Common Question: What qualifies for the Windows XP Professional Upgrade or Upgrade + Software Assurance and where would I find this answer at?

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One of the questions we get asked quite often is, “What Operating Systems qualify for the Windows XP Professional Upgrade or Upgrade + Software Assurance and where would I be able to find this listed?” To answer this question, I am going to refer you to a document that you should become familiar with if you are not yet: the Microsoft Volume License Product List located at: https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/resources/downloads/default.mspx.

Take a look on page 37 of the Volume License Product List. In this document you will find the following:

Windows XP Professional Upgrade

Customers who wish to acquire the Windows XP Professional Upgrade license through the Select License and Open License programs must first license a qualifying operating system for their personal computer or workstation. The qualifying operating systems are:

- Windows XP Professional (32 bit or 64 bit)

- Windows XP Professional Blade PC Edition

- Windows XP Professional Reduced Media Edition

- Windows XP Professional N

- Windows 2000 Professional

- Windows NT Workstation 4.0 or 3.51

- Windows 98, Windows 95, Windows Millennium Edition, and Windows XP Home Edition

- Windows 3.x, Windows for Workgroups 3.x

- IBM OS/2

- Apple Macintosh

- UNIX: SCO (Xenix, UnixWare), Hewlett-Packard (HP-UX), IBM (AIX, 4680/90), Digital (Ultrix, OSF/1, Digital UNIX), or SGI (IRIX).

Any operating system not listed above is not a qualifying OS, for example:

- Embedded Systems (e.g. Windows 9.x for embedded, Windows XP embedded) do not qualify for the Windows XP Professional Upgrade.

- Linux does not qualify for the Windows XP Professional Upgrade.

As you can see, it is pretty clearly laid out there. Also, it specifically states, “Any operating system not listed above is not a qualifying OS,” so if you have any Operating System not listed as a qualifying Operating System above, then you would not be eligible to use the Windows XP Professional Upgrade or Upgrade + Software Assurance. Also, remember that there are NO full Windows Desktop Operating System licenses sold through ANY Microsoft Volume Licensing Program. The only way to purchase a full Windows Desktop Operating System license is through either the OEM (See our post on OEM Windows Desktop Operating Systems) or Retail Box programs.

When looking to acquire your Microsoft software, make sure to work with a reputable supplier such as a Microsoft Small Business Specialist and not any internet search engine (see our post on this topic to see why).

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman
Microsoft US Senior Manager
Small Business Community Engagement
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights