I purchased the academic version of Windows 7 Professional 64-bit under an apparent misunderstanding that I could upgrade and not have to do a complete reinstall which would cost me 3 days of thesis development time to reinstall the Autodesk, Adobe & other software that I use. Could someone please explain to me why (after paying a higher price for Vista Ultimate in the first place) I cannot purchase a student version of Windows 7 Ultimate or upgrade without a clean install which requires a complete reinstall of all of the programs on my computer? Is there something that I am overlooking?

You're not overlooking anything.While Win7 may be an upgrade from Vista, an "in-place upgrade" must be an upgrade to a like (or higher) version. Therefore, you can't "in-place upgrade" from Ultimate to Professional (this would be a 'level downgrade.')Clean install only for you. Sorry.HTH,Chris[If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.]

· Hello Cozmolore, According to Microsoft official announcement, you should have either Windows XP or Windows Vista OS on the computer before installing Windows 7 via the upgrade media. Certainly, I also found some articles on Internet mentioned that someone can successfully clean install with Windows 7 Upgrade media, however it is not recommended/supported by Microsoft. Whether or not you are able to activate the product finally is at your own risk and I don’t think it is a good topic to discuss in this forum. Thanks for your time and understanding! Andy