How much is that Vista in the Windows?

Microsoft Canada has accidentally published the prices for Vista on their web site. These prices give some insight in what to expect when Vista finally hits the market, but the prices have been taken offline already. Although Microsoft have already announced that the prices for Vista would be about the same as the prices for Windows XP, it is still interesting to see what this will really mean. They also announced that they will publish the prices after "Release Candidate 1" is released, which is planned for September. For those that cannot wait, here is the highlights of the list that has been taken of the Canadian MSFT site:

• Windows Vista Basic Edition, the cheapest basic version of Vista which can be compared with XP Home edition, will cost 259 Canadian dollars, which is 233 US $ and 182 euro.
  Side note: Windows XP Home cost 199 US $ in 2001. A difference of 34 US $, or 17%, which is not bad if we take the effects of inflation (approximately 3.5% per year) into consideration.
• Vista Home Premium Edition, that combines characteristics of Windows Media Center and the Tablet PC-edition, will have a price raise of 13%, i.e. 299 Canadian $ (269 US $, which is 211 euro).
• Vista Business would cost 379 Canadian $ (341 US $, 267 euro). This is 7 % cheaper than Windows XP Professional.
• Vista Ultimate (what's in a name) will cost twice as much as the Basic Edition: 499 Canadian $ (449 US $, 352 euro).