Comments, Questions and Thoughts on Windows 7

We started our Win7 upgrade (from XP Pro on all stations) last may, when we began budgeting for the fiscal year.  We looked at every system in the org (about 175), determined which needed replacing and which just needed memory upgrades, and secured the capital to do headquarters this year and our nine regional offices next year.  We plan to do the upgrade in the spring; we'll begin testing in IT now, but we'll wait for a service pack before going live.  With Microsoft, we *always* wait for a service pack.

The main justification for going from XP to Windows7 is the improved granularity of the security model.  Windows up to and including XP is all or nothing: either our users are local administrators and adware/spyware can freely install itself when encountered; or they're not administrators, and they have to call IT in order to install a Firefox plugin.  I call that a no-win situation. Upgrading our systems to the point where we can run >XP took enough years to allow us to bypass Vista; and we'll benefit from the UI improvements in Windows7 (notably, the removal of the excessive, annoying nagging "feature" that Vista called user security).

Luckily, no home Windows licenses here; Symantec Ghost in place to facilitate the upgrade; and a hardware first approach that i advise everyone to take.  Windows 7 is Vista with a facelift; you'll cream people who are already slow with XP if you don't give them newer machines (preferable dual core processors) and at least 4GB RAM.

Mind you, I have a spring computer upgrade planned at home, too, and we're going to ditch the two remaining Windows boxes that my wife and kid use and go all Mac.  Wish that was an option at the office.  :)

Thanks for your comments.  I share your view on Mac's.  I will order Win7 but wait at least 6 months to install and monitor the net for comments.  I'm tired of wasting my cycles debugging Microsoft supplied software.

So do I buy one set for every computer I have or just buy one set of media???

And if we are not running a server at present but may in the future, can we get the Enterprise version and run it without server set up until we make that change????

KarenStanley:

So do I buy one set for every computer I have or just buy one set of media???

You will need a license for each computer (administrative fee)

You only need one set of media (or down load the image from the e-open site after the sale) unless you want extra copies of the install media.

Dave

I ran the diagnostics on my computer and it says I can upgrade with no problem.  However, I'm running Vista HOME and all the software upgrade packs for Windows 7 specifically say not for upgrading Vista HOME.

I'm confused!  Can you help?

Thanks!  Bob

As a small nonprofit, our trustees have their own PC's with operating systems registered under their own names.  Each of them are used for both nonprofit business as well as personal business.  Can we purchase multiple copies of Windows 7, install on each of our PC's and register the product under our individual name?  Or must the licenses purchased be all registered as part of the nonprofit organization?

is this the complete program or just an upgrade that adds on to the existing operating system?

btpf:

Can we purchase multiple copies of Windows 7, install on each of our PC's and register the product under our individual name?  Or must the licenses purchased be all registered as part of the nonprofit organization?

Who owns the equipment?  If the people own the PCs then the products from TechSoup are not to be used for individuals.

Donated product will be distributed under this program to qualifying organizations and libraries only, not to individuals.

Dave

We just order 15 licenses of the Windows7 Professional 64-bit upgrade from TechSoup yesterday (obviously at a fantastic price!).

We have several computers, however, running Vista Home Premium, by the information on TechSoup's website it said you couldn't use the upgrades?  Could you please clarify?

Also some of our computers have Vista Business but are 32-bit and we would like to upgrade to 64-bit, we assume we'll need to do a clean install?

From some of the responses on your Community Forum someone mentioned that your upgrades are sometimes the same as the full version?

Thanks for your help,

Debra Finn

Institute for Excellence & Ethics, Inc.

It is against Microsoft's license agreement with the products offered through Tech Soup / or the open charity products from other resellers to use the product to upgrade a Vista home machine.  You would be in violation of the Microsoft license agreement if you used the Tech soup upgrade to upgrade a PC with the home version of the OS.  You will have to purchase a full license or upgrade product from some where else to upgrade the Vista Home into a product that can be upgraded to Windows 7 (or a full Windows 7 license and abandon the Vista Home software license).

I have not used the Windows 7 media ... the other open licensed OS upgrades from Tech Soup have been full install media that can be used to do an in-place upgrade if possible, but also work to do a clean install to an empty disk.

Dave

I'm about to buy a new iMac. I have an old XP Installation Disc (and license) that I am not using. As I understand it, I can buy the Windows 7 Upgrade and, since I'm not actually even using XP and don't have any account to migrate, I can use the Upgrade to install a new version of Windows on the computer. Is that correct?

Assuming it is, should I be getting the 64 bit version?

Doug

Provided the iMac belongs to the qualified NPO that orders the Windows 7 upgrade, and the XP install disk and license is a Full product (not an upgrade or OEM product) and it is a Pro version not Home then in my opinion that would be a valid license chain.

Dave

how many computers does this cover ?We have 3 maybe 4 .do we need to buy  more than one .we are a missing person non profit which program is the best to use .we're very small& not that computer smart

tommyfoundation:

how many computers does this cover ?We have 3 maybe 4 .do we need to buy  more than one .we are a missing person non profit which program is the best to use .we're very small& not that computer smart

You will need to buy a license for each machine you want to upgrade, so if you want to upgrade 4 machines you will need 4 licenses.  Plus the Microsoft donation program may have minimum request policies so you may need to get 5.

A more important question, why do you need to upgrade to Windows 7?  Is there a specific business purpose that you need the upgrade, or will your existing machines provide what you need until they need to be physically replaced?

Dave

I have a question concerning the "Open License Welcome Notification" I received shortly after purchasing Win7 and Office 2007.  It refers to a Authorization Start and End date which is 2 years.  Am I correct in assuming this is the period for the Software Assurance and not the software itself.  The software does not expire, correct?

Second, there is an Authorization Number and a License Number.  After doing the eopen thing, it appears to me that this covers both Win7 and Office 2007.  When I do receive the media, do I use either of these numbers to do the install?  Does the number apply to both sets of software?

Lastly I would like to provide a link to an article on PCWorld for installing Win7.  It seems like a decent set of instructions.  If someone has their own favorite page for installing Win7, please post it.

 www.pcworld.com/article/173001/article.html