Which operating systems support to upgrade into windows 7/Seven ?

Earlier version of windows operating system need to upgrade to Windows 7 because of  various need. So it is need to know which windows operating system support to upgrade into windows 7 or Seven.

Following details help you to understand about supported operating systems to upgrade into windows 7 or Seven.

Supported operating system to upgrade into windows 7

Supported Windows Versions to upgrade windows 7 or seven

The following table identifies the windows operating system that you can upgrade directly to or migrate to Windows 7 or Seven

Windows Version	Supported Scenario	Remarks
Earlier version than Windows XP®	Clean Installation	Windows versions earlier than Windows XP do not support in-palace upgrade or migration to windows 7
Windows XP, Windows Vista	Migration	Windows XP and Windows Vista (without any Service Pack) do not support in-place upgrade to Windows 7. You can use WET or USMT to migrate the user state from these versions of Windows to any editions of Windows 7 with the exception to the Starter edition.
Windows Vista SP1, SP2	In-place upgrade	Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 or later is required to support in-place upgrades to Windows 7. There are limitations on which edition you can upgrade from and to.
Windows 7	Windows Anytime Upgrade	Windows 7 supports upgrades to higher editions with Windows Anytime Upgrade. There are limitations on which edition you can upgrade from and to.

Note: Windows Anytime Upgrade (WAU) provides a way to move to a more powerful edition of Windows 7. WAU pack includes DVD media, the Windows product key, and upgrade instructions.

Unsupported Windows versions to upgrade windows 7 or seven

Earlier versions of Windows lack the architectural similarity to Windows 7. Consequently, there is no direct mechanism for an in-place upgrade or migration to Windows 7 from earlier Windows operating systems.

You cannot directly upgrade to Windows 7 from an operating system earlier than Windows Vista with Service Pack 1. Instead, you can perform a clean installation of Windows 7 on a computer that is running an earlier version of Windows and then migrate any user-related settings and user data. If your current operating system is earlier than Windows XP, such as Windows 2000 or Windows 98, you must migrate the user-related settings and data manually because neither USMT nor WET supports these earlier versions of Windows.

Also be aware that computers running these earlier versions of Windows may not meet the minimum Windows 7 hardware requirements.

Note: There are limitations on the editions of Windows that you can upgrade from and to. For example, you can upgrade Windows Vista Home Basic with Service Pack 1 to Windows 7 Home Basic, Windows 7 Home Premium, or Windows 7 Ultimate, but not to Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Enterprise.

Upgrade limitations to windows 7

An in-place upgrade does not support cross architecture. This means that you cannot upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit or vice versa. You can only upgrade to the same platform, even if your hardware supports both architectures.

An in-place upgrade does not support cross language. This means that you cannot upgrade from an EN-US version of Windows to a DE-DE version of Windows.In both cases, you need to perform a clean installation and the necessary migration.

Options for upgrading between Windows 7 editions

You can perform an upgrade between two editions of Windows 7 by purchasing Windows Anytime Upgrade. The Windows Anytime Upgrade Pack contains the product key, a Windows Anytime Upgrade DVD, and upgrade instructions.To initiate the upgrade process, insert your Windows Anytime Upgrade DVD. The target edition of Windows 7 is included on the Windows Anytime Upgrade DVD. The product key included with your Windows Anytime Upgrade Pack determines the edition of Windows 7 that you can install.

Before you start the upgrade, save all open files and close all open programs. The upgrade setup program will restart your computer several times, so any unsaved work will be lost. The upgrade preserves your settings, applications, and files.

The following table identifies the upgrade options between editions of Windows 7.

From\To	Starter	Home Basic	Home Premium	Professional	Enterprise	Ultimate
Starter	NA	X	WAU	WAU	X	WAU
Home Basic	X	NA	WAU	WAU	X	WAU
Home Premium	X	X	NA	WAU	X	WAU
Professional	X	X	X	NA	X	WAU
Enterprise	X	X	X	X	NA	X
Ultimate	X	X	X	X	X	NA

Legend:

X = In-place Upgrade is not supported.

NA = Not applicable.

WAU = Windows Anytime Upgrade is supported.