One of the more convenient features of Windows Vista that
will carry into Windows 7 is the “Windows Anytime Upgrade” option. To put in
perspective, this gives users with “basic” versions of Windows a quick and
seemingly easy upgrade path to more “premium” versions of the operating system.
To perform the action, all that is required is the purchase
an upgrade key to unlock the additional features. This means that users can end
up with the version of Windows 7 that they want regardless of what version
their system came preinstalled with. However, we must be clear to point out
that it is not possible to upgrade from a 32-bit version to a 64-bit version,
as they are inherently different architectures.
On another note, the feature is great for OEMs and system
builders who can set lower prices on desktops and notebooks by including only
the most basic version of the operating system. In effect, it would then be the
consumer’s expense to upgrade to a more preferred version of Windows 7.
TechARP just published a preview of the WAU upgrade process
for Windows 7 which can be found here.
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Windows 7 to allow ?Anytime Upgrade? access
Great news for OEMs