The community has been able to experience Windows 7 RC for the past couple of weeks and so far, the general reaction is that it has beaten Windows Vista in every aspect. However, there is still one aspect of the OS that remains a concern and that is pricing. Microsoft has yet to release any pricing details, but according to CNet, Dell’s director of product management for Dell’s business client product group Darrel Ward, is already concerned about pricing being a potential obstacle.

If there’s one thing that may influence adoption, make things slower or cause customers to pause, it’s that generally the ASPs (average selling price) of the operating systems are higher than they were for Vista and XP.

In tough economic times, I think it’s naive to believe that you can increase your prices on average and then still see a stronger swell than if you held prices flat or even lowered them. I can tell you that the licensing tiers at retail are more expensive than they were for Vista.

Ward expects Windows 7 Professional to be more expensive than Windows Vista Business, and the result may be slower adoption rates among schools and government agencies. Aside from pricing, the demand for Windows 7 clearly has much more momentum than with Vista.

We do have a visible number of customers, large and small, who are actually waiting for Windows 7 and who have already put plans in place to target the transition to Windows 7, they’re asking Dell for help. That demand and this opportunity is stronger than it has been in the past

Dell also says that driver readiness is progressing at a good pace and Windows 7 is much further along than Vista was at this stage. Although pricing may be an issue, more than half of Dell’s customers still use XP, and they are expected by Dell to eventually upgrade to Windows 7.

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. Read the rest at windows7center.com.