By George Norman - Software News Editor
Added on 29 Jun 2009(585 Views)
Windows 7, as we already know, will come in six different versions, all superset on one another: Starter -> Home Basic -> Home Premium -> Professional -> Windows 7 Ultimate. As each version of the operating system comes with more features than the previous, upgrading is very much welcomed as it brings more bits and pieces to play with to the table. But will it be a simple process that anyone can perform? It seems it will, if you take advantage of Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade.

If you think back, Microsoft pushed such a feature when it launched Vista – it was called Vista Anytime Upgrade and was served only via the internet. With Windows 7 this will change as Microsoft will push Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade as a retail product to be sold in brick and mortar stores.


What this means is that all Windows 7 versions will be shipped on one disk; when the user wants to install Windows 7 on his machine, the product key will get the installer to run the version you purchased. You thus eliminate the need to get special upgrade discs as was the case with windows Vista.

“With Windows 7 WAU, there are two processes by which a customer can upgrade from one edition of Windows 7 to a higher edition of Windows 7,” explained Senior PR Manager for Windows Clients, Ben Rudolph. The first method is to purchase the operating software online and upgrade online as well; the second method is to purchase Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade from specialized retail stores.

Method 1 detailed:
- Consumers will use the WAU Tool to go online, shop, learn and purchase a product key for the upgrade.
- This key will be delivered automatically to the customer's machine via the Internet
- Once the key is received, the WAU Tool will initiate the upgrade process (EULA acceptance, feature unlock, etc.)


Method 2 detailed:
- Consumers will have the opportunity to purchase a Media-Less Key (MLK) at Retail.
- When they return to their PC, the customer will use the same WAU Tool to manually enter the Product Key printed on the MLK.
- Once the key is entered, the WAU Tool will initiate the upgrade process (EULA acceptance, feature unlock, etc.)


In related news, Microsoft has recently revealed how much Windows 7 will cost and how you can purchase a Windows 7 version at half price.





Don't forget to:

RSS



Via: www.tomshardware.co.uk

Tags: Microsoft, Windows 7, Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade

Link to this article:



Add comment:
Name(Required)
Email(Required - Never shown)
Website(Optional)
Comment(Required):

Insert the following code:
Software News
Chromium OS Goes Open-Source
This summer Google let the world know that it is working on a new operating system meant for the user that spends most of his time online. The operating system – aptly named Chrome OS because it is a natural extension...
20 Nov 2009
Office 2010 Beta Downloads Available to the Public
Earlier this week Redmond-based software giant Microsoft announced that Office 2010 became available for download as a Beta. The catch was that only ...
20 Nov 2009
Mozilla Releases: Firefox 3.6 Beta 3
The development process of the Firefox 3.6 browser is moving along rapidly. The first Beta version was released at the start of the month; Beta 2 was released about two weeks after Beta 1. About a week has passed since...
20 Nov 2009
New Labs Feature for Gmail: Green Robot!
The software developers at Google have announced the release of a new Gmail Labs offering called Green Robot! This new offering is meant to improve the Gmail Chat user experience by letting the ...
20 Nov 2009
Opera Mobile 10 Beta for Windows Mobile Is Out Also
Opera Software, the company that we all know for making the innovative and feature rich Opera web browser, has released Opera Mobile 10 Beta for Windows Mobile-powered devices. This release follows in the...
19 Nov 2009
Beta Testing is Over, Stable Version of Trillian for iPhone Released
The focus so far has been on desktop version of this multiprotocol instant messaging software application, Trillian Astra (version 4.1). Today is time to switch focus away from the desktop version and onto something a bit more...
19 Nov 2009
Recommended Tools

Top Downloads