Here’s an Upgrade for Ya!

Windows seven has really made the "anytime" upgrade very simple.
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In the small business space, I frequently see businesses purchasing computers at a retail store and then wanting to add them to the domain network in their office. The rub is that most computers purchased in retail stores run a home version of Windows, which cannot be added to a domain network. In the past, this was a costly mistake as a professional Windows upgrade needed to be installed to the computer, which usually meant purchasing a new Windows license (an upgrade version) and performing a fresh install of Windows. With Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade process, the costly mistake is not so costly
I recently was helping a client with a new computer, and the computer that had been purchased was running Windows 7 Home Premium. I did a little research before arriving at the client’s site and found that it was a very easy upgrade process from Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional edition. Not having experienced this before, I was a little skeptical about the ease of this process. In the past, Microsoft was not known for the ease of upgrading the operating system.
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Microsoft has included an icon to begin what is known as the Windows Anytime Upgrade. You click on the icon and are prompted to either purchase a license for the version of Windows 7 that you wish, or enter the product key for the version of Windows 7 that you have in your possession. “How could it be that easy?” I found myself asking. We proceeded through the Anytime Upgrade process and Windows 7 began to go step through the upgrade. The screens are very similar to the patching screens that Microsoft has been employing for Vista and Windows 7. After a few “Please Wait” screens and a restart, the computer was upgraded from Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional.
After the upgrade, we added the computer to the domain. This was almost two weeks ago, and I have only heard great things from this client about Windows 7. What possessed Microsoft to resolve all the painful upgrades that we previously had to endure? I can only imagine that years of criticism finally made a dent in the Microsoft armor, and the solution that they unveiled with Windows 7 is certainly slick. I am glad to see that Microsoft is finally making their varied products more accessible to consumers.