Windows 7 Upgrade for only $29.99

I heard about the deal a while ago but today I finally checked it out. I assumed there would be thousands of applications for some sort of wait-listing or confirmation procedure behind that deal but all turned out to be great. Microsoft only asked for my valid student e-mail at my college (University of California, San Diego) and asks you to confirm your e-mail account by clicking the confirmation link in your inbox. Simple and fast, and definitely a great buy. Offer started back in September 3rd and it ends next year on January 3rd, 2010. The ultimate steal for students who doesn’t have Office 2007 already is also priced at $59.99 (Not Office 2007 Student Edition, Office 2007 Ultimate Edition with everything included). The website is here Looks like a fake/spam website but it is not, trust me.

For $29.99 you get a one-time only downloadable upgrade file (sized around 2.2GB).

I strongly recommend those college students who purchased their Windows Vista or Windows XP based laptop prior to June 18th, 2009 to take this great student offer. My Dell Studio XPS 1340 is eligible for the Windows 7 upgrade and the 64-bit Home Premium Version is schedueled to ship from Dell on November 5th, 2009. The reason I’m purchasing this $29.99 Windows 7 upgrade is to upgrade my older Dell XPS 410 Desktop from Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit to Windows 7 Professional 32-bit.

My Recommendations and Things you got to know before you upgrade.

Although it’s only $29.99, it’s still money and time, so don’t screw around fellow college students. This $29.99 deal on Windows 7 offers two options for the same price for students to choose from. One is Home Premium Edition and another one is Professional Edition. The Professional edition offer a little bit more function than Home Premium but they primarily concern secure school networking infrastructures (Domain Join) and Windows XP mode. If you are not aware of those functions then there are no difference between Home Premium and Professional. I choose Professional edition because I actually uses many software  that runs great with Windows XP (in fact almost all programs will run faster in Windows XP compare to Windows Vista). I was a Windows 7 Ultimate beta and RC participant and tried out the Windows XP mode with my softwares and I would have to say: Nice, Way nicer than Vista.

The additional functionality offered in Windows 7 Professional Edition comparing to Home Premium Edition are stated in the comparison chart below:

Question:

Wait! What is the difference between 32-bit and 64-bit edition?

There are huge differences between 32-bit edition and the 64-bit edition of Windows 7. Within this article I would only touch on the practical differences that you should be aware of – upgradability & Max Memory

Upgradability difference:

Check to make sure your Windows XP or Windows Vista is 32-bit before you purchase the 32-bit versions. Same applies to the 64-bit versions.

For example, if you have a 32-bit Windows XP you can only upgrade to 32-bit Windows 7  because the 64-bit won’t install (Unless you do a Clean-Install where the system will reformat your system hard drive and I am not even sure if the $29.99 version allows for a Clean-Install).

If you have a 64-bit version of Windows XP or Windows Vista, Great, you can upgrade to 64-bit Windows 7. It wouldn’t make sense to buy the 32-bit Windows 7 first because you can’t downgrade to 32-bit operating system from a 64-bit operating system, and second reason is 64-bit systems are actually better equipped for the future in terms of utilizing system resources.

Max Memory difference:

For Home Premium Edition

The difference is a 32-bit Windows 7 Home Premium Edition can only address up to 4 GB of memory  but its 64-bit counterpart can address up to 16 GB of memory.

For Professional Edition

The difference is a 32-bit Windows 7 Professional Edition can only address up to 4 GB of memory  but its 64-bit counterpart can address up to 192 GB of memory.

To read on more about max memory limit on Windows operating system please visit here

How do I know which type of operating system I have? (32-bit or 64-bit?)

For Windows XP and Vista users, just goto My Computer and click on System Properties, You should see which type of operating system you have.

In the end, this deal is great and for those who need Microsoft Office 2007 you should also check out the $59.99 deal. It’s amazing and there aren’t this much of stuff you have to worry about. The Microsoft Office 2007 is 32-bit software, which can be executed in both 32-bit or 64-bit operating system environment.

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