Last week, Microsoft announced plans for its Express Upgrade program which will enable consumer and small business customers to buy desktops and notebooks during the holidays and still be assured they can receive Windows Vista when it becomes available—estimated to be sometime in the first quarter of next year.
Before the Vista launch, our goal is to make it easy as possible for our customers to buy a system now and upgrade to Windows Vista when it comes out. Dell customers who order a system from October 26 – March 15, 2007 will be entitled to a Vista upgrade under Dell’s program. So how does it work?
Home Users:
- Most of our notebooks and desktops in the Home and Home Office section of our website include XP Media Center Edition 2005 in the price. Customers who buy a machine with Media Center will be eligible for a free upgrade to Windows Vista Premium (plus a nominal shipping and handling fee).
- On the few entry-level systems that come standard with Windows XP Home, we’ll offer a $10 upgrade to Media Center which includes a free upgrade to Windows Vista Premium (plus a nominal shipping and handling fee).
Small Business Users:
- The majority of our small business customers purchase a new machine with XP Pro. Those customers will be eligible for a free upgrade to Windows Vista Business (plus a nominal shipping and handling fee).
- For those small business customers that prefer XP Home, Dell offers an upgrade to Vista Basic for $45 (plus a nominal shipping and handling fee).
Some of our competitors require mail-in rebates or specific hardware upsells before they offer “free” upgrades. Dell will offer choice to our customers and allow them to build the PC that best meets their needs. What else are we doing to make it easier for our customers? Dell takes care of the proof of purchase process—no need to find that invoice and mail it in. We’ll also ship a personalized driver DVD (based on your PC configuration) with the Windows Vista upgrade disc when it’s available. This driver DVD contains all the driver updates that a customer will need. Finally, we’ll offer specific support services to customers who need help navigating through the upgrade.
Many people at Dell have worked with Microsoft for years in anticipation of the Vista launch. Over the next few weeks, we hope to give you insight a number of different areas: how we test both legacy and new systems with the OS, how we’ll roll it out to all of our customers worldwide and how we’ll support customers after the launch. Starting with this post, we’ve created a specific category for Vista to make it easy to find all Direct2Dell readers to find Vista-related content. Stay tuned.