Microsoft announced early this month the availability of its Windows 8 upgrade offer. For $14, Microsoft will allow Windows users to upgrade their PCs to Windows 8 Pro as part of the offer. We mentioned that the offer started in the 2nd of June, launching in 131 markets. Today, we were able to get some information from ZDNet about the details of the offer.
Apparently Microsoft has shared the details about what those planning to upgrade to Windows 8 can expect. According to the instructions released privately by Microsoft, users who will upgrade to Windows 8 from Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Home Basic and Windows 7 Home Premium can keep their existing Windows settings, personal files and applications.
Users who will upgrade to Windows 8 Pro from Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Home Basic, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate can also keep their existing Windows settings, personal files and applications. Additionally, users planning to upgrade to Windows 8 Enterprise from Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Enterprise can still maintain their existing Windows settings, personal files and applications.
But users who have Windows Vista without SP1 installed can only keep their data. However, having SP1 will enable you to keep your personal data and system settings. Lastly, Windows XP owners with SP3 or higher who are planning to upgrade will only be able to keep their personal data. ZDNet also said that cross-architecture, moving from 32-bit to 64-bit or vice-versa, isn’t allowed as well as cross-language installation.