Microsoft makes Vista coupon free upgrade plan official

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 25 October 2006 08:41

Your IT - Home IT

What the market knew was going to happen months ago was made official by Microsoft yesterday. PC buyers from October 26 will be able to upgrade to Vista for either a discount or for free, depending on the operating system version and the PC vendor.

The plan, which is designed to keep PC sales ticking over during the period between now and March 2007, will cover preloaded copies of Windows XP on OEM computers from HP, Dell, Gateway, Toshiba, Fujitsu, and many other large and lesser known brands. Microsoft, which is funding the upgrade coupons plan, has offered a similar plan for Office 2003 purchasers who wish to upgrade to an equivalent version of Office 2007.

The only caveats for Windows XP and Office 2003 purchasers is that they must pay Microsoft's shipping expenses for the new software and they must upgrade by March 31, 2007.

Aside from shipping expenses, as a rule of thumb, the coupons will enable purchasers of high end Windows XP products, such as XP Media Center or XP Professional to upgrade to their Vista equivalents, Vista Home Premium and Vista Business, for free. However, lower end products such as XP Home will only enable purchasers to get a 50% discount if they want to upgrade to the low end Vista Home products.

Rutland Smith, general manager of retail chain Harvey Norman’s Computers and Communications group, said XP Home buyers would be able to upgrade to Vista Home Basic for AUD$99, while high end XP upgrades to Vista will be free, The plan will apply across the store's entire range of PC brands.

"We expect this to be very good for sales over Christmas as users will be able to purchase their PCs with confidence," Mr Smith said.

"For customers it means that they can now buy PCs and notebooks with the assurance that their technology investment is protected because Microsoft and its partners will be offering discounted upgrades to Windows Vista and Office 2007 when the products ship" said a spokesman for Microsoft. "The exact details vary between OEM partners, who will set up their own arrangements with their customers, but the bottom line is that now is a great time to buy a new Windows Vista-capable system, even though it may be running Windows XP and Office 2003 initially."