I saw an amazing deal on the retail box version of Home Premium upgrade edition and am almost certain I'll be buying it very soon since I'm finally ready to say good bye to XP.

My question is: How do the upgrade editions work? I know I'll need to do a fresh install of XP 1st, but what then?

recoveringknowitall:

I saw an amazing deal on the retail box version of Home Premium upgrade edition and am almost certain I'll be buying it very soon since I'm finally ready to say good bye to XP.

My question is: How do the upgrade editions work? I know I'll need to do a fresh install of XP 1st, but what then?

Just need a install of XP on your HD and it will detect it and install as normal. Let me know what you think. Home Premium is great.

I may have to wait till x-mas, but getting Vista HP is something I'm completely sold on now. Since I'll almost certainly want to "experiment" with it(which will no doubt require some re-installs)I think springing for the full retail version will be a sound investment for me rather than an upgrade or oem. I found a couple really good looking e-tailers that sell the retail box for under 200 which I feel is worth it.

recoveringknowitall:

I may have to wait till x-mas, but getting Vista HP is something I'm completely sold on now. Since I'll almost certainly want to "experiment" with it(which will no doubt require some re-installs)I think springing for the full retail version will be a sound investment for me rather than an upgrade or oem. I found a couple really good looking e-tailers that sell the retail box for under 200 which I feel is worth it.

The OEM version is great. A step up from the upgrade version for only $99

I was under the impression that the OEM version has a limited license and is tied to the hardware it is originally installed on. In other words: If I upgrade my hardware & reformat, I'll either have to jump through some hoops to activate it again or could even end up @$$ed out altogether.

recoveringknowitall:

I was under the impression that the OEM version has a limited license and is tied to the hardware it is originally installed on. In other words: If I upgrade my hardware & reformat, I'll either have to jump through some hoops to activate it again or could even end up @$ed out altogether.

Its just as bad with the upgrade version.

I figured, that's why I'm going retail like I mentioned in my 2nd post.

My suggestion is that you are going to love it. this is my first experience with vista home premium and i love it... it took me like a day or two to get us to it. but it is fun and very easy to use!