Thinkpads Forum

When customizing a T520 I cant seem to get anything else in the OS department thats not Win7 Pro. Doesnt Lenovo offer the Ultimate version for this machine...?

I'm not sure, but what are the reasons that you want ultimate - unless you need remote areo glass, bitlocker or the language packs, windows 7 pro is probably your best bet (even though ultimate has a better name) - it is supported longer, has all the media features of windows 7 home premium (unlike vista home premium and buisness). If you do require it, you will probably have to call and see if it can be a CTO option, or you just run anytime upgrade and go from there.

Thanks. What does CTO option mean...?

Also, regarding anytime upgrade, I assume that there are no differences between an upgraded Win 7 version and a factory built configuration...?

I don't believe that there would be a diffrence, since all the anytime upgrade does is unlock features that are already installed - that should not affect the lenovo preload (aside from giving you ultimate ) The CTO is configure to order (and I think I messed it up in my first post - it had been a long day ). If there is no option on the website when you build your thinkpad, try calling lenovo and seeing what they can do. It would not surprise me if they did not offer windows 7 ultimate, like Home premium, just because it is a consumer edition, and the higher end thinkpads are not really designed as consumer computers. (But home premium is availible on the lower end systems (i.e. intel graphics...)

You may not have any options other than anytime upgrade to get windows 7 ultimate (and if you don't mind me asking, why exactly do you want/need the ultimate edition as opposed to proffesional?)

After you get the laptop go into 'System', in there you can do an in-place, anytime upgrade. This upgrade only takes a few minutes and does not require an install (it just unlocks the features). If you do it this way you will not lose any of the "Enhanced Experience" stuff.