The version of Windows 7 Beta 1 that Microsoft made available for download on its Technet site Thursday does not support upgrades from systems running its Windows XP operating system, according to a first look at the available code in the CRN Test Center. It does, however, permit upgrades from Vista SP1 to Windows 7.
A Microsoft spokesman said that no final decisions have yet been made about what will be included or not included in the generally available version of Windows 7, but that the company as a practice advises only clean installations of operating systems during the beta phase anyway. For now, the beta version of Windows 7 only permits upgrades from Vista SP1 -- meaning there is at the moment no way to test or evaluate a straight XP-to-Windows 7 migration.
"We"ve just been telling people like we always do, conduct a clean install. That"s the safest bet anyway," the spokesman said. "It shouldn"t be too much of a surprise."