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[Kari]

Wow, Kari, I was wrong. I apologize to all for my ignorance!

Nothing to feel sorry for, Jonathan. This information is not very well known, and it's not so easy to find.

I noticed that when I was not logged in to Microsoft OEM Partner Center, the link in my post you quoted didn't work. If you are interested to read the whole article, I printed it to PDF and attached it here. Open the attached PDF to see the full article.

Kari

 

[Jonathan_King]

Where does it say how to get the XP or Vista key?

Obtain genuine Windows XP Professional or Tablet PC Edition media and a corresponding product key.

Of course I could always but a copy off of Newegg, but that is not "downgrading".

 

[Kari]

As clearly stated in that article, the user must have (buy) a valid XP or Vista license to be able to downgrade.

 

[Jonathan_King]

As clearly stated in that article, the user must have (buy) a valid XP or Vista license to be able to downgrade.

Maybe I am misunderstaning what downgrading is. How does it differ from just buying a copy and doing a clean install?

Maybe I am confused because of the Vista downgrade. I thought that you could call Microsoft or whatever, and they would send you an XP key if you wanted, so you install XP Professional instead of Vista.

Is this not correct? I have never done it, and I don't know anyone who has, so I am just running off of rumors and things I never saw confirmed.

 

[Kari]

Downgrading as Microsoft describes it in this document is not meant to be a method to replace an OEM Win7 with Vista or XP using the OEM Seven key.

In my opinion, this is clearly meant to be a temporary solution to companies and individuals who buy a computer with Seven pre-installed, but who are not yet ready to migrate to Seven. With these downgrade rights the user does not lose the OEM Seven license; he is allowed to install an older OS, and when then returning to Seven the license is still valid. But to do this, the user needs to have a valid OEM Seven license and an XP or Vista license, whichever OS is used to downgrade.

If you read the document, it's quite clearly stated:

• Purchase a PC with Windows 7 Professional preinstalled.
• Downgrade—at no additional cost—to Windows Vista.
• Another compelling reason to encourage customers to move to Windows 7 is the ability to
  downgrade to Windows XP.
• Move to Windows 7 Professional at the appropriate time. The system is licensed and ready for
  conversion.

At no additional cost points to the fact that the customer already has a license to Vista (or XP).

All the rumors, including that Youtube video guide mentioned earlier in this thread, are just that: rumors. I would be very surprised if Microsoft Activation Center gave a free key to activate XP (or Vista) only when a user calls and says 'I don't want the Seven I got pre-installed with my new computer'. I do not believe it to be true.

I want to make one thing clear: By posting that information from Microsoft OEM Partner Center I was not recommending downgrade, nor wanted I to say it is an serious option. My only point was to make it clear, that in certain circumstances Microsoft allows the user to keep Seven OEM license active even if an older Windows is used to temporarily replace the pre-installed Seven.

The fact that this information is buried to a page only available to OEM partners should tell that it is not meant to be a free replacement of Seven.

Kari

 

[NoN]

Wow, Kari, I was wrong. I apologize to all for my ignorance!

Nothing to feel sorry for, Jonathan. This information is not very well known, and it's not so easy to find.

I noticed that when I was not logged in to Microsoft OEM Partner Center, the link in my post you quoted didn't work. If you are interested to read the whole article, I printed it to PDF and attached it here. Open the attached PDF to see the full article.

Kari

Thank, always good to know some Microsoft mechanics.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Thank you Kari. I have learned today.

 

[sergiogarcia9]

I wondered, is it legal to download a copy of Windows XP off the net, just the ISO, nothin else, no key etc. and run it in a virtual PC with the 30 day activating mode?

 

[Product FRED]

Since they let you do it with 7 Enterprise, I don't see why not. The only issue is that you can only download it legally through a Microsoft Technet subscription.