Limit of Win7 upgrade ?

[phb2007]

Hi everybody, my 1st post ... hoping my english will be correct, being french

I'm currently using my old XP genuine license (XP Home) on the desktop I bought 1 year ago. This PC (Acer, w/ Q6600) had a pre-installed Vista Home I downgraded because I don't want any Vista "s...p" on my PC (as a lot of us), and by changing my HDD for a bigger one (I just copied my "old" partition) ;

According this article : http://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-xp-7-upgrade-vista,6965.html, MSoft offers the ability to upgrade an XP to 7 thru a clean install from an upgrade media ...

Will I be able to upgrade my XP Home to 7 Pro thru the "Win7 Pro upgrade" currently at 125CAD ? Or will I be limited to upgrade XP Home to 7 Home ?

Thanks for your answers



Adds :
I still have my pre-installed Vista on an unused HDD, use my XP since 2002 and I'm testing 2 OS :
- Ubuntu
- 7 Pro

I noticed that 7 32-bits and 64-bits will be on the same DVD ... I also read a few threads about 7 but I didn't find the answer .

Seven is obviously better than Vista : faster and easier essentially. My choice is :
a) I keep Windows as main OS if my XP can be upgraded to Win7Pro for a reasonable price ;
b) the price is not reasonable (200$+ is not, even for a full version), then Ubuntu will be my next OS ...

 

[Zoron]

No, you won't be limited to Home... you can purchase a Pro upgrade and it will upgrade any previous versions of Windows from 2K to Vista.

You could have tried Vista... it doesn't bite, I promise. The stories you read upon Vista's release just don't apply anymore. (I never thought they did at all). It's not as bad as some people would have you believe.

You will be able to upgrade from XP via a clean install... you cannot do an "in-place" upgrade from Windows XP or Win 2K... only Vista allows you to do that. Of course, I prefer clean installs anyway... and I'm glad to see that option is there.

As for the price... all versions of Windows are priced that way at release. Take full advantage of the upgrade discount while you can. Pro usually starts at $199 for upgrade and $299 for full retail (US prices). OEM versions are usually priced close to upgrade pricing... sometimes it's a little more for OEM at release. Whether or not you think that's reasonable is up to you. MS has had that kind of pricing since Windows XP. Did you think that XP was reasonably priced?

 

[phb2007]

Thx Zoron, I also checked that point thru resellers and they confirmed too it'll be like Vista : upgrade "in-place" if you start from a Vista version, or full install from XP, w/o any limitation betw. Home and Pro.

I ordered the Pro version for its "XP comptatibility mode" + "Domain join" function.

Like you I prefer a clean install, followed by a clean image (True Image i.e) I can restore each 6-9 months to keep a clean registry.

I currently have 2 HDD (of 6 plugged) on the desktop I bought 1 year ago : 1 has Vista and clean (because I don't use it), and I installed 7 RC on the other one. Both HDD are 320Gb and 7200 rpm.
- Boot : Vista = 2mn10 (approx.), Seven 1mn15 ;
- Shut down : Vista =35-40", Seven = 15" ...

I clearly bypassed Vista and kept XP, but my next OS will be either Ubuntu, either Seven Pro : 7 gave me a good feeling, like a "fully" (what does it mean in IT ?) fixed and improved Vista ...

 

[Zoron]

If you run a lot of Windows programs (games being the best example), it's best to have Windows anyway. Linux is a great OS, but it still has a ways to go before it's as "user friendly" as Windows. I like Ubuntu, I just don't have the time to learn it as well as I'd like to.