There is some good news for users who have been thinking about moving from their current Windows operating system to the soon-to-be-released Windows 8, particularly those who are running the ancient Windows XP OS: yes, there is an upgrade path available for you guys. Three years ago, when Windows 7 was released Microsoft didn’t have an upgrade option for Windows XP, which was pretty odd since Windows XP was the most used operating system then. Although XP no longer holds the title it still holds an imposing one-forth market share, and Microsoft isn’t going to leave them behind this time.
Only those machines running Windows XP with Service Pack 3 will be able to upgrade to Windows 8, but only personal files/data only will be maintained and not personalized settings. One cannot jump from Windows XP to Windows 8 and expect to keep all their programs and settings, since there is little common between the two operating system. That fact that Windows XP users won’t have to back their personal files before Windows 8 installation is good enough.
For the rest, the upgrade is expected to be smooth. According to details published on ZDnet:
- Users will be able to upgrade to Windows 8 (the name of the entry-level consumer version of the operating system) from Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Home Basic and Windows 7 Home Premium while maintaining their existing Windows settings, personal files and applications.
- Users will be able to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro from Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Home Basic, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate while maintaining their existing Windows settings, personal files and applications.
- Users will be able to upgrade to Windows 8 Enterprise (available to volume licensees with Software Assurance contracts only) from Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Enterprise while maintaining their existing Windows settings, personal files and applications.
- Users will be able to upgrade to Windows 8 from Windows Vista (without SP1 installed) but only personal files (meaning data only) will be maintained. If upgrading from Vista with SP1, personal data and system settings will be maintained.
- Users will be able to upgrade to Windows 8 from Windows XP with Service Pack 3 or higher but only personal files/data only will be maintained.
Users won’t be able to upgrade or keep their Windows settings, files or applications if doing a cross-language installation. However, users will be able to keep personal files/data during a cross-language install by using Windows 8 Setup. Cross-architecture upgrades — i.e., 32-bit to 64-bit or vice versa is not possible. These users won’t be able to keep their existing Windows settings, personal files and applications or data.
Microsoft had earlier announced an attractive Windows 8 upgrade offer, via which users who purchase Windows 7 PCs between June 2, 2012 and January 31, 2013 can upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for only $14.99.
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