The latest Microsoft outrage

I am not a big fan of Microsoft. But I had been hearing relatively good things about Windows 7. I don't have a lot of use for Windows myself, but I do have a need on occasion to support others, so I figured it would be a good idea to upgrade my Fusion VM from XP to Windows 7, if for no other reason than to get some experience and learn where all the knobs moved.

So after checking the box very, very carefully to insure it was, I bought the box that included the Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade.

It is absolutely legitimate to upgrade from XP to 7.

While I was at it, I wanted to switch from 32 bit to 64 bit mode. The only way to do that is with a clean install.

Well, that's fine. When my Dad upgraded to Vista, his disk was unbootable, so we did a clean installation of Vista and called up the activation center and they engaged a special workaround that finessed it.

So a few days in, now, and Windows pops up the activation dialog. I put in the key in the box, and it complains that it's an upgrade key. So I call up Microsoft and they tell me to pound sand - that the only recourse is to reinstall XP and then install Windows 7 on top of that.

So, in short, once again, Microsoft takes something really, really simple, and makes it impossible, in a way that benefits absolutely nobody.