This blog is news about the chart Microsoft released for Windows 7. The chart shows how you will upgrade from Windows Vista OR XP to 7 depending on which bit version you have (so 32 and 64 bit) as well as which model (Home Basic/Premium, Business or Ultimate). If you are running certain models of Vista, you will get an In-Place upgrade, whatever that means. If you are running other models, you will have to do a custom install.

Now here's the issue. Anybody using XP has to do a custom install no matter what version or model. So this is actually one bonus to Vista for once instead of it being missed off for everything compatibility wise and being mentioned as shit all the time.

If you use XP, you have to "back up, wipe your drive, and reinstall a totally clean copy of 7". Well that's lame.

I'm not rubbing it into XP's users faces, just thought I'd let you know.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/06/official-windows-7-upgrade-chart-is-ridiculous/

"This is seriously Microsoft's Windows 7 upgrade chart, and it's ridiculous. It manages to highlight the insanity of shipping multiple OS versions while totally minimizing the good news: most Vista users will be able to upgrade in place to the corresponding 32- or 64-bit version of 7. That should cover the vast majority of people running Vista, but if you're still on XP or you're trying to do anything out of the ordinary you'd better get ready for some pain: all those ominous blue boxes require you to back up, wipe your drive, and reinstall a totally clean copy of 7. You heard that right -- the Windows 7 installer won't even try to retain your data and programs if you're not updating from the corresponding version of Vista. Pretty lame move, considering Microsoft is currently selling millions of copies of XP on netbooks and will sell XP downgrades until 2011 -- sure, we get that most netbook owners aren't going to spring for 7, but it's insane that you can't just pop in a disc and upgrade. Of course, now that 7's been released to manufacturing and the final bits are available there's not much to be done, so let's all just take a moment to contemplate the fact that Ed Bott at ZDNet managed to totally outdo Redmond's infographics people with a much friendlier chart with "about an hour" of work -- check it below."



Here's the more complicated version:

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/08/8-06-09win7chart2.jpg