Update: Please, if you’re going to copy my images, don’t delete the watermark. I went through effort to get these pictures, and having them torn off (as is the case with ArsTechnica’s recent linkback)just means that I’ll have to present unsightly watermarks over the entire picture next time as opposed to keeping the images presentable by leaving the watermark in the corner. Update 2: ArsTechnica corrected their image accordingly. Thanks!
Just about everyone has seen the shots of the new Windows 7 retail packaging, but pictures of the new Anytime Upgrade packaging are much harder to come by. Impossible to find are any current examples of the packaging besides press shots and renders, so having said that, here are a few good hands-on shots I managed to take. For those wondering, yes, this means the boxes themselves are real, and that yes, Microsoft will indeed be pushing Anytime Upgrade through retail channels.
If you want some context as to how Microsoft arrived to this new box design, go ahead and check out Brandon LeBlanc’s post over at the Windows Team Blog. As for a physical size comparison: the full version boxes carry the same dimensions as the current Vista boxes.
(There’s nothing relevant inside the boxes themselves; just a fake key and a CD of Visio inside the retail box of which I was also taking some pictures.)
Have at it:
On an unrelated note, we (the staff of AeroXperience) would like to wish our condolences to the Jackson family with regards to the recent, sudden, and highly tragic passing of Michael Jackson
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[...] packaging for Anytime Upgrades if people choose to move up to a higher SKU of Windows 7. Bryant over at AeroXP has posted some pictures of the [...]
[...] Bryant from AeroXperience has managed to uncover some great shots of the Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade packaging. [...]
What is the orangey-red box with the Windows flag on it?
And while I’m at it with the questions:
I assume these will be available at retail stores (Best Buy, Fry’s, etc.)?
Is there an Anytime Upgrade option for Professional to Ultimate? Those don’t seem to be in the boxshots.
Oh, and this means that apparently all of those of those original leaked boxshots were 100% correct. Overall, they look very nice IMO.
That’s the inside box. The boxings you see in the first shot are sleeves for plastic boxes on the insides.
Retail: yes.
Pro to Ult? I didn’t see it, but it might be doable with the Ultimate AU key.
Yes, the leaked shots are correct.
[...] would suggest that there are WAU retail boxes for Windows 7, right? Correct, as pictured above, Aero XP has managed to grab a few snapshots of them and confirm that the “full version boxes carry the same [...]
[...] would suggest that there are WAU retail boxes for Windows 7, right? Correct, as pictured above, Aero XP has managed to grab a few snapshots of them and confirm that the “full version boxes carry [...]
So wait, when you say “doable with the Ultimate AU key”, does that mean all you need to upgrade is to enter a product key of the proper SKU?
(I think this was addressed before, but I need a refresher)
[...] might remember seeing these box shots in an earlier post. AeroXP obtained some of these box images as well and state that these are actually individual WAU packs. [...]