A little confused??

[Guest]

I have had a look on Amazon.co.uk for Vista..and there are SO many different
packages and am a liile unsure what each means? Could someone please advise
me before I purchase next year?

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium - Upgrade package - 1 PC - DVD -
English International (No Operating System)

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate - Upgrade package - 1 PC - DVD - English
International (No Operating System)

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (Upgrade Edition, Microsoft License Pack
Additional License) (PC DVD) (Windows XP)

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (Upgrade Edition) (PC DVD) (Windows XP)


And what is the major difference between Premium and Ulimate? And the
Upgrades, I take it the No OEM ones means you can only upgrade what you
already have? like my current version of Microsoft XP Media centre Edition?
But the upgrade that has an Oem you can??

MOST CONFUSING!!??

Ther Amazon likes are:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss...h-alias=software&field-keywords=vista+upgrade


http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss...l=search-alias=software&field-keywords=vista+


Can someone please look and advise? As I want to go in knowing exactly what
I am paying for.


Much appreciated

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium - Upgrade package - 1 PC - DVD -
English International (No Operating System)

This is the consumer version of Windows Vista which includes the upgrade
media, requiring that you own a previous version of Windows to qualify for
the upgrade. I think the (No Operating system) is a mistake by Amazon,
unless its additional license to install on more that one PC.

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate - Upgrade package - 1 PC - DVD - English
International (No Operating System)

This is the consumer version of Windows Vista which includes the upgrade
media, requiring that you own a previous version of Windows to qualify for
the upgrade. I think the (No Operating system) is a mistake by Amazon,
unless its additional license to install on more that one PC.

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (Upgrade Edition, Microsoft License Pack
Additional License) (PC DVD) (Windows XP)

This is the consumer version of Windows Vista which includes the upgrade
media, requiring that you own a previous version of Windows to qualify for
the upgrade. I think the (No Operating system) is a mistake by Amazon,
unless its additional license to install on more that one PC. This means
you get multiple licenses to install on more than one PC (Micrrosoft
License Pack)

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (Upgrade Edition) (PC DVD) (Windows XP)

This is the consumer version of Windows Vista which includes the upgrade
media, requiring that you own a previous version of Windows to qualify for
the upgrade. I think the (No Operating system) is a mistake by Amazon,
unless its additional license to install on more that one PC. This means
you get multiple licenses to install on more than one PC (Micrrosoft
License Pack)

And what is the major difference between Premium and Ulimate? And the
Upgrades, I take it the No OEM ones means you can only upgrade what you
already have? like my current version of Microsoft XP Media centre Edition?
But the upgrade that has an Oem you can??
For more information about the SKUs, check the following link:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/versions/default.mspx

No OEM means its either not available or its a retail license meaning you
can uninstall Vista and install on another computer without abusing the
license.

 

[Travis King]

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/editions/default.mspx

 

[Larry Maturo]

Just to clear things up a little, I believe that even with the
upgrade versions, you can choose to format your hard
drive and install clean. This is also, I believe, the recommended
route to go.

-- Larry Maturo

 

[David R. Norton MVP]

Just to clear things up a little, I believe that even with the
upgrade versions, you can choose to format your hard
drive and install clean. This is also, I believe, the recommended
route to go.

You are correct but you will need proof of previous Windows, you can
insert the WindowsXP CD and it will be recognized as an upgradeable
product BUT if your PC came with Windows pre-installed and you do not
have the CDs you *could* be in for some problems with a clean install
and an upgrade may be the only choice.

NOTE: PLEASE keep the qualifying CD in a safe place! Some time later
you might get a new harddrive, etc. and if you've lost the XP CD you
won't be able to install the upgrade.

 

[David R. Norton MVP]

You are correct but you will need proof of previous Windows, you
can insert the WindowsXP CD and it will be recognized as an
upgradeable product

I stand corrected, you cannot do that.

======================================================
You have to be inside the existing OS. No more insert
the legacy CD\DVD for detection.
Thanks,
Darrell Gorter[MSFT]
======================================================

 

[Travis King]

That is correct. If you install Vista just like XP and you have the upgrade
edition from stratch, it will require proof of a previous Windows by simply
sticking it into the CD drive, then you can proceed with installation. In
addition, if you reformat your hard drive, you will *not* need the proof
again as it already had the OS you're reinstalling installed. However, like
David said, if you get a new hard drive, you'll need proof again.

 

[David R. Norton MVP]

That is correct. If you install Vista just like XP and you have
the upgrade edition from stratch, it will require proof of a
previous Windows by simply sticking it into the CD drive, then you
can proceed with installation.

Apparently that's not correct, see my next post in which I devoured a
large helping of crow after reading Darrell Gorter's post:

======================================================
You have to be inside the existing OS. No more insert
the legacy CD\DVD for detection.
Thanks,
Darrell Gorter[MSFT]
======================================================

 

[Guest]

SO how do I get proof? as I bought my PC from PC World and already had XP
media centre edition installed. I wasn't given any CD's with it? But as my PC
is HP I got the Recovery discs off myself? Are those what you are talking
about as proof? MY recovery discs and if not what do I do?? All I have as
proof is the receipt from PC world??

 

[Gordon Wheeler]

SO how do I get proof? as I bought my PC from PC World and already had XP
media centre edition installed. I wasn't given any CD's with it? But as my
PC
is HP I got the Recovery discs off myself? Are those what you are talking
about as proof? MY recovery discs and if not what do I do?? All I have as
proof is the receipt from PC world??

It seems that for Vista the OS being upgraded has to be installed on the
machine (with XP you only had to insert the CD) so the fact that your
machine is running should be enough. As an earlier poster said, keep XP
disks you created as you'll need to install XP first if you ever need to
rebuild the machine in the future.

Gordon