The Microsoft Windows 7 Upgrade Program

Important Program Dates

Important Program Dates for the Windows 7 Upgrade Program are listed in the table below. Some dates have not been finalized and will be included at a later date. These dates are marked as to-be-determined (TBD). However, for planning purposes, program eligibility will begin on July 1, 2009.

Program Eligibility Period - Windows Vista PCs preinstalled with qualifying software must be purchased by end users between these dates. - OEMs may choose to offer a shorter program period within the allowed date range.	July 1, 2009 through TBD
Program Calculation Period - The total number of eligible Windows Vista Certificates of Authenticity (COAs) invoiced to an OEM during the Program Calculation Period, multiplied by 20%, determines the number of program upgrade media that can be purchased by OEM through Microsoft ARs. - End of Program Calculation Period will be 90 days prior to the end of Program Eligibility Period.	April 1, 2009 through TBD
Initial Upgrade Media Fulfillment Date - Date on which OEMs may start shipping upgrade media to Qualifying End Users.	Windows 7 General Availability Date
Final Software Fulfillment Date / Program End Date - Date by which upgrade media must be shipped for Qualifying End Users’ upgrade orders. - Microsoft recommends that OEMs establish and communicate to their customers a final submission date to ensure fulfillment by the Program End Date.	TBD

For other important dates and details, take a look at the latest Microsoft Windows 7 roadmap.

Eligible Upgrade Paths

For each eligible upgrade path, all available upgrade versions for a Qualifying Product (e.g., language-specific versions, territory-specific versions, 32 bit/64 bit platform) will be supported. The upgrade media will be product version-specific and must correspond to the Qualifying Product Version.

qualifying product version || upgrade software version

Windows Vista Home Premium==>Windows 7 Home Premium

Windows Vista Business==>Windows 7 Professional

Windows Vista Ultimate==>Windows 7 Ultimate

Additional Upgrade Path Restrictions :

• A language version of the qualifying Windows Vista product can only be upgraded to the same language version of the Windows 7 upgrade software.
• The Windows Vista product can only be upgraded to the associated edition of the upgrade software. For example, Windows Vista Home Premium K edition can only be upgraded to Windows 7 Home Premium K edition.
• OEMs must ship media as defined in these permitted upgrade paths. No other upgrade paths are available and supported under the Program.
• If an end user attempts to upgrade to an unsupported upgrade path, the end user may have to re-format the PC hard drive and/or may lose applications, files and settings available with the previous installed version of Windows. For example, the following upgrades are not allowed in the program :
  - Upgrades from Windows Vista Home Basic or Windows Vista Starter
  - Upgrades from Windows Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate
  - Upgrades from Windows Vista Business to Windows 7 Ultimate