Forum Thread: Upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate from Home Premium for Free

Cannot for the life of me imagine what features or facilities you might lose by upgrading from Home Premium to Professional or higher. These two links:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions#Comparison_chart (Overview)
• http://winsupersite.com/windows-7/windows-7-product-editions-comparison&mid=17244&ctl=editor&type=1#security (Detailed list)

show that you only gain features, not lose, as you upgrade.

As far as [legal] upgrading is concerned, however, there is simply no way to upgrade (or clean install) for free from Home Premium to Professional. (Even the now cancelled TechNet Subscription and the academics' DreamSpark program have annual costs for their amazing benefits.)

The easiest, and probably cheapest, way would be to use the inbuilt Windows Anytime Upgrade, which should set you back about $90.)

It may be worth waiting, however, for the release of Windows 10. (Microsoft recently announced a free upgrade from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10, which is a first for them. Heck, they are even allowing pirated copies of Windows to upgrade to Windows 10...

• http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2015/03/19/why-microsoft-is-giving-away-windows-10-to-pirates/

Of course, the equivalent version of Windows 10 may not have the features of Windows 7 Professional that you require, in which case you will either have to stump up the $90, but bear in mind mainstream support for Windows 7 ended in January and only important security updates will be provided after that until January 2020...

• http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle