“Our spectacular Black Friday deals are starting a day early”

Nov 20, 2012 07:40 GMT  ·  By

Although it may sound a bit weird, Microsoft will debut its Black Friday sales on Thursday, most likely in an attempt to sell more hardware and software and allow all of its buyers to purchase Microsoft products.

A banner posted on its Store website reveals that Black Friday sales will debut at 12 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day for most of its products.

There’s an exception though. Those looking to purchase the Surface tablet can only do so on Friday, as Microsoft expects the tablet to record the biggest success of all its Black Friday deals.

If you buy a Surface, you can save $50 (€39) for a second Type or Touch Cover, while some Xbox 360 consoles come with price cuts of $100 (€78). The Vizio 14-inch ultrabook is $150 (€117) cheaper, while Office Home and Student 2010 now costs $99.99 (€78), $50 (€39) below the original price.

“Deals go live at 12:00 AM PST with exception of $50 off Second Surface cover. That offer is valid—11/23 – 11/25. Limit up to 5 per customer,” Microsoft explained in a note.

Surprisingly, Microsoft isn’t (yet) offering a special Black Friday deal for Windows 8, the company’s latest operating system that’s already considered a disappointing product in the Redmond campus.

Other stores have already announced their Windows 8 discounts, with pricing to start at $48 (€37.5) for a boxed copy of the operating system.

Amazon has also prepared special prices for Microsoft’s new software, but more information is yet to be disclosed. Most stores however are expected to unveil their discounts in a couple of days.

“Black Friday Deals Week offers millions of pounds of savings on hundreds of Christmas gifts as well as every day essentials,” said Christopher North, managing director at Amazon.co.uk, while pointing out that Amazon’s Windows 8 deals would be unveiled just in time for Black Friday.