PILOT

Hey guys, throughout my journey of buying new components for my system build, I came across the following thread regarding purchasing an XP OS that includes a future Vista upgrade:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1119176

It appears that only qualified system builders who build an OEM system and sell it to a customer get the upgrade. The system builder does not get it for themself, however the customer can.

For do-it-yourselfers like some of us, the offer is not valid.

Now, this is not set in stone. Many on that thread have contradicting statements. Anyone know any other information on this matter?

Check this as well: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvist...ssupgrade.mspx
I think that pretty much sums it up. Only specified manufacturers can give the upgrade, and not the guys who want to build their own systems, themselves.

PILOT

Solution/Work Around:
From ncix.com forums

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One of the things to note is that the terms of the OEM operating system license agreement states that the person who opens the O/S package becomes the system builder. Because OEM software is supposed to be installed onto a new computer, the person responsible for the assembly of the system can create their own invoice and submit that to Microsoft if the person did not buy a complete system from NCIX.com - for example if John Doe has bought Windows XP Pro from NCIX.com and is planning to install it on a system he assembled, as long as the system that he installs it on is Vista Compliant, he can request an upgrade. Because John Doe is the system builder, he can create his own invoice - have line items clearly stating something along the lines of "Intel Core 2 Duo with a NVIDIA GeForce 7950GT - Vista Ready", "Microsoft Windows XP Pro" as seperate line items, this can be submitted to Microsoft as a receipt as John Doe is the system integrator and he is clearly preinstalling Windows onto a Vista Compliant machine.
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Tempus

Well, I can speak from experience and say that the 'upgrade' may not even work for all users. I tried to upgrade, followed all instructions about what to uninstall beforehand, let the upgrade run for about 4 hours, only to have it give me some useless message like "unable to perform upgrade". No error log or anything to help me figure out why.

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PILOT

I've heard that from others as well Tempus.

I took a chance and spent an extra $30 for MCE with a Vista upgrade. I'll probably have to invoice myself, but I'll let everyone know how I make out.

Should get all of my PC components in within this week.

RedForman

I think I'll just stick with XP for a while myself ... I don't want to adopt early and have to work out all new kinks when I've got my system running well.

Although Halo 2 PC is Vista only...hm...

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