Windows 8 upgrade from Developer Preview

Seamu$

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone can clarify if the Windows 8 upgrade offer http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IE/windows/buy will work on Developer Preview (Build 8102)? It mentions Consumer and Release Preview on the System Requirements but not Developer Preview. These versions due to expire on Jan 15 so I must decide what to do next!

Thanks in advance.

unkel

I'm sure you can

If not, then you can upgrade developer preview to release preview
and then upgrade release preview to W8

As you say, you have a week left

Capt'n Midnight

Generally speaking a clean install is the best way even if it's possible to install over a demo version, also demo versions generally don't qualify for the discount you get from buying an upgrade vs. a full version

unkel

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

demo versions generally don't qualify for the discount you get from buying an upgrade vs. a full version

Microsoft is not fussy*. You can upgrade pretty much any xp / vista / 7 / 8, even dodgy / unactivated versions and do a clean install (once it recognises there is an MS OS there already)

* I guess they want as many people to migrate to 8 as quickly as possible

Fysh

unkel wrote: »

Microsoft is not fussy*. You can upgrade pretty much any xp / vista / 7 / 8, even dodgy / unactivated versions and do a clean install (once it recognises there is an MS OS there already)

* I guess they want as many people to migrate to 8 as quickly as possible

The technical "It can be done" does not translate to "It can be done and you will have a valid licence for the software which you've bought". In the case of upgrading from the Developer, Consumer or Release Previews, it also doesn't translate into "you'll have a stable working system".

I wouldn't go from a beta version of an OS to the final release via in-place upgrade if I had any choice in the matter, because whatever time I thought I might save by not having to reinstall is time I'd anticipate spending on diagnosing unexpected problems in the future.

Edited to add:

To clarify, my point is that going from the Consumer or Release Previews to the RTM release involves using the "Migrate" option, not the "in-place upgrade" option. It is technically possible through tinkering of a sort Not Allowed For Discussion Around Here to get this to work, but doing so is unsupported. The same is true of the Developer Preview. Hence my point that you won't really save time and will be essentially asking for trouble down the line. They should really make it much clearer on that "Buy Windows" page whether running the preview releases give you a licence that is valid for upgrading to the RTM release (AFAIK this has not been the case in the past) and that moving from one of the preview releases to the RTM release is only possible using the "migrate" option (which preserves your files but not your system configuration or installed software).

From the MSDN Blog (last paragraph):

Grant George wrote:

Also note that the final release of Windows 8 will not support upgrading from any prior Windows 8 "Preview" release, though the migrate option will still be supported. In any upgrade scenario, you can run the Disk Cleanup Wizard to remove the previous installation in order to free up disk space. The download will also support boot from USB for a completely clean installation as well.

manual_man

hi guys i'm having a problem trying to upgrade from W8 consumer preview to W8 pro - it prompted me to upgrade to W8 pro today and i installed upgrade assistant followed all the steps purchased the license and then the install failed near (what seemed to be) the end of the install process. now when i open upgrade assistant and select install now it says: "Internal error: Failed to continue with the installation. There may have been some errors during download. Please try again." I even tried the 'Install by creating media' option, getting all the necessary files on usb flash drive, but when booting from the usb drive the install stops shortly after starting with a message "A media driver your computer needs is missing". my drivers are all up to date so i don't know what's going on there. i'm at a loss what to do. if anyone can help i'd be super grateful, as i'm loathe to call up the microsoft helpline and probably spend a half an hour there getting nowhere

thanks, manual man

manual_man

anyone??

Overheal

if anyone can help i'd be super grateful, as i'm loathe to call up the microsoft helpline and probably spend a half an hour there getting nowhere

Yesterday, 20:06

Today, 09:25

Worth it? /no idea sorry

manual_man

Overheal wrote: »

Worth it? /no idea sorry

no luck. i tried microsoft and got 'there's no customer service reps available at present. goodbye'. and the line went dead. talk about customer service. anyway not to worry i've decided to get an old laptop with vista on it repaired so should be able to use the W8 prod key on that to upgrade