Whether for the limited-time savings or an eager need to ditch Vista, preordering of Windows 7 has been immensely popular at certain online retailers. Amazon.com in particular has handled quite a number of orders placed for the operating system, with the majority of people buying the $49 upgrade version of Windows 7 Home Premium. As it stands, the package is ranked as number one at the retailer’s electronics products section, beating all other software and electronic gadgets on the site.

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I myself pre-ordered an upgrade to Windows 7 Professional yesterday at Staples.

It was $135 after tax though (Canadian)

I also ordered Windows 7 Pro, but through Newegg - no tax & free shipping for the straight $99 cost.

I think it's popular because of the extensive public beta release. It was a hands-down winner from every website and user that tried it out.

The thing is Microsoft hasn't offered a new os upgrade for such a low price tag and I think more than popularity is driving the sales ,, If only they and more software not to mention game producers would offer lower prices .. I believe they would see more sales and less piracy ..
I have ordered six copies of home premium upgrade through a few retailers for myself and family and future builds..
Sell it for less , sell more copies , make more money in the end ,,,, KEY to great marketing .

oh btw ,, I plan on doing a clean install with this ( you could upgrade an unactivated copy of vista with the vista upgrade , then activate afterwords ..) wouldn't it be funny if you could upgrade the win 7 RC with this .., ,, no need for a previous os I hope or off to ebay they go ..,

There's just no point in getting the upgrade version. i dont even have to state the reasons why the upgrade version is so bad, i'm pretty sure the majority of ppl here know why full installs are so much better.

@ aolish: you can do a complete install (fresh) with the Upgrade version, so re-think your options and order a copy quick! (In fact, if upgrading from XP to 7, you HAVE to do a complete install)

@ aolish Guest (1) is right. You can (sometimes must) do a clean install of Windows 7. You just need a copy of XP or Vista to qualify for the upgrade price instead of full retail. I have not pre-ordered yet, but am seriously thinking about it.

To be fair, how the upgrade qualifies your existing Windows product has yet to be released for Windows 7. But if the past is an indicator, you are indeed right.

You boot using the upgrade disk and during setup it prompts you for your Windows product (any eligible Windows Vista/XP disc). Then it does a full install.

not to mention you get bigger share off the market.

Ah, but can you do an upgrade from the Windows 7 RC? If I am going to do the upgrade, I don't want to have to downgrade to XP again first.

I remember MS saying there would be no upgrade path from the RC.

It *must* be used to upgrade a qualifying product. The RC is not a qualifying product, as it is free and that would be silly. You can still do a clean install using your XP disc though, during the upgrade install process.

He's not asking about the pricing. What he wants to know is can he upgrade from the RC or will he have to do a fresh install?

Amazon UK has no price for upgrade or full versions of Windows 7 Pro or Home edtions.

Wendig0, the RC is not the actual final code. Just like when going from Beta to RC, you had to do a fresh install from scratch. The RC is supposed to be as close to the actual final gold release, but it's still a period of testing to weed out any final show stoppers.

That's what I was afraid of. I'll need to buy another TB external drive (I have alot of raw and .tiff photos) to do a backup on so I can downgrade prior to upgrading. *sigh* more money.

It's been a while since I've read it (I believe it was Paul Thurrott's Windows Supersite), but yes, Windows will allow you to upgrade your RC install (though you will still need a qualifying product key), but so many things have changed no one recommends it (MS wouldn't, can't, guarantee everything will upgrade smoothly).

Windows 7 is So much better than Vista. been beta testing since early stages. would buy now BUT..

Microsoft are still money grabbing as the US offer is $49.99 for Home and $99.99 for pro and the same offer for UK users is Suprise Suprise £49.99 and £99.99 which works out as $82.25 and $164.51 at todays rates. and thats without adding taxes which in the E.U adds 20% to the price as they are based in Ireland.

So glad I have an american email address and po.box.

Do Microsoft think were "soft" or just dont know how to use the internet and a currency converter.

Great product!!.. "stupid" owners..

Actually, I don't blame MS one bit.

It's not *your* fault, but if the EU kept fining *my* company the way the EU has been fining Microsoft, I'd stick it to you too. :-)