Windows 7 pre-order @ Best buy

[Alishe]

Microsoft Windows 7 Pre-Order

This seems like the best section to put this at. Just seen they are taking pre orders now. Will these work to fresh install windows 7 from a reformatted HDD? I don't want to just upgrade from XP to 7. Mainly because my XP is a pirated, while I waited for windows 7 to be released.

[Vuitton]

Windows: Windows 7 Pre-Order Offer

Tons of other vendors are offering the same deal, including Amazon, New Egg, Frys, Costco, Walmart, Office Max, Office Depot, Sam's Club, Tiger Direct, and Quill.

I would by one if they offered the deal for Ultimate. I want the ability to switch the OS's language, which is only available in Ultimate.

[Alishe]

I can't seem to find the deal on new egg for anything other than upgrade either. Found the full version on amazon but they want 200$, shows no discounts.

[Kaisha]

This is probably one of those rare moments where I'm going to pre-order something for the savings, and sometime down the road when it's inevitable, *then* install it, rather than paying full-price for it at that point.
(I'm not ready to leave WinXP yet)

[Akucaen]

Ordered from MS's own store. Win7 Pro was a steal at $100. :3

[Tymon]

Be warned, these are upgrade discs. They aren't going to work on a fresh install.

[Calina]

Be warned, these are upgrade discs. They aren't going to work on a fresh install.

ya but u can get around that easy I keep a pirate copy of winXP (completly striped down for quick install) for this very reason.I have vista ultimate upgrade just gatta install xp then vista over it and your done.

Seems like a lot of trouble but considering the price difference between upgrade and clean install versions ill take the 20mins installing xp to save some cash hands down!

just pre-ordered my win7 pro off newegg few hrs ago^^

[Melena]

If they do it like Vista, you can fresh install it but you have to supply a previous cd key from XP. I ordered it as well so I can upgrade my box from lolvista when it comes out. But even on a fresh one should be good

[avelle]

So can people guarantee you can fresh install with the upgrade version? Popping in a XP cd during installation for verification or providing a valid cdkey would be more than enough. I just don't want to install XP and then install Windows7 ontop of that. Also, is Professional the top tier Windows 7 version? I know the RC is labeled Windows 7 Ultimate. Just curious!

[izembo]

ultimate is top tier

[avelle]

Ya I did some research, apparently Ultimate isn't part of the pre-order deal going on. I went ahead and got Professional.

[Cream Soda]

how long does the preorder go for?

[Kaisha]

Ends July 11th.

[Arigorn]

Can you upgrade straight from XP to 7? I will be doing a clean install on a new computer soon and am really wanting to take advantage of this reduced price for the upgrade disc. Bad thing is I don't have an XP or vista disc.

[kuronosan]

No. You cannot upgrade from XP to 7 from my understanding. I think you have to upgrade directly from Vista.

Sucks that you won't be able to get Ultimate for a good price... if I get professional will I still get to type in IME? Being able to type in English, Spanish, Russian, and Japanese are kind of must-haves for me.

[DNAval]

Yes you can buy the Upgrade and install it on a XP machine but you will be promted to do a clean install, Installation only looks to see that you have a genuine XP copy.
(Yes you can do a clean Install with Upgrade disk.)

No you won't keep your XP settings, please don't be misinformed all this information is in the Microsoft website.

[kuronosan]

Hmmm... will Home Premium come with the language pack IMEs? I bought Vista Home Premium and it did... and when I upgraded to Win7 it kept them there.

I just don't want to buy a version that doesn't have the language support at least downloadable.

[Ratatapa]

If it can help you, currently i have W7 RC1 and i have like 20 Language pack that i can download from Windows update. (for 1.5gig total)

So pretty sure you will be able

[Ferien]

Wow...lots of misconceptions...

a) The upgrade CDs allow you to upgrade from either XP or Vista. You just have to have a copy of either one on your system when you start the install.
b) You must do a clean install if upgrading from XP. Vista allows either upgrade or clean (though I'd back my shit up and do a clean install anyway, esp if Vista is giving you any issues).
c) They will also be selling upgrade keys to go from lower versions to higher ones (i.e. install Pro and buy a key to unlock Ultimate). The retail price of Ultimate is only $20 more than Pro, so if you're looking for Ultimate, I would jump on the preorder for Pro and purchase an Ultimate key online as it should end up being cheaper.

I've been using the RC since it started and I have to say I'm loving it. Preordered Pro yesterday, debating whether or not I want to immediately upgrade to Ultimate, haven't looked too deeply into the differences between the two.

[Purrrfect]

So the trick is to be able to get the pro preorder upgrade disc, and have a not-so-genuine xp disc/key... Think it will work?
YouTube - Madagascar 2 Penguin Paper Plane

Why can't I make the youtube tag werk?;;

[Cream Soda]

btw if you don't get pro or higher, you won't get windows xp mode
Windows XP Mode: Windows 7 features

[Sonomaa]

pro for me yo, main pc gooooooo
(oh god I hope windower works)

[Seraph]

I'm sort of looking into this, and still not really seeing the point in upgrading. I actually downgraded from Vista back to XP when I got my new laptop a little over a year ago. Is there actually anything worthwhile in Windows 7 that makes it worth buying besides 'it's newer and moar pretty'?

[Epical]

I'm sort of looking into this, and still not really seeing the point in upgrading. I actually downgraded from Vista back to XP when I got my new laptop a little over a year ago. Is there actually anything worthwhile in Windows 7 that makes it worth buying besides 'it's newer and moar pretty'?

Windows 7 features

[Alishe]

2 reasons I am upgrading from XP.

1. Direct X 10
2. 64bit OS = More than 4 gigs of RAM.

[kuronosan]

As a bonus, all versions of Windows 7 higher than Basic actually give you both a 32-bit and a 64-bit disc. I like that.

I think I'll stick with Home Premium. As long as I can download language support I'll be fine.

[Akiyama]

The thing is, I'm using an Auburn copy of Windows XP, so I don't know if it'd accept an upgrade from Windows 7. D:

[Rellikard]

As a bonus, all versions of Windows 7 higher than Basic actually give you both a 32-bit and a 64-bit disc. I like that.

Well, all versions with the exception of Windows 7 Starter will be 32-bit and 64-bit.

All 32-bit Versions = Reads up to 3-3.5GB of RAM (Depending on your PC)
Home Basic 64 = Reads up to 8GB of RAM
Home Premium 64 = Reads up to 16GB of RAM
Professional & Ultimate 64 = Reads up to 192GB of RAM (Who needs that much?)

I think for most, Windows 7 Home Premium will satisfy their needs for what they're using it for. All of the features I've seen in Professional & Ultimate either aren't useful enough or there are free applications that already have those functions. Things like XP Mode is great, but nearly everything should have Vista/7 support already.

Windows 7 Home Premium for me.

[Tythera]

Professional & Ultimate 64 = Reads up to 192GB of RAM (Who needs that much?)

We have a machine here at work with 256GB of RAM, but we could probably get by with ~140 GB for our current work. Of course a normal user would never run into that though

[Epical]

Yes you can buy the Upgrade and install it on a XP machine but you will be promted to do a clean install, Installation only looks to see that you have a genuine XP copy.
(Yes you can do a clean Install with Upgrade disk.)

No you won't keep your XP settings, please don't be misinformed all this information is in the Microsoft website.

So, this 100% works? I don't mind doing a clean install, but I CAN pop in a W7 upgrade disc and it will act as a full, clean install?