Windows Vista Upgrade

If you have arrived at this site looking for the article on the Windows Vista Upgrade "secret" - I have decided to remove it and replace it with this article instead...

It Started As An Article For My Newsletter Subscribers...

In mid January 2007 I started to receive many emails, from subscribers to my Windows XP newsletter, asking about a the newly discovered Windows Vista upgrade "workaround".

...as part of this ongoing dialogue with some of my subscribers I wrote an article on my experience of trying out this workaround that many other websites and blogs were reporting.

After all it was already public information and Microsoft themselves had created the upgrade workaround.

And that was pretty much that really, an interesting article but we all moved on to other things.

Then the article started to appear on many high traffic websites reporting that I had somehow "discovered" a way to circumvent the Windows Vista installation routine, and other such crazy notions!

This is a bit far fetched as IT journalists and other IT websites and blogs were already covering this story way before I wrote about it.

Is The Work Around Legal ?

In my original article I stated:

Is this legal? Probably not....

I am no legal expert but I am guessing this will violate some part of the Windows Vista EULA (End User Licence Agreement.)"

..at the time there was no accessible information from Microsoft about this workaround.

I have now been able to get the clarification I wanted and can reveal that YES, installing the upgrade version without owning a licensed copy of XP or earlier versions of Windows is violating the terms of use agreed to when the upgrade version of Windows Vista was purchased.

So no real surprise there.

Also Microsoft is well aware of the upgrade workaround.

What is interesting is that Microsoft believe only a very small percentage of people will take the time to implement this workaround.

From my discussions on this topic with my newsletter subscribers I would agree with Microsoft on this assumption. The feedback I am getting is that most folks would be very uncomfortable with using this workaround!

Microsoft do publish guidelines for upgrading to Windows Vista and these can be found at www.WindowsVista.com 

By following these guidelines customers will easily, and more importantly, "validly" upgrade to Windows Vista.

...something that I fully encourage!

Customers that want to perform a "clean installation" of Windows Vista using an upgrade DVD can do so provided they have an older version of Windows already installed on their PC's hard drive.

(Performing a clean installation using only media from an older version of Windows is no longer possible, as Windows Vista does not include disc checking for old versions.)

Microsoft are also reminding customers who purchase retail upgrade versions of Windows Vista, that are not permitted to reinstall or reuse their old copy of Windows XP on an additional, separate device. This is part of the end user license agreement (EULA) the customer consents to by purchasing a retail upgrade version.

This seems to me to strike a fair "balance" for customers. Upgrade versions allow you purchase Windows Vista at significantly reduced prices after all.

If you purchase a FULL version of Windows Vista you DO however maintain the right to install your previous version of Windows on a new device of your choice.

Did He Fall Or Was He Pushed ?

By removing my step by step article I know some will speculate that Microsoft somehow "forced" me to take this course of action.

However, this is simply untrue. I have had no emails, calls or letters from Microsoft threatening me in anyway. Nor, as one article suggested, have Microsoft made moves to remove my status as a Microsoft MVP.

This is purely a voluntary action on my part as I value my privacy and the attention this article was brining me was reaching unacceptable levels. It was never intended for mass consumption!

In addition, having now sought and received clarity over the legal status of the Vista upgrade workaround, I felt it was unhelpful to keep providing this article on my website as it would only serve to confuse legitimate Microsoft customers.