Upgrade to Windows 7

Upgrade to Windows 7 from a Vista install:

There is no upgrade options for Windows Vista Starter (SP1,
SP2), not even to Windows 7 Starter.

Windows Vista Home Basic (SP1, SP2) 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit
(x64) can be upgraded to Windows 7 Home Basic,
Home Premium and Ultimate 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64).

Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1, SP2) 32-bit (x86) and
64-bit (x64) can be upgraded to Windows
7 Home Premium and Ultimate 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64).

Windows Vista Business (SP1, SP2) 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit
(x64) can be upgraded to Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise
and Ultimate 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64).

Windows Vista Enterprise (SP1, SP2) 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit
(x64) can be upgraded to Windows 7 Enterprise 32-bit (x86)
and 64-bit (x64).

Windows Vista Ultimate (SP1, SP2) 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit
(x64) can be upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit (x86) and
64-bit (x64).

There are no upgrade options for Windows Vista Home Basic N
(SP1, SP2), not even to Windows 7 N or E.
There are no upgrade options for Windows Vista Business N
(SP1, SP2), not even to Windows 7 N or E.

Windows XP users won't be able to upgrade to Windows 7.
However, users running XP have the possibility to buy
upgraded media of Windows 7 and perform clean installs.
Microsoft has a video which shows how to migrate from
Windows XP to Windows 7 using the User State Migration
Tool. This application moves all your desktop settings,
application settings, and files to a new Windows installation.
You can find this video here.

A way to get around this is to upgrade from Windows XP to
Windows Vista and then upgrade from Vista to Windows 7.
The Vista installation will not need to be activated before
upgrading to Windows 7. I personally have not tried this
method.

With the release of Windows 7 many people are going to find it is time to move on from their old
operating system. It's time to upgrade to Windows 7. Not everyone will have the same options to
upgrade, however.
Vista users have the distinct advantage of having a direct in-place upgrade.

Computer users who are still using an operating system that predates Windows XP will not have the option to
upgrade to windows 7 and must do a clean install. You do have to make sure that your computer is capable
of running Windows 7 first.

Here is what you'll need in your system:

1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64)
processor
1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

These are the minimum requirements recommended by Microsoft so it is advisable to double-check
your system by using the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Tool.
This program will test your PC and tell you of any hardware or software problems that may arise from
installing Windows 7.

The Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor tool is available from Microsoft for free and can be found here.