Windows Anytime Upgrade - UPGRADE or FULL

If I have the retail version of Vista Business (UPGRADE) and I want to use
Anytime Upgrade to get Ultimate. Will the Ultimate license I buy be a FULL
or an upgrade license? If you look at the combined prices of the products it
equals the price of Vista Ultmate (FULL) and there seems to be no
documentation on what kind of license you would receive when doing WAU.

It would be an "upgrade" Windows Vista Ultimate license.

Windows Anytime Upgrade: frequently asked questions
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Win...41b981033.mspx


--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Brendan" wrote:

If I have the retail version of Vista Business (UPGRADE) and I want to use
Anytime Upgrade to get Ultimate. Will the Ultimate license I buy be a FULL
or an upgrade license? If you look at the combined prices of the products it
equals the price of Vista Ultmate (FULL) and there seems to be no
documentation on what kind of license you would receive when doing WAU.

Thank you for the response Carey. Are you a %100 sure that is an upgrade
license and not a full one?

Thanks

"Carey Frisch [MVP]" wrote:

> It would be an "upgrade" Windows Vista Ultimate license.
>
> Windows Anytime Upgrade: frequently asked questions
> http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Win...41b981033.mspx
>
>
> --
> Carey Frisch
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows - Shell/User
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Brendan" wrote:
>
> If I have the retail version of Vista Business (UPGRADE) and I want to use
> Anytime Upgrade to get Ultimate. Will the Ultimate license I buy be a FULL
> or an upgrade license? If you look at the combined prices of the products it
> equals the price of Vista Ultmate (FULL) and there seems to be no
> documentation on what kind of license you would receive when doing WAU.

100% sure its an upgrade.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Brendan" wrote:

Thank you for the response Carey. Are you a %100 sure that is an upgrade
license and not a full one?

Thanks

For some reason I can't cry too hard. Msft has made an U version available,
so what's her beef? She got Vista at a reduced price to begin with.
Microsoft has made a variety of licensing schemes available. Some versions
of Vista can be had at the cost of no more than one or two textbooks these
days.

Saucy Lemon


"molitar" <molitar@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:u%23su0bGTHHA.4784@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Many people ask WHY you would want to do this. Ok real life example from
> a client of mine who is a student in a full school taking up being a
> business major. She was able to purchase through the school at the
> reduced pricing for Home Premium Ultimate Academic license. She would
> like to do the anytime upgrade to the ultimate since their is no for some
> very STUPID reason Ultimate Academic version... So if she now pays for the
> ultimate that license SHOULD be good as a full retail and should work as a
> true retail as she would of logically purchased a now retail license. But
> now from reading this I can see M$ wants to SHAFT the customer (m$ saying
> bend over so we can blank you from behind!) what kind of damn logic is
> that? So she as a student with expensives school will never be able to
> experience ultimate because purchasing it basically she will be getting
> screwed every which way. An upgrade key should work just as you purchased
> it since it's suppose to be a new key and all versions are already on the
> DVD already.
>
> Man people need to wise up this time and BOYCOTT Windows Vista until M$
> wakes up and lowers the damn pricing and straighten it's act out. From
> system requirements and such I really don't see this operating system
> taking off like 9x, 2000, or XP and being successful at all because it's
> so damn expensive for most people to justify. Operating system that costs
> more than 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of your entire computer! The whole
> licensing issue, pricing, and confusion over everything is leaving a very
> BAD taste in users mouths and making them really wonder WHY upgrade? Just
> so I can have pretty eye candy.. What a laugh! Friend purchased Ultimate
> and installed version he downloaded for the 30 days to experience it
> before he opens his retail up and from his experience he is looking at
> more and more likely to sending it back and getting his money back since
> he's experienced so many nuances and bugs in the OS for something that was
> so damn expensive.
>
> Marvin
>
> "Brendan" <Brendan@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:2E22A1EE-9143-44D0-913B-AE00558EA4B4@microsoft.com...
>> If I have the retail version of Vista Business (UPGRADE) and I want to
>> use
>> Anytime Upgrade to get Ultimate. Will the Ultimate license I buy be a
>> FULL
>> or an upgrade license? If you look at the combined prices of the
>> products it
>> equals the price of Vista Ultmate (FULL) and there seems to be no
>> documentation on what kind of license you would receive when doing WAU.
>>
>
>

Being a full time teacher, I was eligible for the Academic Version of Vista
which turns out to be: Home Premium Upgrade. This was obtained retail for $68.

Using the Windows Anytime Upgrade utility, I upgraded to Ultimate for an
additional $159. This makes a total of $227. Significantly less than full
price for Vista Ultimate.

The two trouble spots I encountered:
1. The Control Panel link to Windows Anytime Upgrade did not link to
anything. To get there, I went to the MS website and searched for Windows
Anytime Upgrade and was able to perform the function correctly in this manner.

2. Windows Anytime Upgrade does not provide the User with a new Product Key.
This may worry some that reinstallation after fatal Hard Drive errors may
revert them back to the original version. But, MS assures us that our license
will be maintained forever in the Digital Locker for download providing a
means to upgrade to Ultimate again. Unfortunately, this means you would have
to install the original XP, 2000 or Vista as Home Premium without the Product
Key as Trial Software to get a clean install to work from your original
upgrade disk followed by a second install using the downloaded license.
Pretty cumbersome as I'd rather have to only install once as a recovery
measure. (But, of course, this is my fault for buying the cheaper model.)

3. The license you purchase will not show up in the Digital Locker for four
days after your purchase. So, if things go wrong on the install, you may be
stuck for a few days.

For the slightly savvy:
If you right-click the downloaded license file and open with Notepad, you
can simply scroll to the right a little ways and get your Product Key from
the file. This makes future installations easier.

"Brendan" wrote:

> If I have the retail version of Vista Business (UPGRADE) and I want to use
> Anytime Upgrade to get Ultimate. Will the Ultimate license I buy be a FULL
> or an upgrade license? If you look at the combined prices of the products it
> equals the price of Vista Ultmate (FULL) and there seems to be no
> documentation on what kind of license you would receive when doing WAU.