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MS To Offer Free Windows 7 Upgrade To Vista Users

Posted by samzenpus on from the you-get-what-you-pay-for dept.

crazyeyes writes "With Windows 7 set for release in Dec. 09, Microsoft is getting ready with their free upgrade program, which allows Vista users to switch to Windows 7 when it arrives. The folks at TechARP have consistently scored accurate scoops on Microsoft software releases. They have now revealed Microsoft's upgrade plans, schedules and even screenshots of the upgrade process."

32 of 417 comments (clear)

  1. Somewhere in Redmond... by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 5, Funny

    Underling: Sir, here's the latest report on Vista Ultimate sales... it's pretty dismal.
    Ballmer: Hmmm...I see. Alright, here's the plan: Revise the current Windows 7 Upgrade Program to allow OEMs to upgrade to Windows 7 from Vista Ultimate - for FREE! And leak this to the tech community right away!!
    Underling: Uh...sir, pardon me saying so, but won't that appear as an obvious ploy to sell more of our most overrated - and least worthwhile - product?
    Ballmer: Yes...you may be right. Those basement dwellers can be pretty sharp...hmmm...I know! Add that free option for Vista Home Premium and Vista Business! We should make up, in additional sales of those, what "loss" we incur with the free upgrades. We should be able to minimize that by frightening the OEMs with scary "Program Compliance" requirements. We can also limit large business deployments by restricting the number of upgrades per mailing address. Finally, send a memo to the developers: Remove all the previously most-desired-by-the-tech-community features planned for Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional, so that these features ONLY exist in Windows 7 Ultimate...
    Underling: Right away, sir!
    ...
    (Ballmer throws a chair at the back of exiting Underling)
    Underling: Ou--I mean, thank you, sir! May I have another?
    Ballmer: You'll go far here, son...

    --
    Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
    1. Re:Somewhere in Redmond... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Actually, they're (sic) is one thing more pathetic...

    2. Re:Somewhere in Redmond... by BollocksToThis · · Score: 2, Funny

      Jack Bauer gets played by no man.

      This season, Miranda Otto is Jack Bauer!

      --
      This sig is part of your complete breakfast.
    3. Re:Somewhere in Redmond... by Captain+Splendid · · Score: 2, Funny

      you don't have to put your stamp on every post of yours.

      Says the man who has not just a 'Homepage' but also a 'Journal' link after every post ID? You fucking whore!

      Besides, aren't you impressed I squeezed a limerick to fit the 120 character limit?

      Is that a smile! Yes, it is! Who's a goooood boy!

      --
      Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
    4. Re:Somewhere in Redmond... by rlp · · Score: 2, Funny

      Later that month - Spike TV 3 AM EST

      Vince: You get this great copy of Vista Ultimate for only $19.95. But wait, for a limited time we'll throw in a free upgrade to Windows 7. Order now and we'll also include a 'Sham-Woz' (just like a real 'Woz' but from Redmond) ...

      --
      [Insert pithy quote here]
    5. Re:Somewhere in Redmond... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Great idea!

      --
      mspohr is a dumbass

  2. Fool me once, shame on you by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 5, Funny

    Fool me 12 times, shame on me

    --
    Engineering is the art of compromise.
    1. Re:Fool me once, shame on you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      You're a brave man to admit you used Bob.

    2. Re:Fool me once, shame on you by powerlord · · Score: 4, Funny

      GP forgot to mention NT4.

      Can't fault a GP ... when you get to a certain age, memory is the second thing to go. .... I forget what the first thing is.

      --
      This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
    3. Re:Fool me once, shame on you by stonedcat · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's what she said.

      --
      You can't take the sky from me.
    4. Re:Fool me once, shame on you by BlueStrat · · Score: 4, Funny

      And you forgot VMS -> NT versions -> XP -> Windows 2003. OK, Microsoft didn't write VMS, but they surely stole wholesale from it for NT when they hired David Cutler, one of its authors.

      But that would be uneth...ummm...nevermind.

