Windows 7 upgrade coupon plan gets detailed, said to be starting soon
By Donald Melanson 
posted June 12th 2009 3:42PM
posted June 12th 2009 3:42PM
We've already gotten word of a few Windows 7 upgrade plans, but it looks like things are now really starting to get fleshed out, even if nothing's quite official just yet. According to PC World, at least some PC vendors will be kicking off a coupon program on June 26th, which will let folks that buy premium versions of Windows Vista upgrade to Windows 7 when it rolls out this fall. As you might expect, however, things won't be completely consistent across the board, and it won't be a free upgrade in every case either. That's partly because vendors will reportedly have to shell out between $9 and $15 per PC to include the upgrade coupon, although at least three unnamed Taiwanese PC makers will apparently be taking a hit on that cost and offering a free upgrade coupon to anyone that buys a laptop or desktop loaded with Vista Home Premium, Ultimate or Business. HP is also said to be participating in the upgrade program, although it says it won't be revealing any details until Microsoft itself officially announces the start date for the program.
Rape!!
What are those transparent squares on the dektop?
Those are where all the open windows are. They're using Aero Peek to hide all the windows and show the desktop.
I don't understand why Engadget always shows these clowny shots of Windows 7, yet it shows cool ones of OS X. Those clowny Windows 7 shots make the OS bland and silly looking. I'm looking forward to W7.
They do that for the same reason they kept showing the same old first gen Zune player instead of the much slicker new ones. Keep reading Engadget a bit longer, and you'll know why that is.
I don't know why you think it looks clowny...I think it looks pretty cool. They've got a wallpaper that comes with Windows 7, and they're showing off Aero Peek.
I have to agree. The Win7 RC comes with some GREAT backgrounds, and this is just not one of them. And although the Aero Peek is useful, it looks strange and ugly out of context. Not to mention that, in my opinion, the smaller version of the taskbar (available in the options) looks MUCH better than the default.
Please, do yourself a favour, get the machine with win7 preloaded on it. Do not get the upgrade. It will just cause you a massive load of headaches in the future. The machines that have vista were designed with vista in mind, not win7. yes there are changes in win7 that OEMs didn't account for, and the upgrade experience is less than ideal.
Trust me on this, save the headache and the frustration, and get a new machine with win7 on it. Then wipe the old machine, and load win7 on it from scratch.
I'm not so sure many people have cash to burn like that these days. Hopefully the upgrade process goes smoothly. It should in all honestly, there are no differences in the kernel between Vista and Win7
I really want to get that HP tablet soon. But, I don't know if Win 7 is playing nice with it. Does anyone know? Or should I wait for other tablets that have been reported. Helping me can only help me help the economy.
@Ellianth,
Yeah, one might think that, but the only (terrible) mistake I made was "upgrading" from XP to Vista Ultimate Crap. No other system changes were made whatseoever. In fact, I ended up deleting most system software and removing all peripherals (except printer which I *finally* got Vista Ultimate Crap to recognize, sort of).
Then one might think I had a virus or malware. Complete scans revealed nothing. I twice did total disk wipe and Vista Ultimate Crap reinstall; performance (if you can call it that) always the same. Lockups. Freezes. Terribly slooooooooow performance (when it wasnt locked up altogether).
Fortunately, I dont need to prove how horrific Vista Ultiamte Crap is on my machine alone, since the marketplace as a whole pretty much concluded the exact same thing, hence why Vista has long been considered the "Edsel" of OS's. Face it, Vista was a flop, a horrible product, launched without hardly a driver to speak of. The updates were jokes and often reduced "performance" (using that word loosely) even more.
I would positively love it if Steve Balmer was forced to sit and use my PC for one complete work day (worse than water boarding). Then I would feel avenged.
I have to upgrade to W7 just to get this albatross off my system. The thing that scares me is that it is basically Vista baked over with a few new themes. At least they got rid of the true jewel of Vista, UAC - cuz' that sure went over well?
Fact is, Vista strives to merely suck.
I don't have these issues with my Vista computers. Must be user error?
hmm maybe you should just do a clean install :P
I agree... sounds like a PEBKAC error to me.
Yeah, sure, definitely PEBKAC. Two computer programming experts told me the exact same thing, one of whom is the IT guy where I work. Here were some of their theories:
- "must be your system can't handle Vista"; sure that was the case with many suckers who bought Vista Ultimate Crap, but MS specifically indicated a system having dual core 2.8GHz intel, 320GB HD, 4GB RAM would be "adequate"; both of the guys above agreed Vista should be able to run on my system;
- "must be a virus or malware"; another reasonable theory - and one I still think may be the case given Vista's incredibly (and notoriously) poor security; however -neither I or they were ever able to locate any on my system, and two complete wipe/reinstalls did not improve the reprehensible performance issues I face every day;
- "must be your peripherals"; again, another plausible scenario since Vista is widely known not to play well with many/most peripherals; heck, it wouldnt even recognize a *Microsoft* lifecam; my printer port needs to be manually reset each time the PC is restarted; solution? every peripheral except the printer was (and remains) disconnected, no effect even after Vista reinstalls;
- "must be 3rd party apps screwing things up"; well this is MS so one must consider that as a big culprit; after Vista reinstalls 1 and 2, no 3rd party apps (whatsoever) exist on my system; Vista barely runs IE8 as it is! both of the computer guys were astonished at how piss-poor IE8 ran on my PC even after wpiing all 3rd party apps; can any of you imagine not being able to use a system with legit 3rd party apps, like firefox or yahoo messenger or thunderbird? yup, thats my life (on this computer anyway);
- "must be background services"; several people at work had this issue and to improve Vista's performance basically shut down all background services and turned off Vista Ultimate Crap's features like aero; this has helped a bit, particularly in the boot-up time and application boot time (now only 10-20 seconds to fire up IE8); still, on an app-free system, 6+ minutes to boot up? c'mon give me a friggin break;
Ok, so what of the above is a PEBKAC issue...you tell me? Each of the two dudes were convinced it was "me" or my "system" (i.e., PEBKAC), yet ultimately were themselves unable to find anything 'wrong' with my system or usage - and as an incentive I offered each guy $100 if they could get Vista Ultimate Crap to run without the near constant HD lockups, system freezes, insane boot up times, yada yada yada - or even get it to recognize my printer after each reboot. Neither of them could do so.
