Microsoft has pushed out an awesome deal lasting from June 25 up until July 11th that will allow customers to preorder upgrade editions of Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional at a huge discount. The purpose of this FAQ is to clear any conceptions and to make sure that you make the right decision when purchasing an upgrade.

Why should I preorder Windows 7?
Simple. You’re saving tons of money when you preorder. Unfortuantely, no early savings for Windows 7 Ultimate.

How much do I save?
This chart compares the prices between a preorder and a retail purchase.

What do I get when I preorder Windows 7 now?
All vendors offering preorder specials will be selling the upgrade edition of Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional

What is the difference between the Upgrade and Full edition of Windows 7?
The upgrade and full editions of Windows 7 are exactly the same. The only difference is that an Upgrade edition will require you to insert a Windows installation CD to confirm that you own a previous version of Windows.

Home Premium or Professional?

For most consumers, Home Premium will be enough. Unlike with Vista, each higher SKU will contain all the features of the SKU before it. Meaning that Professional will contain all of Home Premium’s features plus more.

Click for clearer image

Here is the complete list of features absent from Home Premium but are included in Professional:

• Automatic Backups and Backup to a Network Location
• Remote Desktop Host: Allow you to host remote desktop connections
• Presentation Mode: Allow you to control the machine’s behaviour while giving presentations
• Windows Server Domain Joining: Allows you to easily and securely join domains
• Windows XP Mode: This allows you to run Windows XP apps in a virtual environment, but on the same desktop as Windows 7. Check out our giant screenshot tour, and this post for more information.

You might want to consider Professional over Home Premium if you…

• prefer to backup to a network location
• encrypt your files
• need to move back and forth between different networks (home and office)
• need support for Windows XP-compatible apps that don’t work in Windows 7

You can visit Microsoft’s site for a comparison chart between Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate.

Can I perform a Clean Install?
Yes you can.

Who can preorder?
If you live in Canada or the US, you can preorder right now up until July 11th.
If you live in the UK, France, or Germany, you will have to wait until July 15th.

Why preorder now?
Microsoft originally stated that preorders are only available in limited quantities. Japan has already sold out of Windows 7 preorders.

What if I want to buy a computer/laptop now? Will I be eligible for a Windows 7 upgrade?
That depends on the retailer. A couple of retailers such as Dell, HP, Acer, and Asus are running Windows 7 Upgrade offers that allow you to upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 at little or no cost. Details vary depending on the retailer. However, the upgrade paths will always remain the same. There are three upgrade paths available:

• Windows Vista Home Premium Edition -> Windows 7 Home Premium Edition
• Windows Vista Business Edition -> Windows 7 Professional Edition
• Windows Vista Ultimate Edition -> Windows 7 Ultimate Edition

I want to preorder. Where can I get the best deal?
Typically, all vendors are selling the preorders for the same price. The ones that offer you free shipping will give you the most savings. The following vendors offer free shipping:

Amazon US
Amazon Canada
Best Buy US
Best Buy Canada (Professional sold out)

Where else can I preorder?
Here is a list of the other American retailers selling:

• Microsoft Store
• Costco
• Best Buy
• Walmart
• Fry’s Electronics
• Office Depot
• TigerDirect.com
• Office Max
• Newegg.com
• Quill

And here is the list for the remaining Canadian retailers:

• FutureShop (Professional sold out)
• London Drugs
• Staples
• The Source

**European info will be updated as we near the preorder date for Europe.

Related posts:

1. Windows 7 Preorders tops Amazon’s Bestsellers list Windows 7 Home Premium has topped Amazon’s Software Bestsellers for four days in a row…
2. Preorder Windows 7 right now and save up to $100!!! The Windows 7 pre-order program is live starting today and will run until July 11th…

. Read the rest at windows7center.com.