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Microsoft Upgrades IT

MS To Offer Free Windows 7 Upgrade To Vista Users 417

crazyeyes writes "With Windows 7 set for release in Dec. 09, Microsoft is getting ready with their free upgrade program, which allows Vista users to switch to Windows 7 when it arrives. The folks at TechARP have consistently scored accurate scoops on Microsoft software releases. They have now revealed Microsoft's upgrade plans, schedules and even screenshots of the upgrade process."
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MS To Offer Free Windows 7 Upgrade To Vista Users

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  • by Arthur Grumbine ( 1086397 ) * on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @06:45PM (#26820925) Journal
    Underling: Sir, here's the latest report on Vista Ultimate sales... it's pretty dismal.
    Ballmer: Hmmm...I see. Alright, here's the plan: Revise the current Windows 7 Upgrade Program to allow OEMs to upgrade to Windows 7 from Vista Ultimate - for FREE! And leak this to the tech community right away!!
    Underling: Uh...sir, pardon me saying so, but won't that appear as an obvious ploy to sell more of our most overrated - and least worthwhile - product?
    Ballmer: Yes...you may be right. Those basement dwellers can be pretty sharp...hmmm...I know! Add that free option for Vista Home Premium and Vista Business! We should make up, in additional sales of those, what "loss" we incur with the free upgrades. We should be able to minimize that by frightening the OEMs with scary "Program Compliance" requirements. We can also limit large business deployments by restricting the number of upgrades per mailing address. Finally, send a memo to the developers: Remove all the previously most-desired-by-the-tech-community features planned for Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional, so that these features ONLY exist in Windows 7 Ultimate...
    Underling: Right away, sir!
    ...
    (Ballmer throws a chair at the back of exiting Underling)
    Underling: Ou--I mean, thank you, sir! May I have another?
    Ballmer: You'll go far here, son...
  • by EmbeddedJanitor ( 597831 ) on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @06:47PM (#26820955)
    Fool me 12 times, shame on me
  • downgrade (Score:5, Funny)

    by theheadlessrabbit ( 1022587 ) on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @06:48PM (#26820969) Homepage Journal

    and when we get frustrated by windows 7 not living up to the hype, will we get free downgrades back to XP?

  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @06:51PM (#26820991)

    Aren't service packs always free?

  • No News (Score:5, Informative)

    by Xibby ( 232218 ) <zibby+slashdot@ringworld.org> on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @06:51PM (#26820997) Homepage Journal

    Similar to previous upgrade programs. The goal is minimizing the number of end users who may postpone purchasing a new computer because of the next version of Windows will be released soon.

    Buy an eligible new PC with Windows Vista (Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate) and get a free upgrade to Windows 7 when it's released.

    No free upgrade to anyone who currently has Vista, and the program doesn't exist yet so no free upgrade if you buy a new PC tomorrow.

    No free upgrade for Windows XP...

    Absolutely nothing unexpected here.

    • Re:No News (Score:5, Funny)

      by langelgjm ( 860756 ) on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @06:55PM (#26821035) Journal
      Ah yes, I remember this from several years ago. Our Dell came with Windows 98, and a free "upgrade" to Windows ME. I sure hope this time turns out better...
    • Re:No News (Score:5, Funny)

      by davester666 ( 731373 ) on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @07:59PM (#26821693) Journal

      Are most PC's available now Windows 7 capable?

      Maybe if MS introduced a sticker for which ones are...

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      Good call. I hope everyone reads this comment. I was getting all excited 'cause I didn't RTFA and I thought I'd get to upgrade my existing Vista laptop for free (perhaps in a surprise concession by Microsoft that Vista sucks the proverbial monkey cock). Alas, no such luck. I guess this one's going to end up running nix after all. (not that that's a bad thing).
  • by leetrout ( 855221 ) on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @06:51PM (#26821001) Journal
    TFA blatantly says XP is NOT eligible...

    * Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Starter Edition, and Windows XP (all editions) are not qualifying products under the program.

  • Misleading summary (Score:5, Informative)

    by Wesley Felter ( 138342 ) <wesley@felter.org> on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @06:53PM (#26821015) Homepage

    If you buy a PC with Vista pre-installed after July 2009, you'll get a free upgrade to 7. Everyone else will still have to buy the upgrade. This is a common practice for software (I think they did the same thing for XP -> Vista); there's really not much to see here.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      That makes sense.

      It's probably at the request of OEMs who don't want customers to put off buying a computer to wait for a new OS.

      The article might even say as much, if I bothered to read it.

      • by rsmith-mac ( 639075 ) on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @07:05PM (#26821157)
        In fact, that's exactly what it says.

