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How Much Does a Vista Upgrade Cost?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the free-is-not-always-free dept.

dptalia writes "Microsoft has rolled out its Vista upgrade program, where people can buy a qualifying PC with XP today and upgrade to Vista later for free. This article talks about what free really means. Some companies, such as Dell, charge $45 for converting to Vista Home from XP home. And then comes the question of actually trying to upgrade your computer... Is "free" really worth it?"

11 of 321 comments (clear)

  1. Cue standard slashdot responses: by dada21 · · Score: 4, Funny

    1. Does it run Linux?
    2. It'll cost me nothing because you can't upgrade *nix to Win*
    3. Profit!
    4. I already read this on digg.
    5. ...as in beer.

    1. Re:Cue standard slashdot responses: by aussie_a · · Score: 5, Funny
      What happened to the great American "can do" attitude
      Don't worry. I have a very can do attitude when it comes to Vista. As in, I can do without Vista.
    2. Re:Cue standard slashdot responses: by bangenge · · Score: 2, Funny

      You forgot the chairs and the exploding laptops. ;)

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      . o O ( TwO hEaDs ArE mOrE tHaN oNe... )
  2. Well.. by Arthur+B. · · Score: 5, Funny

    My dell came with windows XP and a free upgrade to linux !

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    \u262D = \u5350
  3. Need a new term by dbIII · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Free" as in Vista.

  4. The pleasures of NOT upgrading by codefrog · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's a total toss up for me on which I'll have more fun not buying; Vista or a PS3.
    On the one hand, not buying Vista is a Genuine Advantage in many ways...
    but by not buying a PS3, I save more money and also get the bonus of not upgrading to newer DRM.

    Thank goodness I can afford to do both!

  5. Cue standard slashdot responses: by aussie_a · · Score: 4, Funny

    1. Making lists of what the standard slashdot responses are.

  6. In other words... by joe_cot · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dear OEM distributors:

    We screwed up. Please don't go selling Linux PCs this Christmas.

    Regards,

    Bill

  7. You forgot the ponies by leamanc · · Score: 2, Funny

    What about OMG Ponies!!!!?

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    :q!
  8. One glaring one you missed: by The+Wooden+Badger · · Score: 4, Funny

    6. Imagine a Beowulf clus- Oh, crap. Nevermind.

    --
    Heroscape, it's like legos combined with anachronistic wargames.
  9. FUD by daniel_howell · · Score: 2, Funny

    If it's free you don't want it. It'll be buggy, it'll lack focus, customer support will be lacking and you'll end up having to pay far more to get someone to sort it out than if you had paid for software in the first place. Free software is a false economy. Free software is UnAmerican. Free software destroys decent hardworking mom-and-pop all-american companies. Free software causes acne. Don't buy free software, pay through the nose for our good old, secure, reliable microsoft products. Errr, hang on...