Windows 7 pricing?

[Harrison]

You can, and it is recommend, to install upgrade versions of Windows as a fresh copy. You don't need to have the previous version of Windows installed for it to work. It will just ask you to insert the disc or enter the product code for the older version to verify you own one before it allows the install.

[outlawal2]

You can, and it is recommend, to install upgrade versions of Windows as a fresh copy. You don't need to have the previous version of Windows installed for it to work. It will just ask you to insert the disc or enter the product code for the older version to verify you own one before it allows the install.

One thing that I will add to this is to keep in mind that if you EVER use a Microsoft Upgrade, once you install the new product it will completely disable the old key. (I know this because I had a customer that had a similar situation as you and bought a laptop with XP on it... They had a free upgrade to Vista so they loaded Vista and it disabled the XP key. The customer decided that he liked XP better and when he tried to re-load XP he wasn't able to because the key was disabled. A LOT of hassle with Microsoft and a LOT of time spent on the phone to get XP loaded on this machine.)

For most folks this isn't an issue, but it is something that most folks are not aware of and it is something to consider before purchasing an upgrade. I personally never purchase upgrades since there are often problems trying to upgrade existing and I prefer to build from scratch anyway...

Simply food for thought..

[Demon Cleaner]

I agree, and the full version is only some € more expensive.

[Harrison]

The pricing structure of M$ OS hasn't been very logical since Vista. With XP it cost under half the full price for a copy of XP pro upgrade. But with Vista this wasn'y true, costing only about 20% less that the retail version. And with Windows 7 it is even worse.

Doesn't really inspire users to upgrade.

As I said about though. Upgrade copies are still the full version just like the full retail versions. They just ask for some proof of purchase of a previous version before allowing it to install. You can use an upgrade copy to install to a new/blank HD, just as with the full version. You don't need a previous version installed on the hdd.

[Demon Cleaner]

The price raised by 30£ at Amazon, I just checked

[Harrison]

Just in time for Christmas. Funny that!

[J T]

My work email address is a .ac.uk, fortunately I'm eligible for a student copy of win7 pro, about 30 quid to download, which is pretty sweet.

I just need to get another hard drive first, and then figure out how to juggle all the HDDs to have XP (for torrenting and stuff), and Vista (for now, in case Lady T decides she hates windows 7) too.