I am running Vista Ultimate now - but due to features needed, i only need to upgrade to 7 Pro when it is released. If I purchase the Windows 7 Pro option, is this going to work and 'downgrade' me from Ultimate to Pro? Or do i have to purchase the 7 Ultimate upgrade option?

You will be able to purchase the Windows 7 Professional upgrade option but you will have to do a clean install. -Nick

goawayou, The pricing would be the same as any upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 (i.e. it doesn't matter which edition of Windows Vista you're upgrading from, only which edition of Windows 7 you're upgrading to), as outlined in this excellent Ars Technica article following Microsoft's press release yesterday. -Alex

thanx for the ars tech article, i didn't find that one today yet. Well, i'm not worried about pricing going down the ladder, because if one price upgrade from ultimate or business to upgrade to 7 pro is the same, that's fine. i also don't mind doing a new install. My point was, i just want to make sure its license is 'legal' according to MS's EULA to go from Vista Ult to Win 7 Pro, instead of 7 Ult. Or if i boot a win 7 pro disk in my PC to install it, then it checks my system for previous windows installations - if it'll say 'no, you cannot use this as an upgrade option.' ???