Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro just to downgrade to Windows 7

[goombawaho]

Like the title says - can you upgrade Windows 8.1 standard to 8.1 Pro with the Windows 8.1 Pro Pack and then be allowed to downgrade to Windows 7? I have a customer that is thinking of doing this and then later upgrading to Windows 10 for free.
Link

Very circuitous route, but possible???

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[strongm]

Technically, you are only allowed to downgrade to Windows 7 Pro if your PC shipped with OEM Windows 8.1 Pro. Oddly, retail versions of W8/8.1 are not entitled to downgrade.

 

[linney]

Understanding downgrade rights

http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en-gb/.../pages/downgrade_rights.aspx#fbid=W0CZcgtRy-1

How to Downgrade Windows 8 Pro to Windows 7

http://www.howtogeek.com/133168/how-to-downgrade-windows-8-pro-to-windows-7/

Downgrade Win8 to Win7

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1723652

Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2873...a-free-upgrade-for-windows-7-and-8-users.html

Windows 10 is not for all of us, but for each of us.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/about?ocid=WIN10_0_WOL_Hero_Home_Windows-10_Null_01

 

[goombawaho]

Yeah, I found it somewhere after posting that you can't do that routine - upgrade to 8.1 pro and then downgrade to 7.

Windows 10 is not for all of us, but for each of us.

Let's all join hands and sing together.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[ProxyPirate]

don't blame your client for wanting to do that. Win 7 is superior

 

[dilettante]

If they don't like Windows 8.1 then Windows 10 will probably be just as disappointing. At the UI level they've merely moved the deck chairs around a bit more and the ugly WinRT is still there rearing its head over and over again. Other weird stuff like OneDrive and Microsoft Account "integration" are just getting deeper and deeper.

See Windows 10 Demo (Technical Preview, Build 9926), but don't eat before viewing. Still a faux Start Menu.

 

[goombawaho]

Why is Mr. Pirate reviving a lot of old threads?

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[strongm]

They're new around here ...

 

[goombawaho]

Microsoft Account "integration" are just getting deeper and deeper.

Now THAT is really going to make me cranky. Why would I want to share an email account with Microsoft or have (another) dummy account?

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[strongm]

You don't have to. Not sure why this one keeps coming up. I happily have multiple accounts on my W10 installation, all of which are local accounts.

 

[dilettante]

No, it isn't mandatory at all. It is just pushed strongly and used to implement a ton of things like profile sharing across your machines. This can be a positive thing.

But some of the defaults can be a bit unnerving. At least a few can be tweaked a bit, see Harden Microsoft Account Privacy Settings.

Assuming ubiquitous connectivity permits "global accounts" and combined these present far too attractive an information harvesting opportunity to be ignored. This is why all major consumer platforms push these things. It isn't exclusive to Windows, and while many point to Google when you look closely Apple even does more of it than Google ever thought to.

These things are just a part of the growing ecology surrounding different platforms today. Most casual users will just opt in without paying much attention. But I'm not sure how raising awareness can possibly be a bad thing at all.

 

[goombawaho]

I thought dillettante implied that it was mandatory. I'm ignorant for not having played with Windows 10. I still fix Windows XP computers every week. I try to kill them off, but the force is strong with some of them or at least their owners. "Can you just fix it?"

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[strongm]

>the force is strong with some of them

My work desk currently has three computers on it, each running XP ...

 

[kjv1611]

dilettante,

As far as someone not liking Windows 8 and therefore not liking Windows 10, I don't think that's a fair assumption. I did play around with the first or near first public dev versions, and even then, I thought this was LIGHTYEARS better than Windows 8, and I hated Windows 8 when it rolled out in dev form. You can even find my posts about it in the Windows 8 forum.

From what I've seen and read, I honestly think that Microsoft has a real winner on their hands with Windows 10. They basically kept what are generally considered the "good" things about Windows 8, and brought back most of the things they originally dropped from Windows 7, and things just work more seamlessly.

Maybe I'll get time to test with it some more eventually, but probably not. But I do intend to get a copy either on a new PC or retail or whatever once it rolls out to retail... well, sometime thereafter anyway. That's assuming too many other things don't break at home that I have to cough up for first.

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57