Microsoft is hard at work for Windows 8 and making the process of upgrading to Windows 8 easier for existing consumers. Recently the company has officially announced the Windows 8 upgrade path from older versions of Windows in the latest Windows Team blog post.
Here’s is a quick and summarized view of all possible upgrade scenarios for Windows 8 SKUs.
Supported Windows 8 Upgrade Path
| Current OS | Upgrade OS | What you can keep |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 8 | Windows 8 Pro | Windows settings, personal files, and apps |
| Current OS | Upgrade OS | What you can keep |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 7 Starter | Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro | Windows settings, personal files, and apps |
| Windows 7 Home Basic | Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro | Windows settings, personal files, and apps |
| Windows 7 Home Premium | Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro | Windows settings, personal files, and apps |
| Windows 7 Professional | Windows 8 Pro, Windows 8 Enterprise | Windows settings, personal files, and apps |
| Windows 7 Ultimate | Windows 8 Pro | Windows settings, personal files, and apps |
| Windows 7 Enterprise | Windows 8 Enterprise | Windows settings, personal files, and apps |
| Current OS | Upgrade OS | What you can keep |
|---|---|---|
| Windows Vista SP1 or higher | Windows 8 Pro | Windows settings, and personal files |
| Windows Vista RTM | Windows 8 Pro | Personal files only |
| Windows XP SP3 | Windows 8 Pro | Personal files only |
Non-supported Windows 8 Upgrade Path
- Upgrades from the following operating systems are not supported: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows XP RTM, Windows XP SP1, Windows XP SP2, Windows 8 Developer Preview, Windows 8 Consumer Preview, Windows 8 Release Preview.
- Windows NT Server 4.0, Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2012
- Cross-architecture, Cross-language and Cross-SKU upgrades are not supported.
Note: You can add Windows Media Center for free through the “add features” option within Windows 8 Pro after your upgrade.
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