Where you are, perhaps. In my neck of the woods, it's all Win 8 machines these days, and asking for/trying to order a Win 7 PC will result in a "no can do"  Proprietary machines now come only with Win 8 pre-installed here in Oz.  In mean, there may be the odd few stores in the boondocks with one or two Win 7 machines left, but they're as rare as rockinghorse shit in mainstream Australia.

I know of a few smaller PC shops that can still build Win 7 rigs for people, they still have the discs, but a recent query for my neighbour with one of the larger stores was met with: "Sorry Microsoft recalled all our Windows 7 Discs.  All we have left are Windows 8, if that's any good....."  It doesn't matter to me because I already have Win 8 installed an I'm loving it, but my neighbour is getting a bit frantic because she definitely does NOT want Win 8... despite my showing her that it is the same as Win 7 underneath and how easy it is to use with Start8, etc.  Nope, she won't have a bar of it and says she can't afford to get one with Win 7 built [about 200 bucks more].... so I'll leave her with it until she makes a decision one way or the other.

I really can't understand all this pissing and moaning over Win 8.  Sure it brought in some new features... call it Metro, but underneath is a sturdy, reliable and useable desktop just like Win 7's... only faster and with some useful new features.

starkers...if you are into those stores that currently ONLY stock Win8 junk....you are in the wrong stores for computers.

You're thinking Hardly Normal, JB, or the Good Guys...or some such.  They are not computer stores.  Try and find someone in any of those who actually gets past help such as "have you tried turning it off and on again?" ...;)

That's pretty much what I said... the larger stores, JB, etc.  I know smaller stores... as in specialist PC stores, that can build Win 7 machines, and a few still have a proprietary rig or two laying around with Win 7 on them, but for the most part, 7 has pretty much disappeared... and HAS in 99.99% of mainstream stores... eg Good Guys, etc. 

My regular PC store was contacted by MS to return all copies of Win to Sydney HQ... Pat told them he only had one left and it had been ordered by a regular so could not do so.  Truth was, he has about 11 copies: 6 Builders; One Pro and 3 Premium, but they didn't need to know that.

Soooo, like you said, it's pretty much as I said.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

Windows 7 isn't that hard to find. Just have to know where to look. Hey look at that even Jafo called Windows 8 junk.

Yeeah, we're making progress. Let's keep pounding more sense into them 

Maybe in the US, but here in Oz it's as scare as chooks [hens] teeth... a few smaller stores still have it, but all the larger chain/department stores are all selling Win 8 and that's it.  As I stated earlier, a couple of places told me that MS in Sydney has been recalling Win 7 discs.  Apparently the same has begun in the US, UK and Europe, parts of Asia.

As I said a couple of months ago, Microsoft will not want to be supporting multiple OSes, and this is the beginning of the end for Win 7 as well.  And though XP would supposedly be supported into 2014, the same little dicky birds who told me Win 7 would be culled from December 2012 also hinted strongly that XP support will be nixed mid-2013... "to make way for new and updated technologies".

So there you have it... maybe not from the horse's mouth, but I'm told it's reliable.

Yeah, do that.... until you run out of alternatives [see above for why]

I'll bet my last dollar Win 7 sees another year or two... maybe three, before its support is benched.

Don't include me.....in that.

The only value I can see in Win8 over and above the PERFECTLY GOOD 7 is the opportunity to make use of Stardock's new trickery.

The OS leaves me cold.

7 will be my best friend for a good long while yet.

Starkers you can still order from Newegg even if you live outside the US. So whats your next excuse?

Awww...you're a real pal. Wiz.  :')

:') :')  :')  :')  Hmmm, it just doesn't feel the same,... somehow.........

Not too many Australians would even know about Newegg, much less that they could purchase Win 7 from it.... and even if they did, I doubt many would consider purchasing a rig from the US with Win 7 pre-installed [which is how most purchase their PC's]... warranty and product servicing/return issues.

You can only order from Newegg delivery in US i believe. At last, last time i checked.

Yeah, same with most other US online PC/electronics stores.  When we were paying double or more for our PC components than people in the US, I checked out quite a few of them to see if I could pick up a few of the more expensive items more cheaply than here, and they only shipped within the US... probably because of the issues with warranties and returns.

Well you could pick out what you want from Newegg and have a friend here get it for you.

kona, it doesn't matter how you butter it, the majority of Australians are not going to purchase a computer and/or accessories from the US and have it/them shipped over, whether they have a friend there or not.  For the most part, people are not going to have a friend over there, and even if they did, the cost of shipping privately [companies get it cheaper] is quite steep.  For example, that HDD and cable I sent you, cost nearly 40 bucks to post, so imagine how much a PC with Win 7 pre-installed would cost to post.  Okay, so a Win 7 disc wouldn't cost that much, but it's sill a case of the somebody here knowing a somebody there.... and most wouldn't.

The fact remains, then, that once the few remaining discs in the wild have either been sold or rounded up by MS, Win 7 will soon be an OS of the past here in Australia.

Sounds like it's time for you to migrate to the US.

Nah, I'm too old and set in my ways here to be uprooting all over again.  I've had 3 major shifts in my lifetime, one from the UK to Australia, then from Queensland to Tasmania. and Tasmania back to Queensland, and that's enough for me, at almost 60. Besides, I have 2 copies of Win 7 Home Premium on rigs here, so it's not like I have a problem.  As for pricing, well we're more on a par with US pricing these days, in fact cheaper in some cases, so that's not an issue any more, either.  Mind you, I'd like to visit the US, though not so much for the big cities, more for the natural wonders and scenic sights America has to offer.

If they change their gun laws....

Which means never.

And what's wrong with our gun laws?

You ARE kidding, right?

Everyone outside of the US can see it...but seemingly no-one inside can.

If you are an American you are incapable of comprehending just how fucked up US gun 'control' is.

Therefore there IS NO POINT in discussion.

people might like American prices of computer parts. i am not sure they like American wages or welfare cheques.

also, if Australians couldn't afford their computer parts they might just order them from China. much cheaper, much better and ruining the local economy.

Dollar for dollar I don't think Oz is all that bad...although if you compare IKEA price gouging here with how cheap it is in the US....you too would kick up a stink of negative press until they [IKEA] relented and lowered [some].

The absurdity was when they tried to tell us freight costs were higher to get to Oz...than the US...

Sorry, IKEA....you might be some furrener in Europe...but WE KNOW HOW FAR INDONESIA is from here....;p  [Oz price for an Indonesian-made IKEA desk was double what it was in the US].