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Microsoft is hard at work for Windows 8 and making the process of upgrading to Windows 8 easier for existing consumers. Recently the company has officially announced the Windows 8 upgrade path from older versions of Windows in the latest Windows Team blog post.

Here’s is a quick and summarized view of all possible upgrade scenarios for Windows 8 SKUs.

Supported Windows 8 Upgrade Path

Windows 8 Anytime Upgrade
Current OS Upgrade OS What you can keep
Windows 8 Windows 8 Pro Windows settings, personal files, and apps
From Windows 7 RTM or higher to Windows 8
Current OS Upgrade OS What you can keep
Windows 7 Starter Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro Windows settings, personal files, and apps
Windows 7 Home Basic Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro Windows settings, personal files, and apps
Windows 7 Home Premium Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro Windows settings, personal files, and apps
Windows 7 Professional Windows 8 Pro, Windows 8 Enterprise Windows settings, personal files, and apps
Windows 7 Ultimate Windows 8 Pro Windows settings, personal files, and apps
Windows 7 Enterprise Windows 8 Enterprise Windows settings, personal files, and apps
From Windows Vista or earlier to Windows 8
Current OS Upgrade OS What you can keep
Windows Vista SP1 or higher Windows 8 Pro Windows settings, and personal files
Windows Vista RTM Windows 8 Pro Personal files only
Windows XP SP3 Windows 8 Pro Personal files only

Non-supported Windows 8 Upgrade Path

  • Upgrades from the following operating systems are not supported: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows XP RTM, Windows XP SP1, Windows XP SP2, Windows 8 Developer Preview, Windows 8 Consumer Preview, Windows 8 Release Preview.
  • Windows NT Server 4.0, Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2012
  • Cross-architecture, Cross-language and Cross-SKU upgrades are not supported.

Note: You can add Windows Media Center for free through the “add features” option within Windows 8 Pro after your upgrade.

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