No free Win 7 upgrade for most Netbooks -- a good reason to wait until October 22?
We recently asked (and answered) the burning question: "Should I buy a new laptop now, or wait for Windows 7?" Much of our answer revolved around the fact that almost anyone buying a new laptop from June 26, 2009 through January 31, 2010 would qualify for a free upgrade to Windows 7. Those upgrades would be delivered via snail-mail sometime after Win 7's October release, and we provided handy brand-by-brand instructions and links for filling out all the required paperwork.
One important exception to the free upgrade fest deserves a closer look -- and that's anyone buying a Netbook with Windows XP (and judging from recent sales numbers, that's a lot of you). The shafting current Netbook buyers take is two-fold.
No easy upgrades for Netbooks
First, you don't get a free
Windows 7 upgrade, even to the stripped-down Starter Edition. The only Netbook exceptions are a handful of systems, such as some versions of the Asus Eee PC 1101HA, that run Vista Home Premium.
Second, even if you pony up for a boxed copy of Windows 7, you can't do a direct upgrade (also called an "in-place upgrade") -- a clean install, wiping your hard drive and all its data, is required. That's usually a better way to install a new OS, but those who skipped Vista and its upgrade headaches will face some extra steps in moving their Netbooks up to Windows 7 (the in-place upgrade was an option for going from XP to Vista).
One positive note -- even if you're doing a clean install, you can still use the less-expensive "upgrade" version of Windows 7, rather than a full copy. The installer will check that there's an activated copy of Windows on your system and proceed from there.
Tips for migrating from XP to Win 7
However, Microsoft does offer some help for those who need to save their settings and data before wiping their Netbooks for a Windows 7 install. The User State Migration Tool is a software package that, "captures desktop, and application settings, as well as user accounts and users' files, and then migrates them to a new Windows installation."
That's intended more for IT managers migrating multiple systems, so there's also the more basic Windows Easy Transfer utility. Naturally, your mileage using these tools may vary, and if you get stuck, Microsoft has a handy User State Migration tutorial video here. There are also several third-party solutions available (such as Laplink), some of which are being specifically marketed for the tricky XP-to-Vista move.
Buy now, or wait?
Is this lockout fair to Netbook buyers, who in some ways are providing the only bright spot in an otherwise dismal retail buying environment? And should Microsoft extend more of a helping hand to those purchasing back-to-school Netbooks?
Put more bluntly -- if you're in the market for a Netbook, will you off until after Windows 7 Netbooks start shipping? Sound off in the comments section below.
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan. 
I've come to the same conclusion as yours. I was a bit fascinated by netbooks, but changed my mind as I watched prices fall.
My workplace has recently "upgraded" to 13-inch Dell Latitude e4300 laptops, which are hardly considered netbooks by anyone's definition. But even so, I still have to have a full-sized monitor and keyboard plugged into it to realistically use it for more than an hour at a time.
I'd personally much rather have a cheap, full-sized laptop with only 2 hours of battery life than a netbook capable of 5 hours of battery life.
Now, if only PC Laptops would take a page from the MacBook design manual, and make a touchpad that's doesn't make me want to use my laptop as a frisbee....
It's good to dream, I guess.
Will I have to reinstall it ALL from scratch or does the MS backup copy everything?
Imagine the hilarity that will ensure when MS and the PC Manufacturers send out shiny Win 7 DVD-ROMs to the people who own these things and were promised an OS upgrade.
Unless MS can provide the OS on a bootable USB Key, this whole idea is as worthless as teets on a bull.
Going out and buying an external DVD-ROM drive is an expense that most people did not factor in when they bought one of these things to being with. Mark my words - only a small percent of the population will endevour to buy an external unit just to do an OS upgrade. In addition, an OS upgrade is an act often fraught with difficulty that the average PC user cannot really handle anyway. (Power users and IT geeks are obviously not included in that last statement.)
Wait till Oct 22 to buy your Netbook! Otherwise, learn to enjoy your outdated eight year old OS (Windows XP) as it will be on the Netbook you just bought for a long, long time.
I agree if you don't fully understand an installation process, although easy, wait until October 22. Just depends on your comfort level.
As for an eight year old O/S as long as it does what you need age has nothing to with it. XP is an excellent O/S and just because Win 7 is coming out doesn't make it worthless, close, but not totally worthless.
Never the less, it's actually very easy to transfer a Vista or Windows 7 install DVD to a bootable USB key. It's actually way easier then trying to install XP from a USB Flash drive.
Installing it that way, as others have noted is over 9,000 times easier than the old XP installs!
Search for creating bootable USB Windows 7 and you will find tons of articles on how to do it. Including one produced by Microsoft.
/sarcasm
in my comment above
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16-bit_application
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16-bit
Maybe if cloud computing catches on enough it won't be necessary at least on end user level
I am currently building a gaming rig. Problem is (obiviously) the computer has no OS so, of course, I need to go buy one. Everything I have heard as to upgrades has always been about computers already created by some corp. or another (Dell, HP, Toshiba, ect.). I haven't been able to find information as to if you buy the Vista Ultimate OS its self if you still get the upgrade or no. It really would be a shame to have built up my rig, and then have it sit around for a month because I have to wait for the next OS to ship ( and those things aren't cheap, and having spent 4K on my comp, i dont have the money to Buy Vista now, and then buy Win 7 a month later).
This perception that you are entitled to a free upgrade to any product just because you bought the current version or model is asinine. Be realistic and consider yourself fortunate if you can get an upgrade.
I was about to comment then I saw yours.
Secondly, it looks like most of the major manufacturers are waiting until Windows 7 comes out to release their new models. Since CULV and Ion-based models that run Windows 7 are right around the corner, I want to "wait and see" before buying an Atom-based model today.
- by bluexander August 26, 2009 11:03 AM PDT
- With access to MSDNAA as a Computer engineering student I have already upgraded to the RTM of Windows 7 Pro. My tablet PC was running XP, but fortunately you do not have to reformat to install Win7. If Windows 7 detects an older install of Windows it will move the windows folder, the Documents and Settings folder, and the Program Files folder to C:\windows.old. Another point to note is that files and folders directly on the C: drive remain unchanged. So backing up your data is not difficult or time consuming unless you want to completely reformat the partition.
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