Windows 7

If you are considering buying Windows 7, this guidance should help to ensure you buy in the best way for your organisation, and that you're properly licensed.

• Volume Licensing agreements^* offer Windows software upgrade licenses only. Windows upgrades are designed to upgrade previously purchased qualifying operating system licenses. This means you need to have a full licence for the underlying operating system on each of your PCs before you install a Windows 7 upgrade. An important point to note is that home use Windows licenses don't qualify as base licenses in a commercial environment. For example, as a business customer, you wouldn't be able to use Windows Vista Home as a qualifying base licence to upgrade to Windows Vista Business.
  
  If you need to buy Windows 7 licenses for existing PCs that aren't currently running a genuine copy of Windows, or that are running a version of Windows that isn't a qualifying base licence for a Volume Licensing upgrade, the best way to do so is through the Get Genuine Windows Agreement. This is available from your reseller - conditions apply.

• There are two ways to purchase a full Windows operating system licence:
  1. Buy PCs with a genuine Windows operating system preinstalled by the computer manufacturer. This is the most cost-effective way for you to purchase Windows 7 licenses
  2. Buy boxed software (through the retail channel) for new PCs

^* Only includes Microsoft Open Value, Open Value Subscription, Open Licence, Select Plus, Select Licence, Enterprise Agreement and Enterprise Subscription Agreement programmes.