'Move Now' Eases SMB Windows 7 Migration

Laplink and Microsoft have teamed up to include a free copy of Laplink's PCmover with every Windows 7 Upgrade Open License bought through Ingram Micro. PCmover supports many more upgrade paths than Windows 7 itself does.The full name of the Laplink product is PCmover Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant, and it automatically transfers any or all applications, files, settings and user accounts from one PC or Windows environment to another. This isn't necessary for some upgrade paths, for example from Vista Business to Windows 7 Professional -- Microsoft calls those "in-place upgrades." But the paths that allow those represent just a few of the possibilities a business might face in moving from Vista to Windows 7, and in-place upgrades from Windows XP aren't supported at all. All those others require a "custom install," which, according to Microsoft's instructions, erases the entire destination hard drive, leaving users with the task of moving all their data off the machine and then moving it all back after the installation of the new OS. For a business deploying Windows 7 to multiple users, that could be a daunting task.

PCmover gets around that requirement. You still need to move the data, but you don't need to erase the hard disk. Instead, you install Windows 7 (assuming you have enough room on the drive) and then use PCmover to put all the data in the right place. You can also use it to simplify moving user data from one PC to a new one with Windows 7 already on it. "PCmover Upgrade Assistant will save businesses at least $300 per PC that is upgraded to Windows 7," claims Laplink CEO Thomas Koll.

Under the MoveNow program, which runs through September 30, businesses that buy a Windows 7 Upgrade Open License through Ingram Micro will also get a free license for PCmover. The Windows Open License is an SMB-oriented purchase option that provides five or more licenses with a single ID number for easier administration, a two-year rather than 3-year agreement term, and the option to add more licenses on a pay-as-you-go basis.

"For most SMBs, the decision isn't whether or not to deploy Windows 7," continues Koll. "It's a matter of when and how. MoveNow helps that decision get made."