Amazon has the Microsoft Windows 8 Professional Upgrade Version from XP, Vista and Windows 7 (3UR-00001) on pre-order for $70 with free shipping. Includes a $30 promotional credit with purchase. The release date is October 26th. You will be able to upgrade online via $40 download if you can wait until that date. 
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so far I have not found a single person that prefers 8 to 7.
Your search is over. Ive gotten bored with existing beta software (win 7) And am enjoying the newest beta title
There seems to always be at least one contrarian in the crowd...
so far I have not found a single person.....but many married couples prefers 8 to 7.
Yeah, #2 is single, contrarian and in to Window 8's bacon pot pie menu...
How is this a deal? Pay $70 ($30 more than the actual download price) and get a $30 gift card. That means you are essentially buying the download and gift card at face value.
^ a hard copy delivered to your door will always be more valuable than a download at a later date that is subject to loss or further effort burning the disc yourself, with the disc you burn yourself also being more volatile than a factory pressed disc.
At the same time, I doubt Win8 will drop below $40 for the d/l any day soon, even if the poor reviews and customer dissatisfaction continues thanks to the monopoly MS holds in the market.
I like it and despite all your complaining you will all be using some variations of it in the next 5 years. The vision behind is solid: mainly that touch devices will win out in the near future. Therefore MS is pushing all of its developers and developer community into a platform that develop only once and use across many devices. Simpler apps with fewer functions, but perhaps more of them. No more huge websites with thousands of links and inlaid apps, but simpler ones that are easier to use.
It's hard to see it now if you're not completely sold on the touch devices, but the next generation has already moved on from using a mouse.
Beside do you see a single mouse in Star Trek? Fourth movie notwithstanding.
^ being sold on touchscreen only has to do with size/weight/cost reductions needed in a highly portable device. Few people are going to want to be touching their desktop monitor for routine things... people are just too lazy to do this, a wrist movement is far easier than moving your whole arm around.
Think about how women will look in bikinis, halter tops and other sleeveless attire if they have huge muscled shoulders from holding their arms up to use a touchscreen desktop all day. Think about how senior citizens just can't physically do this for long, their joints aren't up to it. Mobile devices are getting smaller so you have small movements like with a mouse but on desktops the screens have been getting larger over the years.
But you're still thinking of the screen as what we use today. Gorilla glass will make any hardtop surface into a monitor. Think of desks kitchen counter, tables and walls all as working spaces. So you are likely looking and pointing down tha up. Now with win 8 And beyond you are not limited in your desktop workspace. It can be elongated for as much of the surface as you have. You can also bring to focus what you need and shoo other pieces away. Anyway it's still got a long way to go, as do all the supporting hardware.
No thanks, I tried windows 8 from developer release to RTM 90 day trial. Almost as ugly as windows 3.11 for the desktop with a full screen start menu. Really, if it weren't full screen that way, I'd not have as much problem with it. This is Windows, not Window.