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The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Can You Upgrade Your Current System To Windows 8 and What To Expect If You Can
Windows 8 is a whole new thing; presenting a new interface on top of the desktop called Metro, or as Microsoft decided to call it since August, the Modern interface. This presents a whole new world that fuses the mobile and desktop experience into one bundle. As Windows 8 was released near the end of October, everyone hankered down to see whether they can upgrade their current operating systems to it or not.
Not everyone was brave enough to install the consumer and release previews of the operating system to their current installations of Windows, as there was one very important looming question: “Does my current installation support an upgrade?” The answer could make or break someone’s ambitions to immediately hop to the local store and get a copy. Here are some points made by CMIT Solutions about how the upgrade scheme is going to work with your current version:
- If you’re upgrading from Windows 7 Professional, you need Windows 8 Pro or Enterprise to keep everything. Anything else and everything gets wiped out in a flurry. You won’t even get the chance to gasp. If you upgrade from Windows 7 Professional/Ultimate/Enterprise to Windows 8 Professional/Enterprise, you won’t lose everything and the upgrade should go through seamlessly.
- With Windows Vista, it gets a little complicated. You must install at least SP1 to get the upgrade to work. You’ll get to keep personal files and settings, but application records on your registry will be eliminated, meaning that you will have to reinstall every application. It’s not as bad as it sounds if you only have Office and a couple of other things installed.
- For Windows XP, you’re out of luck. Not only do you have to install SP3, but you also have to reinstall all your applications and reconfigure the computer. Your personal files, like pictures and videos, will remain intact, though.
If an upgrade to Windows 8 presents a problem, you might want to purchase a newer version of the operating system than what you currently have as an extra step to upgrading. In other words, if you’re upgrading from XP, first upgrade to Windows 7 and then get Windows 8 in there. That way, you don’t really lose much.
While it may not be convenient, this is the unfortunate reality if you are looking to upgrade. As with any system upgrade, just make sure you have done your research to ensure you don’t loose any valuable data that can’t be retrieved. Hopefully, with all this information, you’ll know what you need to do and you won’t have too much trouble!
Ramon Ray, Editor & Technology Evangelist, Smallbiztechnology.com
http://www.twitter.com/ramonray | http://www.facebook.com/smallbiztechnology
[email protected]
Small Business Technology Tour (Fall 2011)
http://www.smallbiztechtour.com
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2012-10-31 19:46:50
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