Lack of XP to Windows 7 upgrade path causing grief

lol, yeah.... Well I was a little anebriated at the time of my posting and jumped to conclusions without thinking it through. It's not so bad after all, because I always make backups before any major upgrade/clean install.

Oh and Captain, I have to disagree. The difference between the pro and ultimate versions is negligible to say the least. The upgrade disc will be just as good as the oem because it also allows you to do a fresh "custom install" and costs alot less. It was the same way with XP upgrades. One of Microsofts little secrets that they didn't want to let loose on the rest of the world, but failed miserably at suppressing.

The last time I checked, a retail copy of XP Home edition was $199.95. An upgrade copy was $99.95, but didn't t you need a copy of Win 2000 to enable the install? An OEM copy of of XP Home is about $89.95 w/free shipping. Where have I strayed from the path to enlightenment?

With XP you could upgrade from win 98se as well as 2000. With Windows 7 pro (the version I purchased), the upgrade was $99 (when I purchased it) - $199 currently, and the full retail oem will be $299 so essentially I saved $200 by purchasing early.

That's not exactly the same as being to do a stand alone install from an upgrade disc, now is it?

Microsoft can not get Windows 7 Beta to upgrade to Windows 7 Release Candidate to work, how do we expect them to make Windows XP to Windows 7 upgrade a possibility.

it doesn't require any previous windows key. You just have to install it twice. You do a fresh install, not worrying about activating or putting in your key. Then from the desktop of your freshly installed windows 7 you put in the disk again and run setup from your desktop doing a fresh install again, fooling it into thinking you're upgrading from a version of windows since you're starting from your desktop. Do a "custom/clean" install again, and this time, your 2nd time through you put in your key etc.

My only question that seems not being asked is if the NSA and Homeland Security spyware programmed into Vista has been removed from Windows 7? It was found early on in Vista by some techs who accidently found them during their initial testing. That was a primary reason (besides Vista sucking, maybe because of this) that I kept away from Vista. Have any of you pros looked at this possibility?

B. Green, CA

I am more interested in an "upgrade" from RC1 to RTM.
It's the least they could do for our testing and reporting.

Yeah, I'm also having trouble upgrading my AT&T 286 to an iCore7. Get with it people or be left in the dust.

I think CaptainCranky has addressed it best... at least for now, the Windows 7 "deal" is projected as less costly than the Upgrade.
Microsoft Upgrade disks for any product remain bigger thorns over the life of the product than any other method. When you include tecnitian time and frustration, there is never rarely ever a good reason to use Microsoft upgrades.

As an average pc user I really don't mind not having an upgrade to 7 from xp. All of the computers that I have and even work with (about 125 pcs) are over 4 years old. I wouldn't even consider upgrading these computers to 7 because I would have to upgrade video cards, memory, and even the cpu if I wanted windows 7 to perform how it was designed. I'm better off just buying a new computer that has the newer technology from the last 4 years.

Just for a laugh, you might try installing "Vista Upgrade Adviser". on one of the PCs. The resultant report from that would likely be M$'s version of "shock and awe". (Obviously, substitute "Windows 7 Upgrade Adviser" if that exists. Sorry, I am way, way out of touch.)

Hmm...guess I'm in the minority that prefer a clean install "upgrade". It doesn't really bother me to reinstall all my other programs...it's the docs associated with those programs that I don't want to lose. No problem here as they are on another partitian or drive (depending on which computer). Aren't clean installs typically more stable and preferred anyway? Hell, I typically format and clean install my OS'es on all my computers at least once a year anyway.

I'm curious about compatibility issues with 3rd party apps. Not being able to upgrade is a bad thing for the average consumer, but taking the trouble to install fresh, or paying someone else to do it and then finding out that your existing applications will not run properly due to compatibility issues... well....

I read some time ago that MS's solution for compatibility issues was to run XP in a virtual machine on top of 7! Call me crazy but aside from the obvious issues like licensing, maintenance of a VM, antivirus on a VM, etc, this would leave a very bad taste in my mouth after they have made it nearly impossible to purchase XP, a computer preloaded with it, or they charge extra for the "downgrade" and now they offer it up as a solution for fixing the compatibility problems with their brand new OS! Will they then begin selling XP Pro again? Will a license for XP be included with 7 for this purpose? Or have they revised these plans?

David Morris
http://www.g33k2.com

Some Days a Computer Just Feels Slightly Less Than Fresh....

Yeah man, I'm with you. It's like a "high colonic" for your hard drive.

It doesnt mean you have to buy Vista. It means you cannot do an upgrade install and have to do a fresh install.

Who the hell would wanna buy an upgrade! I mean, after all, isn't Win 7 really an upgrade of Vista? I liken it to Win98 2nd Ed which sorted out the 20,000 odd listed bugs in Win98. Win7 to my way of thinking is really just Vista with the bugs taken out... we hope!

Who in their right mind would buy a brand new engine, (Win7), made for a 2009 model car, and put it in a 2001 car body, (XP), with all the unmatched gear box, suspension, etc, etc. Looney toons to the max!