The good news: You can upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7. Several tools, from Microsoft and other sources, can make the transition easier. Now, the bad news: The upgrade process is not easy. In fact, chances are you’ll be much better off buying a new PC for Windows 7.
The first problem with trying to move a business PC from Windows XP to Windows 7 is that there’s no supported upgrade path. You can do an in-place upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7. But, since 72% of all desktops are running XP compared to 18.8% running Vista (according to Net Applications’ Market Share report), most of us don’t have that option.
So your business may be facing a major problem. With no easy way to transfer your existing programs from Windows XP to Windows 7, your company’s administrators need to do what Microsoft calls a “custom” install. “Custom” is what most administrators call a clean install; you end up deleting everything on the PC.
