FREE Windows 7 upgrade

So, here I am picking up some new gear for my company. The bigwigs decided to go all-out with IBM (currently Lenovo), because it 'is a big company', it is 'more stable, reliable and secure' and the 'black boxes look kinda neat'. [List more stupid reasons here].

So the overpriced computers we get come with Windows Vista licenses (business or ultimate), which we never use. I wonder how those negotiations went:

Bigwig: "Um, we'd like to buy 250 PCs please."

Lenovo: "You must take *these*. Windows Licenses included."

Bigwig: "But we don't really need Windows, you see... We have this Volume Licensing-"

Lenovo: "Silence! I have SPOKEN!"

Bigwig: "Okay" :O

And there you have it. After a few years there are about a thousand license for Vista just lying around (you're not allowed to use them on anything but the original hardware they came with).

So, today I figure I might try and get a Windows 7 upgrade for a few of them, so that I can start testing some of our applications. There might be some legal/licensing issues here, but I figured that I may be able to get a CD-KEY that would work for a bit until we have to go out and buy more volume licensing to include Wind0ws 7.

Luckily Lenovo is offering *!_FREE_!* Windows 7 upgrade for certain customers.

If only it were so easy.

It seems they are handling their upgrades through another company - Mentor Media Corporation, who take your information, serial numbers, proof of purchase, etc, and then send you a DVD over snail mail. Guess what? Costs 18€ apiece for my country. I hear that it's even worse for some (up to 35$). Each has to be ordered separately, and each needs its information filled out.

Last time I checked 17.47€ != 0€. In fact, 17.47€ > 0€.

So, the !!#*_OMIGOSH FREE_*#!! upgrade of a crappier OS to a merely crappy OS is not really free. Sure, you don't pay Microsoft, but you pay someone else. That's not my definition of free.

*GASP* so Mentor Media has some postage expenses. SO?! Give me my ISO over HTTP (use bittorrent if you're poor on servers) and then send me the CD-KEY in my email, sheesh. What is this, the middle ages?

As it happens, I have recently tried upgrading a friend's laptop (no legal issues here, since it is personally bought from a store). Acer also uses Mentor Media. So does HP and most others I could find.

Did the guys at Mentor Media land a sweet deal with these upgrades or what? Quite likely the PC distributors pay them some "fee" for their "service", then the users pay them some "postage and expenses". Maybe even Microsoft pays them something as well. Quite lucrative.

So, in conclusion... Your *!FREE!* Windows 7 Upgrade is not really free. (It is however, somewhat cheaper than a store bought version. Remains to be seen if there are any "special cases" in those EULAs, though.)

Remember - the software companies and their "subsidiaries" are not really there to help you use your computer more productively. There are there to take as much of your money as they can. And some hard data about you as well, cause that sells nicely too.