Windows 7 Professional upgrade - Vista owners beware.
The Windows 7 Professional Upgrade DVD (32-bit or 64-bit) has only one version of Vista that it is able to upgrade based on the upgrade path chart. Vista Business edition owners win everybody else looses.
Supported Upgrade Scenarios
From Windows Vista (SP1, SP2)
Upgrade to Windows 7
Business
Professional, Enterprise, Ultimate
Enterprise
Enterprise
Home Basic
Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate
Home Premium
Home Premium, Ultimate
Ultimate
Ultimate
As you can see from both charts any way you cut it only those of you who currently have the Vista Business edition installed on your PC can make use of the Windows Professional upgrade. Buying the Pro upgrade is like snake eyes in a game of craps.
In short there is no indication on the retail box or in the EULA/License about the limitations of the Windows 7 Professional upgrade.
The License/EULA is of no help:
15.UPGRADES. To use upgrade software, you must first be licensed for the software that is eligible for the upgrade. Upon upgrade, this agreement takes the place of the agreement for the software you upgraded from. After you upgrade, you may no longer use the software you upgraded from.
The three way got ya:
16.PROOF OF LICENSE.
a.Genuine Proof of License. If you acquired the software on a disc or other media, your proof of license is the genuine Microsoft certificate of authenticity label with the accompanying genuine product key, and your proof of purchase. If you purchased and downloaded the software online, your proof of license is the genuine Microsoft product key for the software which you received with your purchase, and your proof of purchase from an authorized electronic supplier of genuine Microsoft software. Proof of purchase may be subject to verification by your merchant’s records.
Get your money back:
By using the software, you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, do not use the software. Instead, return it to the retailer for a refund or credit. If you cannot obtain a refund there, contact Microsoft or the Microsoft affiliate serving your country for information about Microsoft’s refund policies. See www.microsoft.com/worldwide. In the United States and Canada, call (800) MICROSOFT or see www.microsoft.com/info/nareturns.htm.
Note: There are 5,545 words in the License. That translates into 22 minutes of reading for the average person who can read about 250 words per minute (WPM). If you have the time and curiosity you can download the “End User License Terms” for any version of Windows 7 here.
What about Windows XP Users? Windows XP Users can do a Custom or otherwise know as an In-Place upgrade. If you have a Vista DVD collecting dust you finally may be able to put it to good use. First you upgrade Windows XP to Vista and then upgrade Vista to Windows 7. For more information on this two step "In-Place" upgrade process read:
