Windows7 Evangelist

HELSINKI – The world’s top cellphone maker Nokia said on Monday it would start to make laptops, entering a fiercely competitive, but fast-growing market.

Nokia has seen its profit margins drop over the last quarters as handset demand has slumped, and analysts have worried that entering the PC industry, where margins are traditionally razor-thin, could hurt Nokia’s profits further.

“We are fully aware what has the margin level been in the PC world. We have gone into this with our eyes wide open,” Kai Oistamo, the head of Nokia’s key phone unit, told Reuters.

Its first netbook, the Nokia Booklet 3G, will use Microsoft’s Windows software and Intel’s Atom processor — offering up to 12 hours of battery life, and weighing 1.25 kilograms. Netbooks are low-cost laptops optimized for surfing the Internet and performing other basic applications. Pioneered by Asustek in 2007, other brands such as HP and Dell have also pushed out their own lines since then.

Research firm IDC expects netbook shipments this year to grow more than 127 percent from 2008 to over 26 million units, outperforming the overall PC market that is expected to remain flat and a phone market which is shrinking some 10 per cent.

“Nokia will be hoping that its brand and knowledge of cellular channels will play to its strengths as it addresses this crowded, cut-throat segment,” said Ben Wood, director of research at CCS Insight.

“At present we see Nokia’s foray into the netbook market as a niche exercise in the context of its broader business.”

Nokia said it would unveil detailed specifications, market availability and pricing of the device on Sept 2.

A source close to Nokia said the new netbook would use the upcoming Windows 7 operating system. Microsoft says a stripped-down version of Windows 7 will be introduced to netbooks the same time as its general release on October 22.

The latest iteration of Mac OS X is looking like a solid upgrade, but Microsoft’s follow up to Vista constitutes a major competitive threat.

Snow Leopard, the latest release of Mac OS X, doesn’t look like much of an upgrade at first. User-facing features are few, and minor. Even Apple seems to acknowledge that it isn’t a major upgrade, charging only $29 rather than the $129 price of previous versions of Mac OS X.

But don’t tell any of that to Ken Case, CEO of Mac software developers, the Omni Group. For Case, Snow Leopard is huge.

“We love Snow Leopard,” said Case, whose company develops the cult Mac applications OmniFocus and OmniGraffle. “From the point of view of developers, it’s the biggest thing since OS X itself.” OS X shipped on the desktop in 2001.

Snow Leopard had better be big. Apple faces a big challenge ahead. Amid Snow Leopard’s August 28 release, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has already begun rolling out Windows 7 to enterprise customers, and the consumer version is due to ship October 22.

What’s In Snow Leopard?
User-facing features are few, and not huge. But they’re interesting. Snow Leopard supports Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 in the built-in Mail, iCal, and Address Book apps. The Finder is now based on Cocoa, Apple’s standard Objective C development environment for the Mac. Now Finder performs faster and has user interface enhancements such as enhanced Spotlight search and icons.

Exposé and Stacks get refinements to make it easier to navigate through running applications and saved documents from the desktop. Snow Leopard also has faster Time Machine backups, and a new version of QuickTime.

But the biggest improvement visible to the end-user is performance: It runs a lot faster.

“It’s snappier, more responsive, and feels more well-put-together,” said Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote, which makes a cross-platform note-taking and document-management app that runs on Macs, Windows, popular mobile devices, and the Web. “Snow Leopard is almost like the first couple of days after getting a new Mac, when everything is fresh and snappy. It’s a good feeling.”

read more >> http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=219500292

From Windows 3.1 to Windows Vista, the Windows operating system has taken many giant leaps. And while Vista received a lukewarm reception from some users, Windows 7 is likely to be remembered for addressing those criticisms.

In fact, there aren’t many changes to the overall look of Windows 7 when compared to Windows Vista. Instead, Microsoft seems to have paid attention to the feedback it received and created an OS that is not only stable, but also very capable.

So what is new in Windows 7? Here are 18 cool things Windows 7 does that Vista doesn’t.

• 50 Windows 7 tips, tricks and secrets

1. Shake ‘em away

Ever had 10 Notepad, two Powerpoint and 50 Outlook windows open? Want to minimise all of them except the most important one? In Windows 7, you can grab the top of the window and shake it about to scare away all of the other open windows. Simple.

2. Jumplists

Jumplists are a new feature that give you the option to view a list of recently accessed files by application, even when the application isn’t open, by right-clicking on the application’s icon in the taskbar. It also allows you to quickly access a favourite playlist without opening your media player. Jumplists can also be found integrated into the Start Menu.

TIME-SAVER: The Jumplist for Windows Explorer – pretty useful

START HERE: A Jumplist integrated into the Start Menu

3. A step forward in previewing

In Vista, hovering over a minimised window on the taskbar would provide a preview of the window. In Windows 7, a similar preview pops up which also gives the option to close a window (within the preview), along with a full-size ‘peek’. You can also press Win + T to scroll along previews in the taskbar.

PREVIEW PLUS: A smaller preview, along with a full-size ‘peek’ with the ability to close the window

4. Snap into place

Simply drag your window to the left or right edge of the desktop to snap and resize the window to one half of the screen. Drag the window to the top to maximise it. A pretty neat idea made neater by the use of the keyboard shortcuts (Win + respective arrow keys). No longer do you have to frustratingly position the mouse at the edge of the window to resize it.

5. XP Mode

This time, you do not have to slap your head that same way when Vista would not run an XP application. For those XP applications that do not work under Windows 7, you can download XP Mode free from the Microsoft website and run XP applications in an emulated XP environment in Windows 7. Imagine Parallels on Mac OS X without the need to fish out money on an extra OS.

6. An easier and quicker way to adjust multiple displays

Do you constantly connect your computer to different external monitors or projectors, especially at work? Try Win + P, and duplicating or extending your display to the other monitor takes just a second. Win + P presents you with an Alt + Tab style menu, which is ideal if you give a lot of presentations at work on your laptop.

7. A personalised Stage for your device

With the new ‘Device and Printers’ button on the Start Menu, devices which are connected to your computer can have their own Stage. This Device Stage presents supported devices with a photo-realistic render and a link to the vendor’s website, along with other updates and useful information (such as firmware updates and manuals).

8. (Almost) eliminate the notification area!

What, I can even get rid of the clock and volume icons? Yes. Click the arrow that gives access to the overflow icons in the notification area and click ‘customise’. Select each icon and click ‘hide icon and notifications’ to remove it. Clean.

QUIETER: Stop all those notifications – but you might want to keep the clock there

9. Problem Steps Recorder

The ‘Problem Steps Recorder’ lets you record a particular problem you are having with your PC so you can send it to someone who may be able to help. Click ‘Record’, and a screenshot is taken with every mouse click, allowing comments to be added in between if required. These screenshots (and comments, if any) are placed in a well-formatted HTML document that is placed inside a zipped folder on your desktop – ideal to be attached to an email.

Read more >> http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/pc/18-cool-things-windows-7-does-that-vista-doesn-t-628892

Windows 7 is feature-packed and has significant performance and power management enhancements over Windows Vista, that oh-so-forgettable operating system that probably will go down in the annals of technology history as the 21st century’s version of Windows Me.

Although the performance of Windows 7 left us in the CRN Test Center impressed right from the start, using it with default settings intact we found seven ways to squeeze maximum performance out of Windows 7 for a truly awesome user experience.

1. Upgrade From Vista SP1, Plus Our Take On Hardware Specifications

Based on testing conducted in the CRN Test Center, Windows 7 has no issues in being upgraded from Vista SP 1 on newer PCs. “Newer” in this case means at least a Pentium 4 processor and a minimum of 2 GB RAM on a 32-bit-based PC. If opting for 64-bit, 4 GB of RAM will give you great performance. Note: These requirements are based on our testing and not onMicrosoft (NSDQ: MSFT)’s published minimum hardware requirements.

Other hardware requirements would be 16 GB of free hard drive space for the 32-bit install and 20 GB for the 64-bit version.

However, the most optimal install method would be to follow the above hardware requirements and do a clean install of Windows 7. Toss out any notions of upgrading from XP.

2. Turn Off Or Modify System Protection

By default, Windows 7 enables System Protection on the NTFS drive that Windows is installed on. System Protection keeps copies of system settings and previous versions of files that can be restored in case of a system problem or accidental file deletion.

Windows 7 created restore points before significant system events such as a program or driver install. Restore points also are created once every seven days if no other restore points were created in the previous seven.

This restore point creation can conceivably contribute to resource overhead and a possible detriment in system performance. In a corporate IT environment, where there should already be a backup system in place, it makes sense to disable System Protection on end user’s machines. Home users can turn it off as well, as long as they too are backing up files. After all, in case of a system failure, it’s a lot easier to do a reinstall of Windows 7 and then restore files. Disabling System Protection means you are not sacrificing any performance while restore points are being created.

If users still want to use System Protection, they can disable it, and then enable it when they want to create manual restore points. Windows 7 however, does not have a scheduler for creating these restore points, so a user will have to be vigilant about retaining a set schedule.

3. Utilize The Windows Experience Index

The Windows Experience Index assesses various system components on a scale of 1.0 to 7.9. It assigns subscores to the following: the processor’s calculations per second, the RAM memory operations per second, the Aero desktop performance, 3-D graphics performance and the hard disk drive data transfer rate. All of these subscores are then tallied to make the total base score.

Although some argue about the validity of these scores, the index does provide a baseline performance gauge that can be used when upgrading memory, graphics cards and other components.

It is best practice to take note of the base score and subscores before doing any component upgrades, and then after an upgrade, rerunning the assessment within Performance Information and Tools in the Control Panel to calculate new scores.

A score of 2 is the minimum level of sufficiency to perform the most basic computer tasks. For more graphics-intensive tasks, you want to see a score of at least 3.
4. Tweak Visual Settings

Windows 7 owes its beautiful interface to the wide array of visual settings available to users. If a pretty desktop is not as important as performance, then it may be a good idea to disable Aero, including the default animated mouse pointers. Users also can opt to disable ClearType, a feature that aids in improving the readability of text on LCD displays found in laptops, Pocket PCs and flat-panel monitors. However, turning off ClearType made a negligible viewing difference on the laptops we tested it out on. Users also can granularly customize visual effects. By default, Windows 7 is set to “Let Windows choose what’s best for my computer.” Advanced users may want to override those settings and deselect system resource eaters such as animated controls and elements within windows, Aero Peek, Transparent Glass and other features.

5. Modify Data Execution Prevention

Introduced in XP SP2, Data Execution Prevention (DEP) is a security feature that helps prevent malicious programs from running executable code from a system’s memory reserved for Windows and other safe programs.

Unfortunately, it also can be kind of a pain. Users will sometimes see mysterious DEP errors logged in the Event Viewer, and it has also been known to stop the installation of legitimate programs.

By default, Windows 7 turns on DEP for essential Windows programs and services. That may be resource overkill, especially if you are running a system with a newer processor. Many newer processors have hardware-based DEP. This can negate the need for the software-based DEP that Windows 7 provides.

For users without hardware-based DEP, adequate malware protection should be sufficient enough in providing the same kind of protection that DEP offers.

You can disable DEP in Windows altogether with the following command (remember to run with elevated permissions):

bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOff

Users also can choose to run DEP against specific applications and services, provided those applications are DEP-compatible.

6. Customize The Power Management Plan

By default, Windows 7 is set to a ‘Balanced’ power management plan. This is a good option for users, as it gives full performance and saves power during periods of inactivity. However, based on the type of system (for example, a desktop or laptop) and the user’s needs, the Power Management plan can be customized for maximum efficiency.

Users can customize settings such as specifying the time the hard drive gets turned off after a threshold period of inactivity, or if it gets turned off at all. You can opt to turn off the desktop slideshow feature, especially if the system is in a corporate environment where PCs usually have a default background such as the company logo. There also are options to manage USB settings, power buttons and the processor power.

7. Fine Tune User Account Control

Windows 7 remedies rather nicely the annoyance of UAC introduced in Vista. Users now have far greater control over UAC. There is a slider bar that allows UAC to be set as high as “Always notify,” in the case of any system change, to “Never notify.” It’s a safe bet that corporate IT will generally set Windows 7 to “Never notify,” because there are usually user polices and access controls in place in the network.

Windows 7 is shaping up to be a hit for Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT). The level of customization offered to users with these features really adds to the overall user experience and can really maximize performance.

Microsoft’s new OS can be had for free, but there are catches

The launch of Windows 7 may be more than two months away, but the buzz, already building, is starting to reach fever pitch.

Reviews, such as Preston Gralla’s in Computerworld,, have called it “solid” and “well-performing” — a far cry from the “glitches that bedeviled the launch of Windows Vista.”

Success for Windows 7 can’t come too soon for Microsoft, which saw its desktop operating system revenues plunge 29% year-over-year last quarter. Microsoft’s chief financial officer, Chris Liddell, in fact, pinned hopes on Windows 7 for a better second half of the year during a conference call with Wall Street analysts in July.

But with unemployment remaining high and the economy still on shaky ground, Microsoft’s financial success is probably of no concern to you. What you want to know is how to get Windows 7 for the least amount of money.

That’s why we’re here: to help you get, if not a free copy of the new operating system, then at least one that costs less than the asking price.

Okay, so is there any way I can get Windows 7 for free? Legally? Sure, but you have to hurry.

You have until Thursday to download the free Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC), the unpolished (and unfinished) preview that Microsoft unveiled back in May. (Side note: Microsoft originally pegged Aug. 15 as the done date for RC downloads, but last month quietly extended the deadline five days, to Aug. 20.)

Windows 7 RC is available in both 32- and 64-bit versions, and in English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish editions. Microsoft’s also giving out free activation keys for the RC.

What’s the catch? Microsoft’s not in the business of giving away its crown jewels, so there is some fine print. First of all, the RC isn’t the same as the RTM (release to manufacturing) build that Microsoft sent to computer makers two weeks ago. But it’s reliable and remarkably stable.

Second, Windows 7 RC will run fine until March 1, 2010, but then it will begin automatically shutting down at two-hour intervals. It won’t warn you of an impending shutdown, either, so unless you’re ready to lose work in progress — and put up with restarting several times each workday — that will be the time to give it up.

The RC expires on June 1, 2010. From that date on, it simply won’t boot.

I want the real deal. Is there a way to grab the final version for free? Yes, but not everybody qualifies.

The thousands who were invited to the first round of beta tests last year — dubbed “Technical Beta Program” — are eligible for a free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate as a reward for their work.

Read the full article @ http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9136718/FAQ_How_to_get_Windows_7_on_the_cheap

(Milestone 2 Taskbar can be seen in the middle, image courtesy WithinWindows)

From the first ever Windows 7 builds to the RTM, the widely praised OS that recently hit the RTM development stage sure has come a long way. Between the many under the hood changes that improved stability and performance greatly over its predecessor, to UI improvements that improve productivity such as the revamped taskbar and Aero Snap, a lot of work was put into engineering 7, and evidently, what we see at the RTM stage wasn’t put together overnight.

Many builds were compiled at Redmond, and the features were slowly constructed and improved on until they became what they are today. It’s difficult to really catch a glimpse at Windows 7 while it’s being baked in Sinofsky’s oven, and many builds are yet to escape Redmond. While a Milestone 1 build (6519) and a Milestone 3 build (6801) leaked to the public, Milestone 2 was locked away in the vault.

