About Windows 7 releases, upgrades etc.

According to this Windows Team Blog posting, Volume License (VL) customers with an existing Software Assurance (SA) license will be able to download Windows 7 RTM in English starting August 7, 2009 via the Volume License Service Center (VLSC). The rest of the languages for Windows 7 RTM should be available within a couple of weeks following the English release. For IT professionals who are not part of the VL program, if you have a TechNet subscription, you will be able to download Windows 7 RTM in English on August 6, 2009, and the remaining languages by October 1, 2009. Evaluation versions of Windows 7 Professional for IT professionals will be made available via the Springboard Series shortly after RTM.

Unsupported Upgrade Scenarios

· Upgrades to Windows 7 from the following operating systems are not supported:

· Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows XP, Windows Vista® RTM, Windows Vista Starter, Windows 7 M3, Windows 7 Beta, Windows 7 RC, or Windows 7 IDS

· Windows NT® Server 4.0, Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server® 2003, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2

· Cross-architecture in-place upgrades (for example, x86 to x64) are not supported.

· Cross-language in-place upgrades (for example, en-us to de-de) are not supported.

· Cross-SKU upgrades (for example, Windows 7 N to Windows 7 K) are not supported.

· Upgrades from Windows Vista to Windows N, Windows K, Windows KN, or Windows E are not supported.

· Cross-build type in-place upgrades (for example, fre to chk) are not supported.

· Pre-release in-place upgrades across milestones (for example, Windows 7 RC to Windows 7 RTM) are not supported.

Supported Upgrade Scenarios