Microsoft's next major Windows 8 will drop on October 26. Anybody who upgrades between then and January 31, 2013 can get Windows 8 Pro for $40. What about everybody sitting on the fence biting their fingernails until February 1? Surprise! Windows 8 is going to be as expensive as ever.

We're mostly optimistic about Windows 8. It has a fresh user interface designed to be touch-friendly, it has an app store and it's going to ship alongside the Surface tablet. October 26 should be a very good day for Microsoft, or at the very least an interesting one.

But if you don't upgrade your old Windows XP, Vista or 7 PC by the end of January, you're going to be stuck paying $70 for the standard version of Windows 8 and $200 for the Pro version.

The pricing won't make anyone who's purchased previous versions of Windows for $200 bat an eye, but for shoppers who look at cost first, Apple's $20 OS X Mountain Lion is going to look like an even sweeter deal.

If you've already decided to jump on the Windows 8 ship, now's not the time to lounge around. You'll have three months create backups of your data and download Windows 8 for the low, low price of $40. After January 31, it's going to be pretty hard to swallow Microsoft's steep price ramp-up.

Really, there's never been a better incentive to be an early adopter for a new version of Windows.

In previous Windows 8 stories on DVICE, your feedback was mostly mixed. Some loved the new UI and some hated it. But this time, we're interested in knowing what feature in Windows 8 you're most excited for or disappointed about. Does anything Microsoft is showing look like it's worth $70, let alone $200? Can an OS be that expensive anymore? Leave us your two cents in the comments below.

The Verge, via Tom's Hardware