Vista: Upgrade or Full

[Two|Bit]

Hello, I tried searching for this answer but its rather difficult using keywords such as "vista" and "upgrade" on this site.

I was wondering what the main differences between the upgrade version of Vista and the regular are. I heard that with the upgrade version that, if in the future, you wanted to reinstall, you would need to reinstall xp, and then install vista. Whats the difference? thanks

[Statica]

There really has been no upgrade version of Windows that forces you to install a previous version of the OS and then sit and run an upgrade. Most of the time a simple qualifying check is all that is necessary.
The major difference in the upgrade version is the upgrade path.. and this is rather complex
1) Windows 2000 and XP64 is not available for an upgrade to any SKU of Vista
2) XP TabletPC and XP Professional can upgrade to Vista Ultimate or Vista Business ONLY
3) XP Media Center can upgrade to Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate ONLY
4) XP Home can update to any SKU of Vista

When you buy Vista the first thing to remember is the following: ALL VERSIONS OF VISTA ARE INCLUDED ON A SINGLE DVD. YOUR VERSION OF VISTA DEPENDS ON THE CD KEY! So essentially, you need to decide which Vista you want to get to .. and based on that you can see if you can follow an upgrade path from your current version of XP.

[TwoRails]

Just curious, but will it install from prior OSs like ME and 98?

[hobey19]

There really has been no upgrade version of Windows that forces you to install a previous version of the OS and then sit and run an upgrade. Most of the time a simple qualifying check is all that is necessary.

Statica, it appears that that will no longer be possible with Vista according to an article on ArsTechnica

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070128-8717.html

craig

[TwoRails]

Well... that answered my question, and is yet another reason I'm not interested in Vista.

[Two|Bit]

"Users who purchase upgrade copies of the aforementioned versions of Vista will find that they can only upgrade PCs that already have Windows installed." -from that article. So if say 5 years from now, i wanted to do a clean install, i would have to dig up my old XP CD, install that, then bust out my vista upgrade cd and upgrade?

[hobey19]

based on the way i read it, yes you will.

now, you could do it once and then create an image of the install and re-use the image in the future

craig

[MaxRat]

Seems the fresh install issue from a upgrade is only with Vista home basic...not sure about the others yet...;)

[hobey19]

according the MS's KB, its a for sure. note the versions of vista it applies to at the bottom (cliffnotes: all of upgrades available do not support upgrade)

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/930985/en-us

craig

[Two|Bit]

wow this is lame, i need to pay $200 more to be about to ditch my XP cd...it doesn
t meantion ultimate edition though, which is what i probably would get

[StykFacE]

wow this is lame, i need to pay $200 more to be about to ditch my XP cd...it doesn
t meantion ultimate edition though, which is what i probably would get
ha, that's microsoft for ya. gotta love 'em for something.... :)

[Two|Bit]

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradepaths.mspx this kind of outlines the upgrade process, but doesn't talk about future upgrades, grr, can't microsoft be clear about this

[mevensen]

according the MS's KB, its a for sure. note the versions of vista it applies to at the bottom (cliffnotes: all of upgrades available do not support upgrade)

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/930985/en-us

craig

Actually, both this article and the Ars article leave out the Vista Ultimate upgrade in their listings. I wonder if this is oversight, or another "perk" for purchasers of the Ultimate version.

[mbiggs]

That's such a crappy deal... I ain't shellin' out a hundred bucks for a cover up of XP. How do they work anyway? Conflicts would have to be outrageous..

[TwoRails]

What about OEM versions?

[Two|Bit]

http://www.tomcoyote.org/tech/vista-upgrade-invalidates-your-xp-key/74/

Vista invalidates your XP key?

[mairving]

Interesting. At work we have the Vista DVD. You can install the OS and select any version but you only have 30 days before that version quits working if you don't supply a product key. We also have the upgrade version of Vista Business. It comes on 4 CD's and is not bootable.

[pam123]

How to do a clean install of the Vista upgrade version : http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5932

[Two|Bit]

pretty nice

[Dodge7]

I have heard a lot of good things from freinds who got the RC Vista off the web, they don't want to go back to XP. However, I am not sure I want to go from XP to Vista. I think I'll stay with XP for awhile longer, it works great for me and I can get most of Vista in other programs.

Or, if I can't wait, like when they get the new file system, I am doing a total clean install.

[glc]

That was a good find, Pam - and here's an article that goes into that and more:

http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070201/

[pam123]

That was a good find, Pam - and here's an article that goes into that and more:

http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070201/

Thanks glc.
I'll need to order the book soon as well.