Rafael managed to get a good look at the Milestone 2 superbar and he showed it off sandwiched between the M1 and M3 superbars. This post inspired me to go further into the rabbit hole and see more Milestone 2 goodness, and with the help of Rafael Rivera and Chris Holmes, I did just that. It’s worth noting that, for irony’s sake, this build of Windows 7 was bootcamped on a Mac Mini.

(click to enlarge this and all other images in this article)

Milestone 2 is really a mash of Windows 7 and Vista together. The superbar consists mainly of a white gradient, with the start button/quick launch and system icons area having a 6519-esque gradient. Any toolbars (such as Quick Launch and the Windows Media Player toolbar) will occupy the black gradient area. You can also find the show/hide desktop button, which also triggers Aero Peek in this build.

You can also tell by the superbar’s clarity design-wise that Microsoft was drifting away from the “darker” design of Vista in favor of one that’s “lighter”. Something else that’s worth noting is that in this build, Aero Snap was much snappier, so to speak. The moment the window is dragged to the left, top, or right side of the screen, it snaps without there being an Aero glass preview showing the space that the Windows will occupy. In this build, the ribbon was not yet implemented in any of the Windows apps.

We have put together a video showing Aero Snap, Aero Shake, Aero Peek, and the Milestone 2 superbar in action. At this point, the current functionality of the superbar was pretty much in place, although slightly buggy as can be expected.

Libraries can also be found in this build. As Rafael mentioned, it’s harder to unlock the tasty bits in this build compared to 6519, likely because these builds left the shell team to have other work done (such as the implementation of Libraries).

Something interesting about the Libraries is the fact that to create a new Library, there was actually a wizard that you used to pick the folders to include.

In Explorer, there was a view called “smart details”. You can see it in action above.

Above, you can see screenshots of the Homegroups (or should I say home groups) feature in its primitive form. This PC, running the Milestone 2 build managed to pick up on the Homegroup created this morning on a system running 7077.

Here are some shots of the Control Panel in this build.

Above, you can see Windows KeyRing, which appears to be the Windows Credential Manager in the RTM build. At the Milestone 2 point in time, Windows KeyRing was hardly functional; the only thing you could really do with it was create a new “KeyRing”, and if you attempted to do anything else, you’d get a dialog box similar to that in the second Windows KeyRing screenshot.

Above, you will find the “Manage Activities” window, which allows you to, well, manage activities for a feature that didn’t make it through to the RTM.

The start menu in this build had a different gradient when you hovered over the start menu items on the right hand side of the start menu.

It seems that at this point in time, Microsoft had a Windows Ultimate Extras window showing that they didn’t scrap the extras just yet. Either they didn’t care about removing the window, or they still planned to have the extras in Windows 7 at that point in time, perhaps scrapping it after much discussion on how much it contributed to the whole Vista PR flop.

This is a reminder post for all the Windows users who still want to try out Windows 7 for free. The Release Candidate (build 7100) that was released to the public in May 2009 will no longer be available for download from TechNet after August 20, 2009. This means that you only have a week left to download the Windows 7 RC. Of course, you’ll still be able to install the RC build after that day, and Microsoft says it will still be giving out product keys for those who don’t have one yet.

Bi-hourly shutdowns of this build will begin on March 1, 2010; users will be told to install a released version of Windows and their PCs will shut down automatically every two hours.

On June 1, 2010, if you are still on the Windows 7 RC, your license will expire and the non-genuine experience will be triggered. Your wallpaper will be removed and “This copy of Windows is not genuine” will be displayed in the lower right corner above the taskbar.

Considering Windows 7 will be generally available on October 22, 2009, this will give users plenty of time to move over to the RTM code. Microsoft has already started handing out Windows 7 RTM to various groups.

