Windows 7 upgrade options outlined

Fri Feb 13, 2009 11:34AM EST

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Now that we've all come to terms with the myriad versions of Windows 7 that will be available upon its release, Microsoft has turned its attention to how current Windows users might upgrade to one of those versions. For the most part, the news is good, and anyone with XP or Vista should be able to upgrade without breaking the bank.

The best news is that any XP or Vista user will qualify for a upgrade pricing for any version of Windows 7. There's still no word on how much the full retail vs. the upgrade packages will cost, but you'll get some discount for your loyalty. The fine print is in how you'll be able to upgrade your machine.

If you're a Vista user, your upgrade options will be the simplest. Users of any of the following -- Vista Home Premium, Vista Business, or Vista Ultimate -- will be able to upgrade without losing applications and data to the comparable version of Windows 7. In other words: You can easily upgrade Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Home Premium, Vista Business to Windows 7 Professional, and Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate. You'll have to keep the language currently on your Vista installation too, but I doubt this will be a hardship for many users.

All other Vista users -- and all XP users -- will unfortunately have to do a so-called "clean install" of the operating system, which means you'll lose all the data and programs on your hard drive and will have to reinstall apps and restore data from backup after you install the OS. If you're switching versions from, say Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional, you'll have to do a clean install. If you're jumping from 32-bit Vista to 64-bit Win 7... you guessed it, clean install.

As a final note, as with Vista, Windows 7 will include the Windows Anytime Upgrade feature that lets you upgrade to a better version of Windows 7 after it's already installed (for a fee, of course). All the versions of Windows 7 will ship on every DVD, so you won't have to buy a new DVD or download anything extra to get whatever package you end up desiring.

Complicated stuff, perhaps, so consider reading this Ars Technica post for additional information and examples.

Comments on Windows 7 upgrade options outlined

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  • 2 Posted by jimblink@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:35PM EDT Report Abuse

    Yeah right. With all the problems my wife has with Vista on her laptop, there's no way in heck I'm leaving XP yet.

  • 3 Posted by alexgannis on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:50PM EDT Report Abuse

    Clean install big deal, It better to do a clean install once in a while since your computer consume a lot over time. I think window xp user who don't like vista and and window 7 should not be unable to upgrade many of those who complain never use vista or never upgrade their computer,upgraded their hardware and updated their software driver.. to be able to on vista.

  • 4 Posted by alexgannis on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:50PM EDT Report Abuse

    Clean install big deal, It better to do a clean install once in a while since your computer consume a lot over time. I think window xp user who don't like vista and and window 7 should not be unable to upgrade many of those who complain never use vista or never upgrade their computer,upgraded their hardware and updated their software driver.. to be able to use on vista

  • 5 Posted by mblaha2003 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:12PM EDT Report Abuse

    Honestly, I have been using the windows 7 beta and I love it. Now I just need to figure out how to convince my boss to upgrade from XP. XP was a fine OS but has run it's course and now in my eyes is obsolete. I find my self more productive on Windows 7 and hate switching back to XP.

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