Today we heard confirmation from Microsoft that it will be offering Anytime Upgrades at retail for consumers looking to move from one edition of Windows 7 to the next. (See this story for more on the box art mock ups.)
Although it will give retailers yet another SKU to deal with, offering an upgrade scheme at retail could potentially be a good thing for new PC buyers.
When Windows Vista released, some users were very disappointed (to the point of taking legal action) that not all PCs were able to take advantage of all the new features of Vista, such as the Aero interface. That won’t be a problem that Windows 7 will have to deal with, at least not on the hardware side.
On the software side, there still will still undoubtedly be some confusion as to what the differences are between all the various editions of Windows 7, but at least now a consumer (especially those who prefer to buy things tangibly) who isn’t happy with the lack of Aero on their netbook can go into the store and purchase a box that will enable it for him.
So, with that in mind, we want to know what you think.
The question of the day is: Do you think Windows 7 Anytime Upgrades at retail are a good idea?