Datasheet
52
Part I: Surviving Setup
Those Who Do Qualify for an Upgrade Version of Windows
Vista and an In-Place Upgrade (Sometimes)
If you’re running any version of Windows XP except for x64 and you want to upgrade in
place to Windows Vista, you can do so in some cases. The trick is understanding how dif-
ferent versions of Windows XP map to different versions of Windows Vista. For example,
Microsoft will not let you upgrade from Windows XP Professional to Windows Vista Home
Basic. Table 1-13 clarifies the in-place upgrade possibilities.
Table 1-13: Which Versions of XP Can Upgrade In-Place to Which Versions
of Windows Vista
Windows Version Vista Home
Basic/N
Vista Home
Premium
Vista
Business/N
Vista
Ultimate
Windows XP Home
Edition
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Windows XP Profes-
sional Edition
——YesYes
Windows XP Media
Center Edition
—Yes—Yes
Windows XP Tablet
PC Edition
——YesYes
People with older Windows versions (9x, Me, NT) do not qualify for upgrade pricing,
but Windows 2000 and XP x64 users do qualify for upgrade pricing—they just can’t do
an in-place upgrade. Instead, they need to use an Upgrade version of Vista to perform a
clean install of the product. Confused?
Your decision regarding which version to purchase is also influenced by the cost differ-
ence of the more capable versions. In Table 1-14, you can see the current U.S. list prices
for the different Vista versions. Pricing in countries other than the United States varies,
but should roughly adhere to what is shown in Table 1-14. (Microsoft has already lowered
the prices on certain Vista product editions once since the product became widely avail-
able, so you never know—this could change again.)
Table 1-14: U.S. List Prices for Different Vista Product Editions
Windows Vista Home Basic
Windows Vista Home Basic Full $199.00
Windows Vista Home Basic Upgrade $99.95
Windows Vista Home Premium
Windows Vista Home Premium Full $239.00
Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade $129.00
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