Free Vista to Windows 7 Upgrades Program Debuts June 26th

With the Release Candidate Build 7100 development milestone available for download since May 5th, 2009, and Windows 7 making its way toward RTM, Microsoft is also planning to debut the Tech Guarantee Program, now labeled Microsoft’s ‘Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program’ associated with the operating system. The Redmond company offered a similar program for Windows Vista, and it is now planning to do the same for Windows 7, starting June 26th, 2009. The marketing initiative is designed to offer free upgrades from Windows Vista to Windows 7 for customers who will not wait for the next iteration of the Windows client. Microsoft has failed to offer any details related to its Technical Guarantee Program for Windows 7, but APC revealed that the Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program was planned for debut by the end of next month. PC manufacturer Acer has already begun promoting the initiative in Australia, by offering marketing materials advertising the debut of the program. “Beginning June 26, 2009, customers who purchase a qualifying ACER Vista-based PC will receive a comparable version of Windows 7 when available,” reads the message of a slip included with new purchased Acer computers. The Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program is designed to compensate eventual consumer trends to hold out from buying new computers and wait for the general availability of Windows 7 instead. The Redmond company, in partnership with OEMs, is working to convince users to buy new machines preloaded with Windows Vista and get a free upgrade to Windows 7 when the operating system will become available. The only eligible Vista editions for the Upgrade Option Program are Home Premium, Business, and Vista Ultimate. The move will be made between equivalent SKUs, for example Vista Ultimate users will receive an upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate. Windows XP is also included in the program, but only for Vista downgrades, essentially only if a Vista license is present

32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 (Release Candidate) RC Build 7100.0.090421-1700 is available for download here