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Windows Anytime Upgrade and Windows 7 Family Pack

September 5, 2009

When buying an operating system, especially one that has more than one edition, you always think things through. Do you need this or that feature and if you do is it worth your money? You can also end up purchasing the only edition you can afford. But after some time, you may realize that you need a more powerful version.

Before Vista, the only way to have a more powerful edition was to purchase it, uninstall the previous one and afterwards install the new one. For the first time, Vista introduced the feature Windows Anytime Upgrade and though the whole idea was pretty interesting the way it was realized dissatisfied many users. Namely, by choosing this option from the system tools, you could purchase the needed upgrade for your edition from Microsoft or one of its distributers. The package consisted of installation DVD and a product key. The only crucial drawback was that you had to wait until the shipment reached your destination, which, ultimately, frustrated many users who were in need of immediate upgrade.

Fortunately, Microsoft saw the error of their way and greatly improved the feature in Windows 7. Now you could really upgrade to a more powerful edition at anytime and get all those extra features you’ve been looking forward to. Unlike before, now with the installation of any edition on the hard drive, all of the features will be automatically installed, even those belonging to the most powerful Windows edition. This means that if you had on your computer Windows 7 Home Premium but wanted to upgrade to Professional or Ultimate you could do it in less than ten minutes. The process is far more simplified now. What you do is, you start the application Windows Anytime Upgrade and you’re immediately offered with option to go online and purchase a product key for the edition you’d like to work with. After you’ve entered the key and its validity’s been verified, the upgrade initializes. Understandably, it’s recommended that you avoid running unnecessary applications since it may slow down the whole upgrading process. After the upgrade is complete, all you need to do is restart the computer. The next time you log in, you’ll be able to fully enjoy all the benefits of the more powerful edition. These improvements of Windows Anytime Upgrade are very much appreciated and let’s not also forget that the upgrade is 12% cheaper than the price list offered for Vista.

Besides this great possibility, Microsoft has also introduced one more useful opportunity that can save you a lot of money. It’s concerning the package Windows 7 Family Pack. This package consists of three licenses of the operating system Windows 7 Home Premium. It’s an interesting and intriguing package for many households since most of them are in a possession of more than one computer.  Now, for a price of just $149, 99 one family can install fully functional and legal Windows 7 on three computers. Not only will this allow you to connect the computers in the Homegroup, as we mentioned in one of the previous articles, but you will also be able to save around  $200, which is definitely something that should be taken into consideration.

Though this is excellent news for the users it may negatively reflect on the number of single licenses sold for the Home Premium package. The difference from one to three licenses is only $30 so if someone has two computers (desktop and laptop, for example) or is planning on buying one in near future, the chances are the user will purchase the family package. But let’s not get into the Microsoft’s plans and projects concerning this dilemma. Throughout the years they’ve proven that they’re capable of making the right decisions and we’re sure that what they’ve done is for the best reasons.

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Tags: family pack, features, home premium, improvement, online, product key, professional, purchase, ultimate, upgrade, vista, windows 7