Windows 8 Upgrade for 7, Vista & XP

For those who are interested, Microsoft is offering a Windows 8 upgrade to owners of Windows 7, Vista, or XP for $39.99 (online download) or $69.99 for a DVD version at stores if bought before January 31, 2013.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2012/07...rade-costs-3-for-xp-vista-or-windows-7-users/

 

Hmmm ditch Vista for 8? I think for $40 its worth a try. I am curious since my Vista is only 32-bit if I could upgrade to 8 64-bit...

 

I'm a Vista user as well. Like you say, $40 is worth a try. I'm also wondering about upgrading a 32bit to 64bit. I have 4GB of ram that my laptop sees just fine, but the 32bit os will only see 3.

 

Wrong.

32 bit os will use no more than 4 gb total for all processes, the reason you never see 4 is because it uses some of that before it has a chance to allocate.

If you have 4 gb of ram on a 32 bit os and moved to 64, that would be the equivalent of having 2 gb of ram on 32 bit. If I go 64 I have 8 gb at the minimum.

 

I'm in the same exact situation. I have a laptop that came standard with 2GB of RAM, so they threw 32 bit on it from factory. I have since maxed it out to 4GB, but the OS only sees/uses 3GB. I hope that I can do 64 bit since the article mentions the option to do a clean install, which I will most likely decide to do. Never been a fan of upgrades.

 

Two things:

1) I do not like to promote FoxNews
2) I'm not a big believer in Windows upgrades ... it always seems to cause problems for people a year or two later

That being said, this does seem like a solid deal:

 

Okay, good to know. Thanks for the info. So with 4GB, 32bit is the better choice.

 

I've never had a problem with upgrades. Clean is better to be sure but I have some software that I don't have disks for (got a free download of Office 2007 when I attended a developers conference eons ago).

 

Depends what you're upgrading from...

 

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/...07/02/upgrade-to-windows-8-pro-for-39-99.aspx

 

If you need to keep your current apps, you could virtualize your machine, save off the virtual image and then run it in your updated Windows 8 system.

http://www.labnol.org/software/create-virtual-machine-of-existing-computer/10510/

 

Wont be able to upgrade from XP, so yes, you would be wiping and starting fresh, however as long as you don't format or delete the partition XP is on, the windows 8 installer will create a folder for you called windows.old that will contain all of your data from the XP installation.

 

If you want to upgrade, just send me your computer

 

I don' agree with this. I am running on Win 7 x64 with 4GB (3.78) usable RAM. he will be fine with 4GB's You also have to make sure that your hardware can support a x64 based OS. I would check on that first.

This is correct.

Another reminder, you cant upgrade across architectures. Meaning if you have a 32bit os and want to upgrade to a 64bit os you have to do a clean install.

On another not you can not go from XP to Win 7 and Win8 using an in place upgrade. A clean install will have to be performed.

 

So you're saying I would have to look up every piece of hardware in my laptop, DVD drive, video card, motherboard, and what ever to make sure they are will support it? OR is there an easier way to find in device settings or something?

 

This is just wrong.... In soo many ways.... 32 bit and 64 bit have to do with architecture and memory addressing.

My laptop has 4GB of RAM installed, and is running Windows 7 64bit. This is 4GB of RAM in 32bit or 64bit. This system runs perfectly fine. Go look for more facts if you wish, otherwise continue believing this guys opinion.