Windows 7 upgrade plans leaked

Peter Gill (Buddy J)

February 12, 2009 11:14 AM ET in News, , , , , , ,

windows7It’s funny how on the day the Windows 7 beta downloads come to an end, a document leaks out outlining Microsoft’s consumer upgrade plan for the new OS.

The good news is it looks like the upgrade will be free.

The bad news is it’ll be free for only for people who purchased the more expensive versions of Vista. Here’s the breakdown:

  • Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Home Premium
  • Vista Business to Windows 7 Professional
  • Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate

XP users and anyone with Vista Home Basic or Starter Edition will be stuck paying full price. Also, no word yet on multiple license packages.

13 Comments:

  1. MiracleManS
    12 Feb '09, 4:30 pm

    So, basically I'm better off buying the xp to vista upgrade and get the free 7?

  2. Zuntar
    12 Feb '09, 6:05 pm

    Basically

  3. Snarkasm
    12 Feb '09, 6:37 pm

    Also, there's no word on what dates the offer is good for. We still don't know when you can buy Vista to be eligible.

    Edit: Engadget says July 1st, but that's not supported anywhere else that I've seen.

  4. airbornflght
    12 Feb '09, 8:27 pm

    I'm glad I have vista ultimate.

  5. Khaos
    13 Feb '09, 3:59 pm
    Quoting MiracleManS

    So, basically I'm better off buying the xp to vista upgrade and get the free 7?

    Not all licenses are created equal. Embedded in the license number / key for all Microsoftware is information about what kind of purchase was made. It is feasible that they could limit free upgrades to people who purchased full licenses for Vista and not those who purchased Vista upgrades from XP, although I don't see that as being likely.

    We will need to wait for more details about the upgrade program.

    On that note, does anyone know if the free upgrades will apply to OEM/System Builder licenses for Vista Home Premium such as those purchased from Newegg?

  6. Leonardo
    13 Feb '09, 7:47 pm

    I'll be watching this closely. I have a retail Vista Home Premium Upgrade disk (not used) that I briefly had for sale. I think I'll hold onto it now and see what shakes out.

  7. Snarkasm
    13 Feb '09, 7:53 pm

    It won't matter. You didn't buy it after whatever arbitrary date they're going to designate as the eligible period. You have essentially no chance of getting 7 for free legally.

  8. Leonardo
    13 Feb '09, 8:33 pm

    Hmm, time to put the Upgrade disk back on Craigslist and Deal Depot & Trading Post...unless:

    Well, is this a reasonable expectation (all retail OS versions) -- Win XP Pro -> Vista Home Premium Upgrade --> Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade?

    Too early to tell?

  9. Snarkasm
    13 Feb '09, 8:54 pm

    I believe they've said you can "upgrade" from XP to 7 directly (i.e. using the upgrade disc), you just won't be able to do it in place - you'll have to do a clean install. If all you're interested in is getting 7 at the upgrade price, I think they'll let you do that from an XP license.

  10. Thrax
    13 Feb '09, 8:58 pm

    It will.

  11. Leonardo
    13 Feb '09, 10:31 pm

    Yeah, that would be a solution if it turns out in practice to work. I'm curious as to why Microsoft has not closed the clean installation trick with the upgrade versions. Maybe it's because such a small percentage of users do it. I guess it could also be they'd rather have people do the trick than pirate the software.

    But yeah, I will upgrade Windows with the upgrade-clean install trick due to cost. I have several computers, and for ease configuring and administering the machines, I'd much prefer to keep them all with the same OS version. That brings up to side issues: 1) I wish Microsoft would wake up and sell a retail party pack. Do they understand how many households have multiple computers? 2) No, I have dabbled with Linux just enough to know I'd rather pay cash for Windows than use Linux. Some day, some day, but not yet.

  12. Snarkasm
    13 Feb '09, 10:34 pm

    ... well in this case, it's not a trick. They understand if you haven't upgraded to Vista, so they'll let you upgrade from either it or XP to go to 7.

  13. Leonardo
    13 Feb '09, 10:43 pm

    By trick I meant to use an upgrade version for a fresh install in a formatted disk.

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