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    5. Re:Fool me once, shame on you by commodore64_love · · Score: 4, Funny

      Women.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
  3. downgrade by theheadlessrabbit · · Score: 5, Funny

    and when we get frustrated by windows 7 not living up to the hype, will we get free downgrades back to XP?

    --
    -I only code in BASIC.-
    1. Re:downgrade by theheadlessrabbit · · Score: 5, Funny

      did I just get modded '-1 troll' for bashing microsoft on slashdot?

      should I have included a line about chair-throwing overlords or something?

      --
      -I only code in BASIC.-
  4. Service Packs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Aren't service packs always free?

    1. Re:Service Packs by CarpetShark · · Score: 5, Funny

      Aren't service packs always free?

      That's because the copyright has expired by the time they're released.

  5. Re:No News by langelgjm · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ah yes, I remember this from several years ago. Our Dell came with Windows 98, and a free "upgrade" to Windows ME. I sure hope this time turns out better...

    --
    "Anyone who [rips a CD] is probably engaging in copyright infringement." - David O. Carson
  6. Honestly by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I will wait for the "free upgrade" on the torrents

  7. Of course its free by nurb432 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Since when can you charge for a service pack?

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    1. Re:Of course its free by The+End+Of+Days · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, they put a pretty face on some backup software. And the menu bar is translucent now.

  8. in other news by FudRucker · · Score: 2, Funny

    archeologists opened a petrified copy of windows 7 and found hair from a vista

    --
    Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
  9. Re:I see your free software and raise you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Or offer a free upgrade to Linux.

  10. Exclusive Steve Balmer Email: by pRtkL+xLr8r · · Score: 4, Funny

    Whatever it takes! Do what you have to! I don't care if you have to give away the next 3 incarnations of our operating system for free -- WE WILL NOT LET LINUX GET A FOOTHOLD!!!

  11. Re:No News by davester666 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Are most PC's available now Windows 7 capable?

    Maybe if MS introduced a sticker for which ones are...

    --
    Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  12. Re:I see your free software and raise you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    * I have demands that require MS Windows.

    Yup. WinAPI makes me horny as well.
    *Ahhh*
    MessageBoxW
    *Mmnhhh*

  13. Re:I see your free software and raise you? by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 5, Funny

    abandoned roadkill sandwich? Who the hell goes through the trouble of making a delicious road kill sandwich and doesn't eat it when its fresh? If you don't like roadkill why make the sandwich?

    --
    Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
  14. Re:I see your free software and raise you? by Shakrai · · Score: 1, Funny

    This is *really* off-topic, (so feel free to mod that way)

    Nobody on /. will mod down a Star Trek discussion. Well, except the jackass who mods me down just be a wiseass now that I've said that ;)

    but practically the only thing that worries me about the upcoming ST reboot is that the previews make it look like a Nemesis rip-off. I *really* hope I'm wrong.

    I saw the trailer during the Superbowl and dunno what to think. My first thought was "Oh great, another prequel" I guess exploring the aftermath of the Dominion War or giving a real sendoff to the TNG crowd would have been much to ask for.

    --
    I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
    We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
  15. Re:I see your free software and raise you? by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 4, Funny

    The fact that this is modded interesting, is pretty disturbing. In fact, disturbing probably should have been a mod choice from the beginning. Its ... its not too late to do the right thing Taco.

    --
    Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
  16. Re:I see your free software and raise you? by VGPowerlord · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yes, but there's one thing you can say about Windows 8...

    Resistance is futile. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own.

    --
    GLaDOS for President 2016! "Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure." -- GLaDOS, 2011
  17. Re:I see your free software and raise you? by VGPowerlord · · Score: 5, Funny

    Of course, i^2 was too negative, and its replacement, i^3 was imaginary AND negative... luckily i^4 had none of those problems...

    --
    GLaDOS for President 2016! "Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure." -- GLaDOS, 2011
  18. Re:Misleading summary by jellomizer · · Score: 2, Funny

    Don't open it dude it is more valuable that way. Once you open it you loose the collectors value and just have a sub par OS.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  19. Re:I see your free software and raise you? by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well, Taco Bell just calls them "tacos".

    --
    Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.