Starting Friday, Microsoft and a limited number of U.S. retailers -- including Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, Office Depot, Quill.com and Microsoft's own online store -- will take to Windows 7 Home Premium and a $99.99 upgrade to Windows 7 Professional.

Microsoft's covered both the holiday and back-to-school season with Windows 7, said Baker, even though the OS won't be shipping in time for the latter. "They would have had to have it out now, not in October, to make back-to-school," said Baker. Instead, back-to-school PC sales will continue as usual -- the Oct. 22 launch is much too late to entice students and parents to delay a summer or early fall purchase -- and most will be eligible for the free upgrade from Vista.

"Overall, there's more positive here than negative," said Baker, who in his blog gave Microsoft's Windows 7 effort thus far an "A+" grade.

But there's still room for improvement. "I don't think they'll extend [the pre-order discount] now. They'll let it run its course and see what happens." But the $50 pre-sale price, which Baker applauded, shows that there's some flexibility in the Microsoft's pricing for Windows 7. "It clearly says that they're hedging their bets a little."

Later, as the Oct. 22 launch approaches, Baker said he wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft didn't return to that discount well.