So the consumer version of Windows Vista is with us at last. Was the wait worth it? Probably not, but it’s certainly a big improvement on the increasingly wobbly XP.

But, here’s an anomaly in my neck of the woods. In the U.S. the price of the Home Basic Upgrade is $99.99. The Home Premium Upgrade is $149.99.

In the UK, the Home Basic Upgrade is £99.99 (pounds). Home Basic Premium is £149.99 (pounds), and that’s the price quoted by Britain’s top online discount house.

Trouble is, there are now almost two dollars to the pound. We are therefore being charged twice the American price.

Why? Is the cost of shipping across the Atlantic really that much?

Methinks some serious profit-taking is going on here.