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Windows 8 Pro will now include option to downgrade to Windows 7

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40hz:
Interesting question about the downgrade - I thought all OEMs had to lock the BIOS to Windows 8 so that no other operating system can be installed.

How would go about installing Windows 7 on a machine locked to Windows 8?
-Carol Haynes (September 16, 2012, 06:53 AM)
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Good question although no manufacturers are formally required to lock the UEFI to Win 8. But I guess we'll have to wait this Fall for Windows 8 (with "M-Troll") to take its bow.

I'm guessing arrangements and accommodations will be made by Microsoft. They can't afford to let it elevate and become an issue. Apple loves confrontation. Microsoft has always preferred the "camel with a nose in the tent" approach.

wraith808:
@wraith -

Actually, it's not really a creative reinterpretation of the license at all. Microsoft did specifically take "small shop" and "custom builders" into consideration when they did the "builder OEM" license. That question came up in the partner channel when it was first announced. And yeah, you won't find the OEM version in stores AFAIK. You need to order it from someone like Tiger, Newegg, or one of those places.
-40hz (September 16, 2012, 07:30 AM)
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And this is also why when I bought my mac at Bestbuy (since they're the same price anyway, their markups don't matter, and its one of the times when having a rewardzone membership pays off) and when he offered me a $200 copy of windows 7 and I said that I'd buy my copy of windows from Newegg he looked at me with a dirty look.  8)

Cloq:
So I guess my question is how does one get a copy of Windows 7 and serial if you have downgrade rights from Win 8 Pro, without paying for cd and piece of paper (serial#)?

I hear all this talk about downgrade blah blah.. but nothing about how to obtain downgrade disc and serial.  :tellme:

40hz:
So I guess my question is how does one get a copy of Windows 7 and serial if you have downgrade rights from Win 8 Pro, without paying for cd and piece of paper (serial#)?

I hear all this talk about downgrade blah blah.. but nothing about how to obtain downgrade disc and serial.  :tellme:
-Cloq (September 16, 2012, 01:10 PM)
--- End quote ---



It's not blah-blah-blah. Most people who need to do downgrades are already up on the technical details of how to do it. You're probably puzzled since Microsoft doesn't go out of its way to encourage people to downgrade - or furnish a lot of info on how. That's because they mostly leave it to the PC manufacturers to create the mechanism for downgrading. And the exact details can vary by manufacturer. So unless you've done a downgrade before, it can seem confusing.

But here's how it works based on what I've seen:

Usually a machine shipping with version X of an OS that includes rights to downgrade to a previous version will include both the old and the new OS disks.

Please note that "downgrade" in this scenario usually means the the older OS will completely overwrite the drive the newer OS is on. It's seldom possible to do an "in-place" OS downgrade like you would an upgrade. But you'll need to look at the specifics when Windows 8 comes out as to how that's going to work. It may have changed by the time Win 8 is released.

When most users elect to do a downgrade, they usually do it when they first receive their new machine. You unbox, boot off the supplied DVD for the older system, and then do an OEM "factory fresh" install. This is an installation script the PC manufacturer has created, so it's not like a standard Windows installation. In most cases you just boot from a DVD and wait for it to finish doing its thing. Usually no user input is required other than to say it's ok to do it. Once that's done, you do your basic setup and license acceptance, then activate and use the older version OS just like you would if the PC had originally shipped with it installed.

I'm not sure if the downgrade privilege will be available for the "over the counter" OEM builder disk license. If it is, you may be able to use any old copy of Win 7 and use your new Win 8 key to activate it. But it may not be a totally transparent procedure, in which case you'll need to call Microsoft directly for some help with the activation. (Provided it is allowed to begin with.)

I'm guessing the downgrade won't be allowed unless your copy of Win 8 came pre-installed on a new machine that specifically includes the downgrade option. In the past, it's usually been more expensive to get that option since downgrade privileges  didn't apply to home versions of Windows. Only the Pro and higher versions.

Hope that clarifies things for you.  :)

Cloq:
@40hz

The reason I said blah blah was because there are quite a few tech magazines that talk about downgrading but never quite give any detailed info in how to do it. They seem to gloss over the subject. You would think some of those mags would explain it in layman terms.

To be honest, I am still confused how I would explain to someone the downgrade procedure and how to obtain win7 without some sort of payment.

Regardless, you did answer some my questions. thanks.  :)

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