So, I bought my Lenovo from JB w/out an operating system (but with an XP key) last year. Because I was tight on money, I threw a Windows 7 Ultimate release candidate on it. Well, I'm getting daily warnings that it's about to expire (in about a week), so it's time to get this squared away.

I have a Vista Ultimate seat on my old HTPC sitting unused since switching over to the PS3 for my media. However, I've never run anything but W7 on this machine, and am a little concerned about how it will handle Vista Ultimate. But I could certainly install it in a pinch.

In the meantime, my girlfriend's back in school (and her laptop crapped out too, so we're both using mine), so the educational discount is an option. Windows 7 Professional for $65... This seems like the best option (Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade is $120 in comparison).

So, is there anything I'm missing? Thoughts? I'd appreciate any input you might have...

nope the education discount is probably the best option, the next best is probably buying an OEM version they are typically a little less than the retail version.

best deal (if you need the 32 bit) is to PM me

if you'll be installing a new OS anyway, maybe try some linux, it's free and doesn't require additional expense for antivirus stuff.

but then it requires you run linux

I picked up Win 7 Ultimate for free from my brother in law's brother in law, lol. But if I didn't get it for free from him, I would have gotten one of my Fraternity brothers from college to get it for me. They get Ultimate for $15. A few of my friends got the young guys (still in school) to get a bunch of copies for them.

I got mine for $30 but again it was through someone with a few valid college email addresses.

It was a download only copy from Digital River.

A very nice person helped to get me an MSDN copy of Win 7 pro 64, to which I'm much obliged.

I think Ian is getting the same deal Scott

I think Ian is getting the same deal Scott

Ah, lucky for Ian and such a nice gesture Jin. Such a generous bastard, that guy.

Windows 7 is sweet.

If your gf is still in school, try to get an MSDN account. It's fabulous. 7 copies of Windows 7 Pro for $30? Yes please.

Or you can actually use a 64-bit serial number on a 32-bit installation and vice versa!

Any of you guys still have 'deals' on Windows 7? It appears I need to use a post-XP Windows version for a class and I'd like to go legit if possible, but no way I'm spending 150$ for a secondary OS that will only steal precious space from my OS X partition.

Any of you guys still have 'deals' on Windows 7? It appears I need to use a post-XP Windows version for a class and I'd like to go legit if possible, but no way I'm spending 150$ for a secondary OS that will only steal precious space from my OS X partition.

I'd try to get access to MSDN AA first: Windows 7 Professional - Availble NOW for MSDNAA Users (Possibly FREE) -YMMV - SlickDeals.net Forums

Back when the deal was hot it was $30 for 7 copies of Win7 Pro and a whole bunch of other software (Vista, XP, Visual Studio...)

If you can't get that, looks like you can get it for $65 if you have a .edu email: Microsoft Office Discount for US Students -The Ultimate Steal- Office 2007 Software for $59.95 - main page is for Office but Win7 is listed as well

Thanks for reminding me about MSDNAA, I think I have a friend who's got access to that.

I'm sorry to be bumping up a rather old thread, but was wondering if anyone still had deals on Windows 7? My XP partition appears to be dead (or at least dying a slow death) and I haven't been able to locate my stupid XP install disc (this will teach me to clean my shelves).

Find a student to get their discount.

I might have some more copies if you want win 7 professional.

Find a student to get their discount.

Annoying part is I teach in a school (private special ed school) but I don't get any discount from MS. At least I can get a nice discount from Adobe.

I might have some more copies if you want win 7 professional.

That would be greatly appreciated it.

I like Adobe's discount as well

If you need more than one license the Win7 family pack might be worth it...

I like Adobe's discount as well

If you need more than one license the Win7 family pack might be worth it...

Is it actually not possible to install Win7 on two different computers now? I know this wasn't necessarily a problem with XP.

Is it actually not possible to install Win7 on two different computers now? I know this wasn't necessarily a problem with XP.

Are you speaking of physically installing or legally installing on two computers? Although the EULA for both XP and Win7 specify that every machine that they are installed on must have their own license, you can activate each license five times (after which you are required to call in for activations). You can install and activate multiple machines with a single license, but you're not supposed to.

I could use a discounted 7, if available. . If not I can get it through my daughter using the student discount. I'm trying to get my Sony Vaio notebook working to give to my father in law. The hard drive crashed so I'm installing a new one and need an operating system.

Are you speaking of physically installing or legally installing on two computers? Although the EULA for both XP and Win7 specify that every machine that they are installed on must have their own license, you can activate each license five times (after which you are required to call in for activations). You can install and activate multiple machines with a single license, but you're not supposed to.

The former. I didn't know if Win7 had limited amount of activations or not, since I never encountered that with XP when I used to format/re-install XP on regular basis.

I see. The activations only count against you if the hardware has changed enough for it to count.