Microsoft Vista upgrades are for upgrade only

Many enthusiasts of the PC and those who have come to be (reluctantly?) reliant on Bill Gates‘ money grabber are probably waiting for Vista’s release this coming January 30 with a bang.

Some of you have your eyes pretty much set on the upgrade versions of the editions coming out, huh? Remember the good ol’ days when you could use your trusty upgrade key to start a completely new installation? All it took was an authentic installation CD of a previous version of Windows and voila! You don’t even have to have the previous version installed to start the new OS setup. Now you remember? Well that is now all GONE.

Yep. The ol’ misers of Redmond thought it would be best to stick to one machine licensing even after addressing armies of customers having quibbles about the difficulty they undertook to upgrade their machines and reactivate Windows XP every step of the way (well, not really, but hey, it feels like that sometimes).

Microsoft‘s Knowledge Base info (KB930985) specifically states that “you cannot use an upgrade key to perform a clean installation of Windows Vista.” Why? Well that’s because the all-new, all-powerful Vista has revealed its first Achilles’ heel: compliance checking.

That said, it would be wise for all those customers hoping for a smooth upgrade from their old Windows to the new Vista to simply order a license to allow the user to make a clean installation. Maybe it’s a tactic to get everyone to shell out money for the Ultimate edition, since it does not have this limitation. The editions that the limitation does apply for are:

• Home
• Home Premium
• Starter
• Home Premium 64-bit
• Home 64-bit

Way to dampen the spirit, eh?

Via Arstechnica

Many enthusiasts of the PC and those who have come to be (reluctantly?) reliant on Bill Gates‘ money grabber are probably waiting for Vista’s release this coming January 30 with a bang.

Some of you have your eyes pretty much set on the upgrade versions of the editions coming out, huh? Remember the good ol’ days when you could use your trusty upgrade key to start a completely new installation? All it took was an authentic installation CD of a previous version of Windows and voila! You don’t even have to have the previous version installed to start the new OS setup. Now you remember? Well that is now all GONE.

Yep. The ol’ misers of Redmond thought it would be best to stick to one machine licensing even after addressing armies of customers having quibbles about the difficulty they undertook to upgrade their machines and reactivate Windows XP every step of the way (well, not really, but hey, it feels like that sometimes).

Microsoft‘s Knowledge Base info (KB930985) specifically states that “you cannot use an upgrade key to perform a clean installation of Windows Vista.” Why? Well that’s because the all-new, all-powerful Vista has revealed its first Achilles’ heel: compliance checking.

That said, it would be wise for all those customers hoping for a smooth upgrade from their old Windows to the new Vista to simply order a license to allow the user to make a clean installation. Maybe it’s a tactic to get everyone to shell out money for the Ultimate edition, since it does not have this limitation. The editions that the limitation does apply for are:

• Home
• Home Premium
• Starter
• Home Premium 64-bit
• Home 64-bit

Way to dampen the spirit, eh?

Via Arstechnica