With this R2 release of Windows Server 2008, Hyper-V gains the ability to shift virtual machines from one host to another without interruption. This version of Windows Server is also the first in a decade to be released in tandem with a new Windows client (in this case, Windows 7). As such, Windows Server 2008 R2 includes many features that make it and Windows 7 “better together.”

Windows Server 2008 R2 is a modest upgrade, but it’s one that’s worth paying attention to for organizations tracking Microsoft’s foray into server virtualization–Hyper-V–as well as for companies looking to deploy Windows 7 in the short term.

With this R2 release, Hyper-V gains the capacity for shifting virtual machines from one host to another without interruption, a feature Microsoft calls Live Migration. Live Migration is an important addition, but Hyper-V has plenty of catching up to do with the better-established virtualization lineup from VMware, which has included support for migrating running VMs since 2003.

In particular, I find VMware’s ESX Server simpler to configure and use than Hyper-V, both when manipulating a lone virtualization host and when controlling clusters of hosts. However, in the latter case, I’ve yet to try Microsoft’s forthcoming Virtual Machine Manager product, which should smooth multi-host management.

Shipping in tandem with Windows 7, Server 2008 R2 is the first Windows server release to hit the market alongside a new Windows client in nearly 10 years. Microsoft has outfitted R2 with a handful of so called “better together” features intended to grease the upgrade skids for the pair of OSes.

These new capabilities include a means for providing Windows 7 clients with secure, VPN-less access to company networks via DirectAccess; with faster connections to file shares through BranchCache; and with enhancements to Terminal Services (now called Remote Desktop Services) sessions. eWEEK Labs will examine the Server 2008 R2/Windows 7 combo more closely in the near future.

Beyond the Hyper-V and Windows 7-related changes, R2 includes an assortment of smaller enhancements centered around managing remote systems, scripting administrative tasks via PowerShell, and reducing power consumption on physical and virtual machines running the OS.

Microsoft has not yet announced pricing details for Windows Server 2008 R2, but I expect that pricing will be similar to Windows Server 2008, which is available in five versions: a $999 Standard edition that comes with five CALs (client access licenses); a $3,999, 25-CAL Enterprise Edition; a $2,999-per-processor Datacenter Edition; a $2,999-per-processor version for Itanium-based systems; and a $469 Web server edition.

The changes that Microsoft has announced include the removal of all Windows Server 2008 SKUs shipping without Hyper-V, along with a CAL change in which Windows Server instances running only the Hyper-V role will not require Server 2008-specific CALs. What’s more, Microsoft will be selling a new, Foundation Server SKU that will be bundled with OEM servers and is intended for small businesses with fewer than 15 users.

Starting with Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft is dropping support for the x86 platform while maintaining x86-64 and Intel Itanium 2 processor platform support.

I tested the x86-64 version of Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter Edition on a pair of HP servers–a DL360 G6 and a DL380 G6, which I used as Hyper-V nodes in a Failover Cluster configuration. I also tested R2 systems running domain controller and remote desktop services roles in virtual machines hosted from my Hyper-V pair.

Read more >> http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/REVIEW-Windows-Server-2008-R2-Serves-As-Virtualization-Windows-7-Foundation-444663/1/

The good news is that upgrading to Windows 7 is going to be cheaper than previous Windows releases—but before you buy, you better check your situation and plan the right move, money-wise.

You may have a few questions: Am I eligible for a cheap upgrade? How about a free upgrade? What’s this about family packs? Should I be shopping for a new computer? Not to worry, Prof. Dealzmodo will help clear things up. First, let’s start with the basics.

Is Your PC Ready?
If you have your heart set on upgrading to Windows 7, you need to meet minimum system requirements. For most of us, that ain’t no thang:

• 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
• 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
• 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
• DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

If you can’t hit these minimum numbers, I feel for you. It also means you will have to factor new hardware into the total upgrade cost.

To be honest, it’s probably in your best interest to exceed these requirements moving forward. The good news is that there are many PCs out there that would more than satisfy your hardware needs for $500 or less.

