Buy A PC With Vista Pre-Installed, Upgrade To Windows 7 Free

TechARP.com is reporting that Microsoft will unveil a program for Windows 7 that's similar to their Vista Express Upgrade program which provided free or discounted Vista licenses to buyers of Windows XP in the months leading up to Vista's release.

According to TechARP, Microsoft will allow OEMs to offer Windows 7 upgrade media to customers who buy a Vista powered system between July 1, 2009 and a date that is TBD. Hopefully this will also mean that users buying OEM software from retailers such as Newegg will receive a similar offer as they did when Vista was released.

The upgrade path would be directly related to which version of Vista you purchase: Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Home Premium,Vista Business to Windows 7 Professional, and Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate. There will be no upgrade path for users purchasing Windows Vista Home Basic or Windows Vista Starter, and you won't be able to upgrade to better product say Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional.

So far these are just rumors and Microsoft has declined to comment on the TechARP posting. "We often explore options with our partners for how we offer products, but we have nothing to announce at this time," a company spokeswoman told ComputerWorld.