The Blighty press were all set to run “rip-off Britain” stories when rumours started to circulate that Redmond was about to change £40 rather than the $39.99 US price. This was fueled by the fact that Amazon.co.uk is currently offering Windows 8 on pre-order for £49.99. That is the price for a physical disk and the tabloids are easily confused.

Microsoft said that the upgrade will be just £24.99. Customers who bought a Windows 7 PC after 2 June 2012 will be able to get their digital copy of Windows 8 for £14.99 via windowsupgradeoffer.com.