As I write, on 1 September, none of the official suppliers has the Windows 7 Family Pack, which the Windows Team Blog says will be available in the UK as an upgrade. If I have three Vista Home Premium PCs, can I use the family pack to upgrade from 32-bit Vista to 64-bit Windows 7?
Brian Robertson
The Windows 7 Family Pack will upgrade three Home PCs in the same household to the Home Premium version of Windows, and will be an upgrade version, not a full version. It will be available as a "limited time" offer. Microsoft is making a late start to the European version, due to last minute interference by the European Commission, but I expect it to support a 32-bit to 64-bit upgrade via a clean installation. I also expect the Family Pack to cost £149.99 (it's $149.99 in the US), which is the same as a single full copy of Windows 7 Home Premium.
However, Amazon.co.uk is [*was] offering the full version for £64.98, so the Family Pack would only save you £15 per PC. In this case, the saving may not be worth it. If you decide to wait for the Family Pack, some suppliers will send you an email alert when it's available to order.
Update: Amazon.co.uk is now offering the Windows 7 Home Premium, Upgrade Edition for £64.99, and the full verison has gone up to £125.33. It's worth shopping around. Tesco Direct, for example, has the full version for £69.93. The lowest UK online price I can see at the moment is £64.98.
