Microsoft Corp. announced on Tuesday U.S. prices for Windows Vista, the long-awaited new version of the operating system that sits on more than 90 percent of the world's PCs.

Microsoft, the world's biggest software maker, also reconfirmed its plan to target a general launch of the product in January after making it available to large-volume business customers in November.

Windows Vista, already five years in the making, has been postponed by Microsoft several times.

The software maker set the retail price for Vista at between $199 to $399, ranging from the basic version to the top-end ultimate edition. For customers upgrading from Windows XP, Vista will cost between $100 and $259.

Microsoft released on Friday a test version of Windows, dubbed Release Candidate 1, and made it available to more than 5 million customers worldwide.

Goldman Sachs analyst Rick Sherlund said the initial feedback on the test version of Vista is encouraging.

While substantial progress has been made with Vista, the timing is still iffy in our view and feedback over the next few weeks will be critical, said Sherlund in a note to clients.

Shares of Microsoft fell 6 cents to $25.78 on the Nasdaq.

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