Blue Christmas For Window 7 Sales?Blue Christmas For Window 7 Sales?

Image Gallery: Windows 7 Revealed

Hoping to tempt those customers steadfastly clinging to their Windows XP systems—i.e., the majority of computer users—into a Windows 7 upgrade, Microsoft said it will reintroduce a program that offers Win7 upgrade licenses at highly discounted prices.

By purchasing the Windows 7 Family Pack, consumers can upgrade up to three PCs from XP or Windows Vista to the Windows 7 Home Premium operating system for just $149. The price for a standard, one-PC upgrade license is $119, so the savings could be considerable for a multi-computer family.

There are, on average, 2.1 PCs per U.S. household, according to market watcher IDC.

The Windows 7 Family Pack will go on sale in the U.S. starting Oct. 3, a date that, perhaps not coincidentally, roughly marks the beginning of Microsoft's second quarter, which runs through the crucial holiday shopping season.

In reintroducing the Family Pack, which was previously available for the three months following Windows 7's October 2009 debut, Microsoft may be looking to boost what could be a lackluster holiday quarter for the company in terms of Windows sales, which (not including Windows Server) typically account for just under one-third of total sales.

Indeed, Microsoft will have a tough time matching its performance in Q2, 2009, when, fueled by the Windows 7 launch, Windows sales came in at $6.9 billion—up 73% from the previous year. Windows 7's share of the PC market more than tripled in the first three full months following its launch, but since then the adoption curve has flattened noticeably.

Data from Net Applications shows that Windows 7 has been adding only about 1.5 points of market share per month, over the past several months.

Its total share, as of August, was 15.87%. Windows XP, now more than a decade old, still holds 61% of the market by contrast. The much-maligned Windows Vista, meanwhile, is holding on with a market share of about 14%.

The Apple Mac OS's market share is 5%, and growing.

Will the reintroduction of Windows Family Pack be enough to significantly jumpstart Windows 7 sales in time for the 2010 holidays? Probably not, given tech consumers' current obsession with all things mobile. But it may be just enough to make the comparisons with last year seem a little less harsh.