Have Windows VISTA?

[Big Bad Wulff]

You might want to check as you may be eligible for a free upgrade to WIN7.

Found this out by pure accident.

[B540Glenn]

You might want to check as you may be eligible for a free upgrade to WIN7.

Found this out by pure accident.

And how does one check?

[Big Bad Wulff]

I went to the website of the manufacturer of my computer(for something entirely different) and saw they had this set up.

They are sending discs to load Win7.

[Sully]

I did the same for my Dell and I'm eligible also. Already have it ordered.

VISTA.....BAH!!!

[B540Glenn]

Thanks. I'll go and see if they have the offer.

[Host Ray]

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/windows/...s/upgrade.aspx

[Normand]

the link above is the united kingdom

heres the one that should be used

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/buy...de-option.aspx

[Sully]

Last day of January is the cutoff date for the free ( if you qualify) Win 7 upgrade for Dell computers

[Brian Moffitt]

Eligability for the free upgrade depends upon the manufacturer of your system. In general it is only valid if you bought your system in the second half of 2009 (after the Windows 7 launch date was announced). I also noticed that in the case of Dell they will not accept additional requests for media after 1/31/2010 so if you are going to jump on this do it ASAP (date seems to vary by manufacturer).

With that out of the way I'll state that Windows 7 is a huge improvement over Windows Vista and if you are currently using Vista and are eligable for this upgrade you should take the manufacturer up on it. I've been using Windows 7 since the public Beta starting early last year and have been running the final version since it became available to IT Pros in early July.

However if you aren't eligible for a free upgrade you may want to hold off. The upgrade prices for Windows 7 are a little steep (depending largely on the version you have); so you may not want to spend the cash.

The upgrade process is straight forward (did it on both my laptop and on my parents' desktop), but it does take several hours so plan accordingly.

Brian

[Sully]

Eligability for the free upgrade depends upon the manufacturer of your system. In general it is only valid if you bought your system in the second half of 2009 (after the Windows 7 launch date was announced). I also noticed that in the case of Dell they will not accept additional requests for media after 1/31/2010 so if you are going to jump on this do it ASAP (date seems to vary by manufacturer).

With that out of the way I'll state that Windows 7 is a huge improvement over Windows Vista and if you are currently using Vista and are eligable for this upgrade you should take the manufacturer up on it. I've been using Windows 7 since the public Beta starting early last year and have been running the final version since it became available to IT Pros in early July.

However if you aren't eligible for a free upgrade you may want to hold off. The upgrade prices for Windows 7 are a little steep (depending largely on the version you have); so you may not want to spend the cash.

The upgrade process is straight forward (did it on both my laptop and on my parents' desktop), but it does take several hours so plan accordingly.

Brian

Brain: I read on MS website that the installation wipes the HD clean.. So evidently you cant install it over the top of Vista?? That makes it a pain to have to backup a whole drive prior to installation...but it makes it cleaner at the end.

When I get mine Im going to the PC shop and have them back up my drive. They have a 2 terabite worm drive they can do it on super fast.....I dont want to have to go thru a stack of DVD's to get the stuff.