The 64-bit Question
Every Windows 7 box, upgrade or full, comes with both a 32-bit and a 64-bit version of the OS, so you have a choice. You should probably brush up on the details of this transition, but in the meantime, just know that it mostly comes down to RAM: If you have 3GB or less, you can run 32-bit, but if you have 4GB or more, you’ll need 64-bit to get the most out of your system.

We recommend the latter, for future coverage, and fortunately, RAM upgrades are damn cheap these days. In fact, you can get 4GB of DDR2 memory for less than $70 pretty easily. And if you are already running a Intel Core 2 Duo processor or better, you don’t need to upgrade the chipset to enjoy the benefits of 64-bit computing. Either way, getting caught up on the CPU won’t run you much more than $100 if you shop around. As I pointed out in this must-read column, it pays to upgrade hardware yourself. Only suckers pay manufacturer’s prices.

Windows 7 Pricing
Standard:
• Windows 7 Home Premium: $120 for upgrade; $200 for full version
• Windows 7 Professional: $200 for upgrade; $300 for full version
• Windows 7 Ultimate: $220 for upgrade; $320 for full version
• Family Pack: $149

Anytime Upgrades:
• Windows 7 Starter Edition (you do not want this) to Home Premium: $80
• Home Premium to Professional: $90
• Professional to Ultimate: $140

Free Upgrades:
If you purchase a qualifying PC with Vista installed between now and January 31st you are eligible for a free Windows 7 upgrade. However, this only applies to participating manufacturers and products. Check out Microsoft’s upgrade page for a list of these manufacturers. This also applies to anyone who purchases Vista retail packaged products.

Which Version of Windows 7 Should I Get?
If you are running something other than a Windows OS or an OS that pre-dates Windows XP that means you will have to buy the full retail copy—you’re not eligible for the upgrade that pretty much everyone else is eligible for. If you fall into this slim category, there is a good chance you’ll have to upgrade hardware as well. In that case, strongly consider putting your money into a new PC with Windows 7 already installed—there’s no reason to pay $200 to $300 for the OS alone, when decent computers cost $500.

You can pretty much skip Microsoft’s handy-but-convoluted upgrade chart when determining which path is right for you, though you may want to consult Ed Bott’s easier-to-follow version, originally published on ZDNet:

There are really only three decisions most people will make: Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate, as the other versions are not offered to retail buyers. Most people will get Home Premium—if you are shopping for Professional or Ultimate, even you probably don’t need the upgrade chart, because you know what you’re looking for.

Whatever you do, try to avoid the Anytime Upgrade, the convenient but costly way to jump from, say, Home Premium to Ultimate. If, for example, there is even a slight chance that you might upgrade from Professional to Ultimate, it makes sense to just go for Ultimate right off the bat. An outright upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate costs $220, but upgrading to Professional then deciding later on to go to Ultimate will cost you $340 total.

What About Netbooks?
In the vast majority of cases, upgrading to Windows 7 from a netbook doesn’t make sound financial sense. If you look at the prices, upgrades can cost more than half what you paid for the netbook in the first place. My recommendation here is to wait on purchasing a netbook until an optimized build of Windows 7 is pre-installed.

Furthermore, if you aren’t prepared to deal with the Starter Edition, don’t buy a netbook running it—go right for Home Premium if possible. The Anytime Upgrade to Home Premium will run you $80—which is probably still a chunk of change when compared to the price of the netbook itself. Seriously, I think that Starter Edition’s sole purpose is to screw netbook users. And if you keep your wallet in a back pocket—yes…they’re screwing you from behind. As far as I’m concerned, the only way it might make some financial sense to purchase an OS upgrade for a netbook is if you run Windows on multiple computers and you decide to purchase a Family Pack license—and you are comfortable dealing with different kinds of OS installations. That will at least allow you to run Home Premium on three machines for about $50 a pop.