Windows 8 Pro deal for Release Preview?

[KrisPC]

Hi!
I recently bought a new PC and have been using Win 8 RP ever since. An hour ago I looked at my local online Microsoft store and saw that Win 8 Pro is on sale for 30€ (as I'm living in EU). According to Win 8 Upgrade Assistant I could order it for the given price. Thing is I don't have any underlying license, because I thought I could try out Win 8 before it comes out and I have. The site doesn't offer any other Win 8 other than the 30€ Windows 8 Pro however deal's details still state that this is an upgrade (as you must have Win 7, Vista or XP SP3 installed on the computer).

My question is, if I would not be applying for the 30€ Win 8 Pro (plus I can order a DVD for extra 15€), shouldn't the Upgrade Assistant warn me about it and show an appropriate version instead (retail version)?

 

[enosis]

The site doesn't offer any other Win 8 other than the 30€ Windows 8 Pro ... My question is, if I would not be applying for the 30€ Win 8 Pro (plus I can order a DVD for extra 15€), shouldn't the Upgrade Assistant warn me about it and show an appropriate version instead (retail version)? ...

This is because they allow you to upgrade from ANY Windows version, even Win8 Release Preview and windows that were activated in a "funny" way. There's no point for a 'full' version.

After you upgrade, you have a fully functional Win8 Pro installation.

I just bought my upgrade last night

 

[trew_123]

The site doesn't offer any other Win 8 other than the 30€ Windows 8 Pro ... My question is, if I would not be applying for the 30€ Win 8 Pro (plus I can order a DVD for extra 15€), shouldn't the Upgrade Assistant warn me about it and show an appropriate version instead (retail version)? ...

This is because they allow you to upgrade from ANY Windows version, even Win8 Release Preview and windows that were activated in a "funny" way. There's no point for a 'full' version.

After you upgrade, you have a fully functional Win8 Pro installation.

I just bought my upgrade last night

Did your machine have a prior Version of Windows on it before you installed the RP? The concern is for those who installed RP on a newly built machine as its first and only OS, whether or not the Upgrade will work.

 

[kriskory]

I asked for clarification of that on MS answers forums, the answer was no, if you build a new pc and installed rp only then upgrade wont work. Thats the answer i got from them. If you had prior windows on it then yes it will work. On the other hand it can be tried, wont it check the pc for eligibility before paying for the upgrade?

 

[trew_123]

I asked for clarification of that on MS answers forums, the answer was no, if you build a new pc and installed rp only then upgrade wont work. Thats the answer i got from them. If you had prior windows on it then yes it will work. On the other hand it can be tried, wont it check the pc for eligibility before paying for the upgrade?

I ran the check and it didn't complain about there not being an underlying Windows 7 etc. license. But I didn't go ahead and purchase the upgrade because I'm afraid the check will occur after I've paid and downloaded it. Which if that's the case, MS really should get their act together with this release because there are too many areas of confusion.

 

[trew_123]

Just purchased it and installed without any trouble. For those looking for a cheap legal upgrade, downloading Windows 8 Pro directly from MS seems the best route to go for the time being.

 

[KrisPC]

Bought it the same day it came out and finally installed it today. First I basically formatted all the drives with Intel RST RAID utility. Everything looked good at first, provided key was ok. But when I began personalizing Windows, Action Center told me to activate the Windows. When I tried to do it, it told me something in lines that the key is only meant for upgrading. On a side note it looked a bit suspicious that there was version number in bottom right corner like with RP. Anyway I tried to reinstall it, this time formatted the drive within Win 8 setup and reinstalled it. And now it seems to be working properly and this time it's activated.

On a bright side, should it somehow deactivate itself I noticed there was a possibility for refund. Also I hope I can still reinstall it after an year or two, should I format the drive to clean up the PC/OS.