From Vista to Win7... Whats best??

[Simian]

I've got an HP HDX16 Laptop with Vista Ultimate X64 on it and I've now decided that I'm definitly going Win7 on its ass!!...

I'm fed up with the 'Vista Bloat' and after playing with a Laptop at wotk with 7HP on it I feel its time I got up to date!!..

Looking arround I'm a little confused as to the best plan of action!..

I can get:

Win7 HP64 OEM for £85(ish)
Win7 HP32/64 Upgrade for £80(ish)
Win7 HP32/64 Retail for £120(ish)

I don't really want to have to re-install all my software or settings (all my documents are external on a USB drive so I won't lose anything).. is an Upgrade from Vista64 to Win7-64 safe and stable??..

my previous experience of upgrading an OS was 95 to 98 and then 98 to XP and on both occasions within 6 months I had to do a clean install and faff for aaaages getting it back to how I wanted!..

Is the upgrade route from Vista to 7 any better or shall I just do a fresh install??..

also which version of 7 (from the list above) is the best to go from??.. can you use the OEM or Retail versions as upgrades?, or do they have to be fresh installs??..

Cheers
Sim

 

[Andre]

Officially, you can only go to Win7 Ultimate from Vista Ultimate - so I am afraid it is a full re-install, so no Upgrade version.

Personally, for a laptop I would go for the OEM version (it's the cheapest)

 

[Burnsy2023]

Officially, you can only go to Win7 Ultimate from Vista Ultimate - so I am afraid it is a full re-install, so no Upgrade version.

Personally, for a laptop I would go for the OEM version (it's the cheapest)

Although you can't do an upgrade, the upgrade licence is the cheapest here and also probably the most suitable.

 

[Andre]

Sorry - didn't realise you could still use an upgrade. My original reply said buy the upgrade, then realised you can't do an upgrade so changed my answer - Doh! (slaps head)

 

[SiriusB]

You won't be able to do an in-place upgrade with the Upgrade license, but you can do a clean install. All the Upgrade license requires is a previous Windows OS - you have that so you should be good to go.