Upgrade keys won't work on clean Vista install

THE VOLE seems convinced that its users will only ever need to install Vista once, or at least seems to hope that we'll follow the path of least resistance and shell out for a new licence every time we do need to reinstall.

This has been driven home on several fronts over recent days, with OEM installations requiring users to jump through hoops to reinstall their OS, and now the Redmond boys closing a 'loophole' in the Upgrade packs that means that users have to have a previous version of Windows installed before the upgrade key will work. In other words the upgrade licence key won't allow you to install a clean version of Vista, as it did with older versions of Windows.

According to the Vole's Knowledge Base you either need to upgrade from an earlier, supported version of Windows or alternatively purchase a license that lets you perform a clean installation of Windows Vista. Good thing Microsoft was gracious enough to extend the supported lifetime of XP.

Despite this, a spokesvole, Elissa Brown, has assured world+dog that 'Windows Vista is more intelligent and a bit more lenient than Windows XP around hardware tolerance', although precisely how this is case is still up for debate. µ

L'INQ
Ars Techinica