        The Windows 7 Upgrade Program is designed to assist Microsoft's OEM partners in minimizing the number of end users who may postpone acquiring a new computer because of the impending release of the Windows 7 operating system

    • by Kelz ( 611260 )
      I have an unopened OEM copy of Vista home premium 64-bit sitting in my office (from Fry's); would I be able to convince Microsoft to give me a free upgrade? :P
      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by jellomizer ( 103300 )

        Don't open it dude it is more valuable that way. Once you open it you loose the collectors value and just have a sub par OS.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Daimanta ( 1140543 )

      That's ok. I have a PC here stuck with Vista and I'm sure it will welcome Windows 7 pirated edition.

      P.S: I would like to commend the people who made XP Pirated Edition, you are the best. I had to install XP on a PC of somebody who messed up his previous installation and XP kept on wining about SATA drivers(which I didn't have). Luckily, PE had a great version without any CD-key crap or driver mayhem. It's rather sad that the best Windows versions are made by pirates.

      • by vux984 ( 928602 ) on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @07:36PM (#26821459)

        Luckily, PE had a great version without any CD-key crap or driver mayhem. It's rather sad that the best Windows versions are made by pirates.

        Or you could have just used a newer genuine XP oem disk. SP2 and SP3 disks have SATA drivers, maybe even SP1 disks. If all you had was an original XP cd, you can slipstream your own XP SP3 disk pretty easily.

        Or your friend could have made his recovery disk set and kept it after he bought the laptop, so that when this eventually rolls around, he's all set, and you wouldn't have had to fumble around for something that worked.

        Or you could have ordered a replacement recovery disk set from the OEM. Granted its usually 15-20 bucks or so.

        But its not like you don't have lots of options.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        Pirates learn much quicker than MS management does. The versions that one can buy in easter Europe now include many useful programs such as WinRar by default. You usually buy a DVD which includes not only XP, but also MSOffice, Photoshop, several antivirus and antispyware products, firewalls, various tools and utils including local street maps, telephone books etc. And there is some kind of a package manager on DVD. And the worst thing is: no matter what's on DVD be it XP, Vista, Linux or some movie -- ever

    • They've done the same thing going all the way back to Windows 3.1 upgrade to Win95... that's as far as my memory goes, but the practice may be even older than that.

      Damn, reading the headline I thought I'd finally get my hands on Vista SP{working edition}. Guess I'll have to pay for it.
    • >>This is a common practice for software (I think they did the same thing for XP -> Vista); there's really not much to see here.

      They said they did, but when I tried to claim the free copy of Vista (I bought an OEM version of XP right before Vista came out) they pretended they'd never heard of the program, or that I didn't qualify or something. (I don't recall, exactly.)

      Of course, the silver lining is that this machine is still using XP.

  • by EvanED ( 569694 ) <evaned@noSpam.gmail.com> on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @06:54PM (#26821023)

    1. This isn't for arbitrary XP or Vista users; it is (assuming the rumor holds) a program which they will start at some point, so that if you buy a new computer during that time with Vista Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate, you'll get an upgrade to Win 7 when it comes out. This is to reduce the number of people who hold of on buying a new computer until that time.

    2. It isn't for XP users at all. There are eleven occurances of "XP" on the linked page, and all but one is in an ad: "* Microsoft Windows Vista® Home Basic, Windows Vista® Starter Edition, and Windows® XP (all editions) are not qualifying products under the program." (emphasis mine).

    It's a bit cliche to complain about the editors reading the articles before posting them, but did the poster even read this one?

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Bad Summary -- RTFA. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Yaztromo ( 655250 ) on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @06:59PM (#26821075) Homepage Journal

    You know, if you RTFA, it does state:

    * Microsoft Windows Vista® Home Basic, Windows Vista® Starter Edition, and Windows® XP (all editions) are not qualifying products under the program.

    ...and:

    End users must purchase a new PC that is pre-installed with an eligible Windows Vista Operating System (OS), during the program eligibility window.

    ...and:

    Do note that this is an optional program, so not all OEMs may choose to participate. OEMs that choose to participate in this upgrade program will have the freedom to determine how to best provide qualifying end users with the details.

    So let's recap: no free upgrades for XP users, you have to have bought a qualifying Vista-based system within an as-yet undetermined qualifying period, and even then you'll only be able to get a free upgrade from your systems OEM if they choose to participate in the program.

    This looks like the standard upgrade protection that Apple typically offers to those who buy a new system just prior to the ship date of their latest and greatest OS. So in essence, there is nothing to be seen here. Please move along people.

    Yaz.

    • In addition, if you've participated in the previous XP to Vista free upgrade program (which I did, not because I like Vista, but because hey, it came with the laptop, so why not), you'll know that the last time they did this, only about half the people who applied got their discs. Yay outsourcing the entire program to an inept company!

