Planning to upgrade to Windows 7? Here is everything you need to know, including moving from Windows XP to Windows 7, moving from Windows Vista to Windows 7, and upgrading editions of Windows 7 once you already have the new operating system.
From Windows XP to Windows 7;Information here is still a bit murky because Microsoft has not specified which XP editions will be eligible. The good news is that the company has confirmed that users currently running Windows XP will be able to buy the cheaper upgrade option of Windows 7. However, they will only be able to perform a clean install. The hassle of backing up applications and user data will fall on the user; the upgrade process will not backup anything.That may come as a shock to some, but Microsoft typically lets users purchase the cheaper upgrade option by owners of the last two releases of Windows (in this case XP and Vista) but the older of the two operating systems usually require a clean install.
From Windows Vista to Windows 7;Microsoft will only allow the following upgrade paths to Vista users. For example, users who purchase an upgrade copy of Windows 7 Professional and have Vista Home Premium will only be able to perform a clean install. Here's the migration list:
* Windows Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Home Premium
* Windows Vista Business to Windows 7 Professional
* Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate
If you are performing an upgrade installation from Windows Vista, the base language must match the target Windows 7 language, you must have about 9GB of free space for the installation, and the installation can only occur on the same partition that holds Windows Vista. Existing applications and user data will be automatically migrated to the new Windows 7 installation.Clean installs will require about 16GB for the installation process. Unless the user chooses to repartition or format the current partition, Vista's files from C:\WINDOWS will be preserved under C:\WINDOWS.OLD, just as when upgrading from XP to Vista. Clean installs will also have to be performed when upgrading from a 32-bit version to a 64-bit version. More at; http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/02/upgrading-to-windows-7-what-xp-and-vista-users-need-to-know.ars
From Windows XP to Windows 7;Information here is still a bit murky because Microsoft has not specified which XP editions will be eligible. The good news is that the company has confirmed that users currently running Windows XP will be able to buy the cheaper upgrade option of Windows 7. However, they will only be able to perform a clean install. The hassle of backing up applications and user data will fall on the user; the upgrade process will not backup anything.That may come as a shock to some, but Microsoft typically lets users purchase the cheaper upgrade option by owners of the last two releases of Windows (in this case XP and Vista) but the older of the two operating systems usually require a clean install.
From Windows Vista to Windows 7;Microsoft will only allow the following upgrade paths to Vista users. For example, users who purchase an upgrade copy of Windows 7 Professional and have Vista Home Premium will only be able to perform a clean install. Here's the migration list:
* Windows Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Home Premium
* Windows Vista Business to Windows 7 Professional
* Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate
If you are performing an upgrade installation from Windows Vista, the base language must match the target Windows 7 language, you must have about 9GB of free space for the installation, and the installation can only occur on the same partition that holds Windows Vista. Existing applications and user data will be automatically migrated to the new Windows 7 installation.Clean installs will require about 16GB for the installation process. Unless the user chooses to repartition or format the current partition, Vista's files from C:\WINDOWS will be preserved under C:\WINDOWS.OLD, just as when upgrading from XP to Vista. Clean installs will also have to be performed when upgrading from a 32-bit version to a 64-bit version. More at; http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/02/upgrading-to-windows-7-what-xp-and-vista-users-need-to-know.ars