A couple of months ago, I purchased an upgrade version of Windows 7 Home Premium to install on my second desktop computer, which came with Windows Vista. The upgrade went well. Two days ago, having reloaded the Vista operating system on my Dell notebook computer (the operating system had gotten buggy), I decided to upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 on that computer. The upgrade went well. Or so I thought. While tinkering with the look of the computer, I came upon a page that said I must activate the upgrade. When I tried to do so, I got a message saying that I had to purchase a "product key." I couldn't find a way to do this online, so I called Microsoft.
The technician/salesperson explained that an upgrade works on only one computer. Okay, I thought; I'll have to pay for a second upgrade. It's $119.99 for an upgrade and $199.99 for a full version. To my horror, the technician informed me that, since I had erased Vista during the upgrade, I would have to purchase the full version. I protested that if I had gone to Office Depot at the outset, I would have had to purchase only the upgrade. "But you erased Vista during the upgrade," she said, as if that were relevant.
Having spent several hours updating the computer, I was unwilling to go back to Vista. I paid the $199.99. With sales tax, it came to $216.49. I like Microsoft products, but this is a sharp business practice. Do you agree?
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 