Win 7 upgrade - skip Vista?

Good question, I'm actually not sure. I don't think Microsoft will let you do an upgrade from the RC to the final version. Remember that the RC is not the final version of Windows 7; it's purely for try-before-buy.

I would suggest that you dual-boot Vista and Win 7 RC. That way Vista can be you primary OS for the short term, while you test Win 7 RC to see how it works. When you get your final copy of 7, you can either format completely or do an in-place upgrade from Vista to 7.

exactly. You can upgrade from VISTA, but not Windows 7 RC:

http://windows7news.com/2009/07/28/upgrade-path-reveale...

While actually doing an upgrade from the RC to the final version is not supported, there is some uncertainty as to whether you can use the upgrade version to do a clean install from the RC. Some say the RC counts as an "activated, previous version of Windows" necessary for the upgrade disk to run, others say it doesn't. There's really no way of knowing who's right until Oct. 22nd.

The difference is capability vs. licensing.

Capability: Can I use an upgrade disk to get from a valid Win7 RC version to a valid Win7 RTM version without having to reinstall all my applications etc. from scratch? The answer is: no, not supported from Win7 RC (or from XP), only from Vista.

Licensing: If I buy an upgrade disk, will the upgrade license key work and allow me to activate my Win7 RTM if my previous version (and license key) is for Win7 RC? The answer is: there's been FUD on this one. Certainly it will work if the previous version is Vista or XP. Personally I can't believe that it would work with JUST the RC as your previous version/license key because if that were true then nobody would ever have to buy a full version of Win7.

Not really; the previous version of Windows has to be activated. The Win7 RC can't be activated past June 1, 2010. So the period is definitely limited. It is also difficult to legally get a copy of the RC w/key right now. Finally, the upgrade version is only cheaper than OEM for those who purchased it during the discount period. So I don't think MS has too much to fear in leaving that door open.

Windows 7 RC -> Windows 7 RTM

No. No way. Not possible. Case closed.

Actually you can. Extract the contents of your Windows 7 RTM dvd to your hard drive. Enter the sources folder in the extracted DVD and open cversion.ini. Change MinClient=7233.0 to read MinClient=7000.0 and save the file. Run Setup and you can now upgrade the RC install to RTM.

I wouldn't recommend doing this though, as clean installs are, in almost every instance, and much better idea. If you're set on upgrading from the RC though, this is how you do it.

photonboy wrote:
Windows 7 RC -> Windows 7 RTM No. No way. Not possible. Case closed.

The_Prophecy wrote:
Change MinClient=7233.0 to read MinClient=7000.0 and save the file. Run Setup and you can now upgrade the RC install to RTM.

I believe that PhotonBoy was responding to Bolbi's suggestion that an RTM upgrade license is valid if it's based on an upgrade from the RC version, not as to whether the upgrade was technically doable or not.

To reiterate: there are two issues with regards to Win7 RC -> RTM upgrades: Capability vs. licensing. Capability - not officially supported. Licensing - the crystal ball is cloudy...  

Personally I wouldn't bother even putting Vista on. Windows 7 is much slicker and even the RC is amazingly stable and compatible. If you do have serious problems with what you want to do then by all means whack Vista on, oterwise 7 RC will do you well.

Then come October 22nd use your 7 coupon to get the full version and do a clean install.

Point taken.... hadn't thought of that.