In Brian Livingston’s “Windows Secrets” newsletter, Brian writes, “Windows Vista, in my opinion, is a big improvement over Windows XP in many ways. But the new operating system is distinctly overpriced.” and “But I’ve tested a method that allows you to clean-install the Vista upgrade version on any hard drive, with no prior XP or W2K installation — or even a CD — required.” While this is good news for all who want to upgrade their hardware while installing Vista, it points out a way to buy the cheaper Upgrade version and get the same effect as the more expensive Full version.”
If you choose to dance with the devil, you need to pay the devil his due. A far better choice to send a message to Microsoft that their software is overpriced is by purchasing a Mac or installing Ubuntu or Fedora or Red Hat or SuSE or Debian or just sticking with the software you have. That’s how the market works. Using Microsoft’s software in violation of their questionable licenses just puts you in a bad position. I’m surprised to see Brian presenting it this way: it’s a handy tip for upgraders (and a best practice for getting a stable system), but it’s not the right path for people building new machines. I wonder if Microsoft will be able to patch this behavior to detect this kind of “upgrade” or whether they’ll change their installer to prevent it.