I knew there must have been some reason I went to college. For just about anyone with an *.edu email address, you should be able to score this deal from Microsoft on Windows 7 Professional ($29.99 is a touch less than retail…). It’s not clear if this is just an upgrade or you can do a clean install (I suspect the latter), it’s also not clear if it’s a download or a disc. If it’s a download, you should be able to convert it to a bootable DVD, according to the Internet. Also available from that site is Office Ultimate 2007 for $60, and Vizio for $60.
Some will be wondering why anyone would care about this, but a few people I think still use Windows so it could be useful for them. Apple has promised Boot Camp support for Windows 7 by the end of the year, so that’s something. My Sony VAIO netbook that I loved dearly won’t charge any more, so no Windows 7 for me, for now.