One day only!!! 11/7/06
I just bought it from N E W E G G

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16832116171

Bought MCE 2005 OEM w/ Free Upgrade to Vista Home Premium for 1 0 9.

Great deal.......

Interesting. Where did you find details on the upgrade coupon? I only see where it says "uprade coupon for Vista". It doesn't say "free upgrade" or Vista Home Premium anywhere that I can find...

http://promotions.newegg.com/Microsoft/Vista/TechGuarn.html?CMP=AFC-TechBargains

Not free... $20 dollars to ship the DVD - and an estimate at that. Not a bad price if you don't already have XP MCE '05, mind you, but I'd bet that you'll be paying about the same price as you would for an OEM version of it in January when it ships. At that point, I'd as soon run RC2 until June, and wait for the additional bugs to shake out, then buy a three pack or so.

Also, this is newegg's standard price for OEM MCE 05; it will include this free coupon through the release of Vista - not a one day only thing

Thanks. I am hesitant because it states that you have buy a "new qualifying PC" so I don't want to find out later that I won't be eligible for the upgrade since I am not purchasing a PC...

I bought it last week from Newegg and I have the the box already.
There is a coupon in the box but you have to go through a process to get the Vista Home Premium package. Microsoft's upgrade coupon web site will open Nov. 13 and I'll know more at that time.
In a nutshell, as I understand it now, you register the coupon number provided in the box on Microsoft's upgrade web site. Microsoft gives you another number. Then you have to send in the coupon with that number (as provided on the web site) AND a receipt from the company that sold you a Media Center PC, in other words, a receipt from a system builder.

So, it is an open question whether or not Microsoft will accept a receipt from Newegg that just shows a purchase of MCE 2005 with a coupon.

I wasnt aware you could run RC2 til June?
You think OEM version of Vista Home Premium will be available at less than $150?

So, it is an open question whether or not Microsoft will accept a receipt from Newegg that just shows a purchase of MCE 2005 with a coupon.

I would guess that they would....but nothing is sure?
You may have to throw in another receipt for the actual hardware (i.e motherboard).

Take a look at this???
http://www.ncix.com/go/?vistaupgrade

It says: Get a Free Upgrade when you buy a qualifying copy of Windows XP today.

I would guess that they would....but nothing is sure?
You may have to throw in another receipt for the actual hardware (i.e motherboard).

Take a look at this???
http://www.ncix.com/go/?vistaupgrade

It says: Get a Free Upgrade when you buy a qualifying copy of Windows XP today.

What's the difference between that and the newegg one? Unless you misunderstood the "today" at the end as an implication that you will get the upgrade today. ;)

I hope you know that Ultimate is NOT part of this upgrade...

I hope you know that Ultimate is NOT part of this upgrade...

True... although you will be able to upgrade premium to Ultimate using the built-in "anytime upgrade" option in vista... although the cost of the upgrades is still up in the air. We'll see if it's cost effective.

I meant to mention that the coupon from Microsoft lists a bad URL for the upgrade web site. The correct URL is:

https://upgradeweb.moduslink.com/vista/Default.aspx

What's the difference between that and the newegg one? Unless you misunderstood the "today" at the end as an implication that you will get the upgrade today. ;)

There is no difference.....the link implies that all you have to do is buy the specific oem software and not a pc to be eligible for the upgrade.

However, this link (from Microsoft) implies you have to buy a system:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/expressupgrade.mspx

No, I don't know what the OEM will be, price wise - but one can conjecture based on today's Newegg prices for XP at retail/upgrade/OEM vs. Vista MSRPs

Home Version XP - Retail: $195 Upgrade: $100 OEM: $90

Home (Basic) Version Vista - MSRP: $199 Upgrade:$99

Vista Home Premium = XP MCE (generally speaking) and the suggested retail/upgrade for that is $240/$160.

I'm hoping that yes, an OEM disc will go for ~$150

I sure like the idea of running both MCE 2005 and Home Premium Vista legally on two partitions of the same hard drive (with a simple menu system at launch), at least until the first Vista service pack.

Will this upgrade work like the Windows 64bit version, where they gave it to you free, but after installing it, you could not go back to the original version? So if you tried it and didn't like it you were SOL.

No, you dont have to mail in your license.

Microsoft updated their web site with a choice to upgrade MCE 2005 to Vista however the web site still will not accept the redemption coupon code as provided in the OEM upgrade sold by Newegg. Newegg is working on it...

Progress has been made. The Microsoft upgrade web site accepted my redemption code last night. You then are taken to a web site that gives you an order number. You then jot down the order number on the paper redemption code coupon and that gets sent along with the Newegg invoice to an address in Utah. Shipping/handling cost is 11.40

Shipment is expected in February.

Assuming this all works, total cost for a license for both MCE 2005 and Vista Home Premium is 120.40

I am now regretting the decision to get this "deal" especially considering the OEM version is the same price minus the headaches plus no 64-bit upgrade. The fine print also says that it will be 6-8 weeks until the upgrades ship (thanks to Microsoft and Newegg for not telling us this beforehand). My status shows "COA validated". Does anyone know if this is means everything is cool and awaiting shipment? I sent an email to the upgrade site but they are not very responsive...

I am now regretting the decision to get this "deal" especially considering the OEM version is the same price minus the headaches plus no 64-bit upgrade. The fine print also says that it will be 6-8 weeks until the upgrades ship (thanks to Microsoft and Newegg for not telling us this beforehand). My status shows "COA validated". Does anyone know if this is means everything is cool and awaiting shipment? I sent an email to the upgrade site but they are not very responsive...

I purchased two copies. One says "COA validated" and the other says something like "COA/POP validated". I assume that POP means proof of purchase.

I faxed in the documentation a second time for the one that only says "COA validated", but so far the status has not changed. I will probably give it another week or two before I start writing emails.

At least it looks like I will get one copy.

-Dave

Not only do you get a Vista upgrade coupon with it, but if you look below it, you can get a free Newegg/Sony hat. Ya!

I purchased two copies. One says "COA validated" and the other says something like "COA/POP validated". I assume that POP means proof of purchase.

I have multiple copies on one order and it only says "COA validated" for the whole order. Amazing how their website gives no explanation of the status and we have to contact them for an answer (and wait forever for a response). Half the time I get an error when trying to check my status too. Microsoft should really be embarrassed by this whole thing...

Can you post the link to where we check to see if our submission has been validated?

Go to the website where you placed the order and click on the big "Check Existing Order" button at the bottom.

Well, I received email from them saying they didn't receive my paperwork (which I mailed to them on Jan. 12). Big surprise that they managed to lose this in their system. I emailed them what they requested (although I have no idea what the "order confirmation page" is since all I can access is the order status page). Perfect, now I have to wait even longer for these knobs to get their act together...

I received an email today about the upgrade, so I checked the status of both my orders.

The order that was previously "COA validated" is now "POP/COA validated".

The order that was previously "POP/COA validated" is now "Order is approved".

It looks like both orders are moving forward.

-Dave