Why does everyone keep asking if this will invalidate their windows 7 product key? Does no one read the terms of service or even the highly condensed versions all over describing what an OEM product license is, or even understand the reason why it's called a special upgrade program which is being offered at a major discount?
If you buy a computer with a discounted OEM copy of windows preinstalled you are getting the discount for the software by agreeing that you will not use the software on any other computer and understand that the software is now legally bound to that computer. It's to this end that they offer this discounted upgrade for those OEM license owners because it extends the terms of use to the upgrade as well. So basically neither the original windows 7 product key nor the newly installed windows 8 product key may be used on any other system. They can however continue to be used to reinstall the corresponding version of windows at any time on the pc they were purchased for.
To add to this, purchasing any upgrade license renders the product key that is being upgraded useless as long as the upgrade is being used. The point to this is that you're not buying a new full license to use however, you're buying an upgrade license at a discount because you have already purchased a full copy of a previous version and want to extend the functionality and lifespan of that product with the latest offerings.
If you buy a computer with a discounted OEM copy of windows preinstalled you are getting the discount for the software by agreeing that you will not use the software on any other computer and understand that the software is now legally bound to that computer. It's to this end that they offer this discounted upgrade for those OEM license owners because it extends the terms of use to the upgrade as well. So basically neither the original windows 7 product key nor the newly installed windows 8 product key may be used on any other system. They can however continue to be used to reinstall the corresponding version of windows at any time on the pc they were purchased for.
To add to this, purchasing any upgrade license renders the product key that is being upgraded useless as long as the upgrade is being used. The point to this is that you're not buying a new full license to use however, you're buying an upgrade license at a discount because you have already purchased a full copy of a previous version and want to extend the functionality and lifespan of that product with the latest offerings.