Microsoft will offer digital Windows 8 Pro upgrades for $39.99

Microsoft will make it affordable to ditch your current Windows installation for the latest version. If your system is running Windows XP, Vista or 7, you'll be able to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for only $39.99 and if desired, you'll be able to add Windows Media Center for free via the "add features" option after the operating system installs.

Besides being cheap, the upgrade sounds straightforward enough for most users to perform without assistance. After downloading the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant, you'll be guided from purchase to installation, informing you about application or device incompatibilities, Windows 8's features, what you'll be able to keep and so on.

For reference, it was $120 or $220 to upgrade a Windows Vista machine to Windows 7 Home Premium or Ultimate (excluding promotions such as academic discounts and family packs).

It's worth noting that, although you can download an ISO via the Upgrade Assistant and create your own bootable DVD or USB drive, Microsoft will sell you a backup DVD for $15 plus shipping. Likewise, physical retail copies of the Windows 8 Pro upgrade media will cost $69.99. These prices will be available in 131 markets through January 31, 2013, and it's unclear how much they'll increase afterward.

As a reminder, folks who purchase a Windows 7 computer after June 2 will be able to upgrade to Windows 8 Profor only $14.99. Upgrading from Windows 7 will be seamless, allowing you to keep your files, applications and operating system settings. Windows Vista will only be able to keep files, while XP users will be able keep files and applications, if a rumor from last week pans out.

Nokia says they are doing 'more than enough' for Lumia users

Microsoft kicked off their Windows Phone Developer Summit yesterday by detailing several new features in Windows Phone 8 and filling in some of the blanks surrounding the existing mobile phone operating system. Specifically, Microsoft confirmed that handsets like the Lumia 900 would not be compatible with the new OS due out later this year.

Instead, legacy hardware will be upgraded to Windows Phone 7.8, an OS that will deliver some fresh features like a new Start Screen interface. This admission sparked some debate as to whether Microsoft and Nokia are doing enough for existing Lumia owners. In search of more answers, The Verge recently sat down with Nokia’s Kevin Shields to get some answers.

In a nutshell, Shields feels that Nokia is doing more than enough, pointing out that most customers probably aren’t aware of the upgrade roadblock. He further notes that anyone that walks into a store and buys a Lumia 900 is getting a great offer on a product that has a long lifetime of innovation.

During yesterday’s event, Nokia announced a new set of apps and updates coming to Lumia phones in the US and China in the near future. The Camera Extras app includes burst shooting, an action shot mode and a panorama mode while the Play To app helps users stream photos and videos to any DLNA device, such as a Smart TV, PC, Mac, PS3 or Xbox 360. Both of these features should be available by the weekend.

Counters and Contact Share allow the user to monitor phone usage and share contacts, respectively. Both will be available to those in the US next month.a