"I'm very disappointed in the upgrade pricing," said Stephen Baker, an analyst with the NPD Group. "I would have much rather seen Microsoft come out aggressive, and wipe the world clean of all the Vista problems."

Earlier today, for Windows 7, which put the lowest-priced upgrade -- an edition of Windows 7 Home Premium -- at $119.99, a price cut of less than 8% from Vista's comparable version.

"That $120 is a pretty big nut, especially when you can buy a new PC for around $300," said Baker, who's dubious about Microsoft's upgrade pricing.

Earlier on Thursday, Baker took Microsoft to task over pricing in a post to the , calling $120 "way too much for the software" and adding that Microsoft could hamper migration to the new OS. "It is in Microsoft's best interests to erase all vestiges of Vista from consumers' homes, and by making the upgrade expensive, and a bit painful, Microsoft is creating a large disincentive for consumers to move to a far superior platform with a better user experience," Baker said.

He also slammed Microsoft for not providing a multi-license offer for upgrading all of a family's PCs. "In a world, at least in the U.S., where most homes are moving into a multiple PC environment, it would enhance the consumer home experience if they could upgrade all their home PCs at a single low price with a single boxed purchase," Baker said.