  • Honestly (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @07:00PM (#26821091)

    I will wait for the "free upgrade" on the torrents

  • by v1 ( 525388 )

    When I first read this and the comments made about it I was thinking this was MS trying to make an apology for Vista. It looks instead like they are trying to provide assistance to the OEMs that are having an impossible time selling machines curs... er... PREINSTALLED with Vista because users want to wait for Windows 7 to get a new machine. (I don't blame them...)

    So once again MS isn't looking out for the good of their customers, for the public, but for their business partners. *sigh* Just once you'd thi

    • by hguorbray ( 967940 ) on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @07:56PM (#26821653)

      But here is the $45,000 question -will they count the sales of those machines as Vista sales, or Windows 7 sales -probably both....

      I just know that they didn't take into account all the 'downgrades' to XP when counting Vista sales...not that it helped much considering Vista's DOA status.

      -I'm just saying

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Targon ( 17348 )

      The funny thing is that you seem to be chanting the mantra of "Vista sucks", based on old negative press. I and many others who have been running Vista since July or so of 2007 have not found Vista to be all that bad on new hardware.

      The key to the whole Vista sucks issue is looking at a system with bad drivers as an example of how good or bad the OS is. People with Creative Labs sound cards may assume that problems are due to Vista, without even thinking that Creative Labs can't write a driver to save

  • by nurb432 ( 527695 ) on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @07:01PM (#26821109) Homepage Journal

    Since when can you charge for a service pack?

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Since Mac OS X 10.1
      and .2
      and .3
      and .4
      and...

  • duh (Score:2, Insightful)

    by ILuvRamen ( 1026668 )
    So then why don't they just called it what it is, either a service pack for Vista or actual Vista, as Vista was just a glitchy beta.
  • will there be a system for custom build system with oem vers of vista?

  • Same thing happened around the time Vista was coming out. You could buy Vista and get a free upgraded to XP. :D

    Ok the opposite happened to. If you bought XP near the time Vista was coming out, you got vouchers etc for free Vista...

    This is just business as usual to stop people from holding off on purchases until the new OS arrives.

  • by FudRucker ( 866063 ) on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @07:15PM (#26821243)
    archeologists opened a petrified copy of windows 7 and found hair from a vista
  • And it's nothing special. Running it on a laptop and desktop. It has bugs (reported), but Ubuntu actually feels better imho. So I'm likely to dump it soon, and since WoW runs with Wine, I'm really close to getting rid of all the hassles with MS. I've gotten alot of co-workers to switch, but convincing "great-aunt Sally" types is another thing.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      It is possible, you may need a bit of patience here though... But once you have explained where "the internet", "the mail" and "the pictures" are, expect to have no problems anymore, at least no security-related.
      And create nice big icons on desktop.

  • I'm only missing Windows 1, 2 and me. And, of course, I did not buy Vista. Can't I at least have a free upgrade to Win 7? Please Billy Boy.

  • by pRtkL xLr8r ( 1264376 ) on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @07:36PM (#26821451)
    Whatever it takes! Do what you have to! I don't care if you have to give away the next 3 incarnations of our operating system for free -- WE WILL NOT LET LINUX GET A FOOTHOLD!!!
  • back when Windows 3.1 first came out. At the time, the upgrade was called 'Slackware Linux'.

  • Since Vista is free anyway, right?
  • free upgrade program, which allows Vista users to switch to Windows 7 when it arrives.

    Can't just admit they made a mistake and throw their user base a bone. Why is that so hard? Do the right thing for a change.

  • This really should put to rest the idea whether this is a truly a new version of windows of just a version update. I would think of Windows 7 no different than I would see a difference between Ubuntu 8.04 and 8.10, or OSX 10.4 and 10.5. If they really wanted to make people happy they'd give existing XP licenses a free upgrade to win 7.
    • by Shados ( 741919 ) on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @08:02PM (#26821713)

      Its funny really. If they change the UI too much, people bitch that they changed it just for the sake of changing it, and thats its the same OS with a pretty face. If they change mostly the backend and whats under the hood, then people say "Its an overglorified service pack"

      So I'll ask you. Have you actually looked at the extent of the changes they made to Windows under the hood? No, it didn't break much compatibility because they didn't change something that does, such as the driver subsystem. Still, the changes, for example the new service trigger engine, the user mode scheduler, the remoting system, the amount of new APIs added, the UI revamp (not like XP to Vista, but still quite significant), the software DX renderer, the upgrades to the enterprise service versions, the updates of many of the userland apps, the netbook and touchscreen features, yadah yadah yadah... overall, I'd dare say its one of the more massive updates to Windows in a long time, and greater than XP -> Vista in term of features. But yes, a lot of customers won't notice this, on top of people being comfy in the XP -> Vista release schedule (and their comfortable zone got shaken off as MS came back to the old release schedule), so they have to do this and give it.

      Doesn't change how massive the update is, though.

  • Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @10:30PM (#26822891)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

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