows.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Fwindows%2Fpreview-iso&ei=hDRwVMPsGo-5iQK6z4HIDw&usg=AFQjCNEhU_V-Px6vY3kIzbCC6Rzv5rkAFQ&bvm=bv.80185997,d.cGE

I feel like an incomplete preview of an upcoming OS is worse than an outdated OS or no OS at all. Free Linux would be better than an OS that may not be capable of running some software.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yeah, like I said, you may see a small price drop by individual vendors who want to move hardware that requires the OS so they do it to make it appealing, but you won't see any MS sponsored price shifts.

I doubt VERY much you'll see prices drop any lower than this though, but stranger things have happened:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $89.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-22 02:18 EST-0500

 

[Alfrodo]

You could install a free technical preview of Windows 10:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCcQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwindows.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Fwindows%2Fpreview-iso&ei=hDRwVMPsGo-5iQK6z4HIDw&usg=AFQjCNEhU_V-Px6vY3kIzbCC6Rzv5rkAFQ&bvm=bv.80185997,d.cGE

I feel like an incomplete preview of an upcoming OS is worse than an outdated OS or no OS at all. Free Linux would be better than an OS that may not be capable of running some software.

I only meant as a temporary solution, not a long-term fix. Until he can get a full OS. Linux is a great alternative, good call.