Check it out

http://promotions.newegg.com/Microsoft/Windows7/PreSale/index.html

Professional = $99.99 (Originally $199.99)
Home Premium = $49.99 (Originally $119.99)

Newegg Sale on Epson printers:
http://promotions.newegg.com/Printers/061609Epson/index.html?cm_sp=Tabstore_ComputerHardware-_-Printers061609Epson-_-http%3a%2f%2fpromotions.newegg.com%2fPrinters%2f061609Epson%2f118x118.gif

@Swivelgames nice, but if you have MSDN Academic Alliance (AA), you get Windows 7 Ultimate Edition RC for free!

I thought the RC was free? I have the ISO, I think. Even if I do, I don't have a product key :/

Why thumbsdown? because you don't have access to this resource, or because you feel negatively about Windows 7?

I would still pre-order, I have the RC and mine and everything I read says it stops working at a predetermined date this year (I am almost sure that date is right around when the product hits the shelves).

Ah, makes sense. With AA we can just upgrade to the full for free when it comes outl.

I could've sworn the RC stops functioning sometime early NEXT year
Either way, pre-ordering Win7 Home Premium sometime soon (hopefully today)

Quite correct. It'll totally stop working in summer of next year, IIRC.

I'm not preordering, simply because MSDN AA has me covered.

/me high-fives

But that's smart of the rest of you to preorder at half-price; you then get extremely reasonable prices compared with the ripoff that Vista Ultimate was full-price, for example.

Can someone explain to me the advantages of getting Windows 7 over say another computer with XP? I realize that XP does not support 64 bit, but I was wondering what the other advantages are to getting Windows 7.

I'm mainly interested for convincing my dad to get it for a new computer and he does not feel a strong need to update.

My dad mainly seems concerned about all of the applications we have running on our current (9 year old) XP computer and whether they wil also work on Windows 7. I saw the part about the professional version supporting many XP applications, but does anyone know how well that works and to what extent the claim is true?

If this is your main concern, look in to getting Windows 7 Professional. It has a built-in XP emulator (basically) )

Not necessarily. What appears on MSDN AA and who it is available to depends on what your educational establishment (or the company running MSDN AA on their behalf) chooses to offer.