I want to put Windows 7 on my new laptop, but I'm definitely not in a hurry, because I almost don't use it. But I want to do it anyway, and get rid of Vista.

I could get a Windows 7 Home Premium for 80£ now, do you think that prices will drop in near future, which I don't think, or do you think that they will even raise?

So as it isn't important if I'm doing it now or in 6 month, what do you think, should I get it now or only later??
[Reply]

I have a feeling the price could drop after the new year. I might be wrong, but I don't think it will go up. It never has for Vista.

Is that price for the upgrade version? And is it for the 64-bit version?

One thing worth considering with Windows 7 is that the Ultimate edition, whilst a lot more expensive, does offer a lot of additional features over the Home Premium edition, unlike the 2 editions of Vista did.

One of the most important for me with Windows 7 Ultimate is the built in Windows XP mode, which fully emulated Windows XP transparently, allowing you to run older software, games etc. And XP mode runs alongside standard Windows 7 applications, in windows just the same. Nice feature based on Virtual PC.

I will eventually be upgrading from Vista Ultimate 64-bit to Win7 Ultimate 64bit, but I'm waiting until the new year to see if upgrade prices fall at all. At the moment the cheapest I've seen the ultimate upgrade for is £146.
[Reply]

It's the full version, don't want an upgrade version, because what should I do when I want once a fresh install, install Vista first, then the upgrade again. Upgrade version is only 10£ cheaper anyway.

The box includes 32-bit & 64-bit versions.

I don't need the stuff I get more with the other versions, the only interesting things would perhaps be the XP mode or Bitlocker, as it's for my laptop.
[Reply]

You can, and it is recommend, to install upgrade versions of Windows as a fresh copy. You don't need to have the previous version of Windows installed for it to work. It will just ask you to insert the disc or enter the product code for the older version to verify you own one before it allows the install.
[Reply]

One thing that I will add to this is to keep in mind that if you EVER use a Microsoft Upgrade, once you install the new product it will completely disable the old key. (I know this because I had a customer that had a similar situation as you and bought a laptop with XP on it... They had a free upgrade to Vista so they loaded Vista and it disabled the XP key. The customer decided that he liked XP better and when he tried to re-load XP he wasn't able to because the key was disabled. A LOT of hassle with Microsoft and a LOT of time spent on the phone to get XP loaded on this machine.)

For most folks this isn't an issue, but it is something that most folks are not aware of and it is something to consider before purchasing an upgrade. I personally never purchase upgrades since there are often problems trying to upgrade existing and I prefer to build from scratch anyway...

Simply food for thought..
[Reply]

I agree, and the full version is only some € more expensive.
[Reply]

The pricing structure of M$ OS hasn't been very logical since Vista. With XP it cost under half the full price for a copy of XP pro upgrade. But with Vista this wasn'y true, costing only about 20% less that the retail version. And with Windows 7 it is even worse.

Doesn't really inspire users to upgrade.

As I said about though. Upgrade copies are still the full version just like the full retail versions. They just ask for some proof of purchase of a previous version before allowing it to install. You can use an upgrade copy to install to a new/blank HD, just as with the full version. You don't need a previous version installed on the hdd.
[Reply]

The price raised by 30£ at Amazon, I just checked
[Reply]

Just in time for Christmas. Funny that!
[Reply]

My work email address is a .ac.uk, fortunately I'm eligible for a student copy of win7 pro, about 30 quid to download, which is pretty sweet.

I just need to get another hard drive first, and then figure out how to juggle all the HDDs to have XP (for torrenting and stuff), and Vista (for now, in case Lady T decides she hates windows 7) too.
[Reply]