So, oh ye' engadget forum experts, tell me again how my 2-year nightmare is PEBKAC? What would you have done differently in view of the above? I am extremely tech and PC savvy, though I am not an IT expert by training like the two guys who for the life of them could not diagnose and/or remedy my issues. I stand my ground in that a PC with the above specs should be able to run Vista without any peripherals (except the aforementioned printer) and without nary a 3rd party app installed.
In the final analysis, if I had to bet money, I would venture to say the most likely cause is some sort of virus or malware that just cant be found by all reasonable conventional means (including Microsoft's scanning software, Norton, McAfee, Spybot, and two professional programs the IT guys tried). Since the problems recurred even after complete disk wipe/reinstall, I tend to think it may be buried in the BIOS somewhere or recurs the second my PC is attached to the net (Vista's security is just too weak to be trusted).
And for all of the joy I've had over the last 2 years with Vista Ultimate Crap, I will get the extra bonus of coughing up probably $120+ for one of W7's plethora of versions (I will stay WELL away from anything branded "ultimate").
Again, I would be truly giddy if in fact the problems were because of "me" and someone could have fixed my PC to work at least at the level of Windows 95 (although how I could possibly be blamed via PEBKAC for Vista not recognizing MS' *own* hardware is utterly beyond me). However, the fact remains, the majority of Vista users experienced at least moderate problems, and many (such as myself) experienced the hell that is Vista. That's why the OS was a complete commercial flop - which no one here can factually deny that.
Even MS admits it.
Can you repost that in outline form?
aw, nevermind.
@DigDug
And yet millions have no issues at all.
The solution to your problem is clear: Buy a fucking abacus. You're too stupid to use a computer.
...Ok then...
How about all of the other millions of consumers who are now fine with Vista? Yes, the launch was not well done, but Vista is not the horror that most people think it is. It works fine and suits the needs of almost everybody.
So don't blame Vista for not working with your particular configuration of your computer, and try switching the hard drive or other things, try a new configuration or something.
Think about it this way, if it was Vista's complete fault, then it wouldn't run on the other millions of computers that use it.
@Mark, I can use a Mac. And I can use Windows XP just fine. Yet two computer experts have been completely unable to get Vista Ultimate Crap working on my machine, which is spec'd above and should have more than adequate resources to run Vista, even the albatross that it is.
So, what would you have done differently? How exactly is it my fault or 'stupidity' that Vista ULtimate Crap barely functions on a relatively powerful PC with absolutely no 3rd party apps installed and no periperhals (except one printer). Tell me oh great one where I went wrong?
Sure, Vista works "acceptably" on certain machines, yet barely at all on others, such as mine (I swear the words "not responding" and that little blue circle are burned into my monitor). I do not consider an OS a "strong success," as suggested by some here, when it has maybe a 50/50 chance of working on any given machine.
I've graduated from college, graduate school, med school, and law school. Trust me dog, I am far from "stupid." If I was completely off-base about Vista Ultimate Crap, it would not have been the epic commercial FAIL that it was.
Better watch out or the EU will be after them for bundling a free 7 upgrade in with Vista and not allowing for a ballot box to select some Linux builds or Apple OS...
I'd pay $50 for an upgrade option for my laptop. I'd be happier with $30 (or Free!) but fifty seems reasonable to me. As long as I could do a full install, no upgrade installs please.
There rumours are not got for those who want to buy a new computer. Someone would rather wait until more detailed information is released about the upgrade program than buy a computer now.
Just for a little clarification, the dates aren't new, are they? I think they are the same as what has been published a few months ago. It is the information about the vendors being charged for the coupons that is new, right?
I think the EOM's should pass the cost to the consumer unless the Vista license is costing them that much less. It would suck for them to be paying for each upgrade license when you know most people are going to ask for it if it's free to them, but then a lot of them will not even use the upgrade because the forget or don't want to bother.
what's EOM?
Eriginal oquipment manufacturer?
MOE with dyslexia.
I did the upgrade thing with XP and Vista and Dell a few years ago. They literally tooks months to ship after Vista was released. I'm still pissed about it. If you try this through Dell, don't say you weren't warned.
okay... that seems fair enough.
If I have Vista now on a laptop I bought a year and a half ago, how much will it cost me to upgrade?
MS has always offered this promotion on new PCs whenever a new windows version is coming, nothing new at all (I got a free upgrade from 95 to 98, and 98 to 98SE). The big question is, what is the actual retail price of Windows 7? Remember that MS wants people that are still on XP to upgrade to 7.
This is simply rehashing what MS has been doing forever to drum up artificial "excitement" for Windows 7 after the $29 announcement of Snow Leopard.
Nice Wallpaper, though. Anyone knows where I can get one?
I am really looking forward to SnowLeopard !
"...at least three unnamed Taiwanese PC makers..."
In otherwords, ASUS, Acer, and MSI?
I told you $50 was just Best Buy ripping off its customers!
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/05/best-buy-memo-explains-that-vista-doesnt-work-details-windows/4#comments
Will that work for upgrade only or can we wipe the disk and do a fresh install ?