How do we get our free Windows 7 licenses? Shipping charges?

[Crunch]

I bought a bunch of Thinkpad W700's, so I should be getting three (so far) of Windows 7 Ultimate (2) and Professional (1) upgrade licenses.

I did not receive a coupon per se, which is likely not necessary, but does Microsoft really charge for shipping each license? The upgrade page demands all kinds of information, including a credit card for shipping a DVD. Has anyone here bought a new Thinkpad since June 26 of this year?

Thanks for any replies!

[dr_st]

I'd think that Lenovo would send you Win7 recovery media for the cost of shipping&handling, as they've been doing with the XP downgrade CDs.

[Crunch]

I'd think that Lenovo would send you Win7 recovery media for the cost of shipping&handling, as they've been doing with the XP downgrade CDs.

Well, Lenovo will send it to me for free. Good point, although Lenovo is not responsible for any OS upgrade disc. I meant strictly Microsoft itself, with their shipping and handling charges.

Yes, Lenovo will do it when asked, but I think we're supposed to deal with Microsoft directly regarding the upgrade. In this day and age, and especially since Microsoft let us download Windows 7 twice already from their servers (the public Beta and the RC), and the RTM is on TechNet, so why not do this for the "final" version come 10/22. I can burn my own copies.

I realize that a lot of people will prefer the physical DVD. Fine, they should be afforded the option of having Microsoft send them their Upgrade DVD.

That form looks like a darn rebate form from my wireless carrier for a BlackBerry. lol...They'll make plenty of $$ in overpriced shipping charges alone.

[dr_st]

Well, Lenovo will send it to me for free.

That's nice if they do. They haven't been shipping these things for free for a while now.

Good point, although Lenovo is not responsible for any OS upgrade disc. I meant strictly Microsoft itself, with their shipping and handling charges.

Yes, Lenovo will do it when asked, but I think we're supposed to deal with Microsoft directly regarding the upgrade. In this day and age, and especially since Microsoft let us download Windows 7 twice already from their servers (the public Beta and the RC), and the RTM is on TechNet, so why not do this for the "final" version come 10/22. I can burn my own copies.

I realize that a lot of people will prefer the physical DVD. Fine, they should be afforded the option of having Microsoft send them their Upgrade DVD.

Will Microsoft really do it? They have consistently refused to send original OEM installation media for laptops with XP/Vista license, as far as I know. But they will do it for Win7?

[Crunch]

I keep forgetting that we're talking about the dreaded OEM version. And yes, you're right. Lenovo (and several years under IBM), they stopped sending any DVD's with any new purchase. However, they'll send them for free if you ask nicely for them to waive the fee. It has worked for me every time thus far.

As for MS, I raised hell with Microsoft and their outsourced BS "customer service" in India because of an issue with my Vista key. They quickly "converted" me to a FULL version key, not an OEM, and not an upgrade key.

I explained to them that I install OS's a lot to try out different things on different computers, and I have no interest in constantly looking for my XP OEM DVD from Lenovo to be able to install Vista, because it's an upgrade, nor do I care for all the bloatware that Lenovo (along with everyone else) puts on their OEM's. They asked for my OEM key, and said they would generate a full version key for me. Sure enough, the guy calls me back within an hour, and gives me the new key. All was well in Vista land.

Well, we have 2 months to go, and I'll have to have another conversation with them. Let's see what happens.