Asus details its Windows 7 update program

By: Raghav Kapoor

The details include a list of all the products qualified for update

Asus Windows 7 upgrade program

Eligible Asus notebook models

Asus Eee PC eligibile models

Window 7 upgrade program is applicable to these languages only

Windows 7, the latest operating system from Microsoft is due for an official launch on the 22^nd October 2009. Asus has also announced the details of its Windows 7 upgrade program in line with the above announcement. The upgrade program will be valid only for a specific set of notebooks, EeePc, EeeTop, EeeBox, and desktops. The upgrade will only be available on eligible Asus products purchased from 26^th June 2009 to 31^st January 2010.

A detailed list of all the Asus products eligible for this upgrade has been provided alongside (see the picture). Earlier in the month there was news that the Intel Atom N270 based netbooks and nettops would be unlikely candidates for inclusion in the Windows 7 Upgrade Program, that has been confirmed by Asus as the Windows 7 upgrade program will only be applicable to the 1101HA and 1005HA Eee PC which run on Intel Atom Z520 and Intel Atom N280 processors respectively. 

Asus has also detailed the upgrades eligible between corresponding Windows Vista and Windows 7 versions as given below:

·         Windows Vista Home Premium --- Windows 7 Home Premium

·         Windows Vista Business --- Windows 7 Professional

·         Windows Vista Ultimate --- Windows 7 Ultimate

Other details of the program are as follows:

·         The Windows 7 upgrade option program will be available for only a specific set of language versions of Windows Vista (see the picture).

·         The Program does not support multiple upgrades for medium, large, or enterprise customers.

·         Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Starter Edition, and Windows XP (all editions)
do not qualify for upgrades to Windows 7 under this program.

·         Windows Vista can only be upgraded to the same language version of Windows 7.

·         A 32 bit Vista version is eligible for an upgrade to a 32 bit version of Windows 7.

The minimum system requirements for installing Windows 7 on an Eee PC and EeeTop PC are as follows:

·         1GHz or faster 32-bit or 64-bit processor

·         1GB RAM for 32-bit system and 2GB RAM for 64-bit system

·         16GB of available disk space for 32-bit system and 20GB of available disk space for 64-bit system

·         DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM 1.0 or higher

·         Internal or External DVD ROM

The Windows 7 upgrade package will include a single Windows 7 upgrade DVD, installation manual, and a driver DVD for the model specified. Currently, not all Asus product drivers are available for Windows 7 but Asus has assured that they will update the driver download page regularly. Moreover, Asus has said that there is no compatibility issues on the models specified.

In order to get the upgrade a user needs to purchase the specified model during the specified time frame and then register with Asus for the upgrade program. Payment can be made online via MasterCard or Visa. The upgrade package will be made available to the registered users after the general availability date.