• Microsoft has released numerous versions of its Vista operating system, such as Vista Home Basic, Vista Home Premium, Vista Business and Vista Ultimate. All versions have contained features to suit particular users. For instance, Vista Ultimate contains more multimedia options and mobile computing options than Vista Home Basic. With the release of Microsoft's Windows 7 OS, Vista users may want to upgrade. Windows 7 has also been released in multiple versions, and specific versions of Vista can only upgrade to certain versions of Windows 7.
  
  

Windows Vista Home Basic

• Vista Home Basic can upgrade safely to Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Ultimate. A safe upgrade is one in which all the user files and settings remain in place following the update. Microsoft recommends backing up files and settings using the Files and Settings Transfer utility or a third-party backup utility prior to all upgrades. Vista Home Basic cannot upgrade safely to Windows 7 Professional.
  
  

Windows Vista Home Premium

• Vista Home Premium has the same upgrade capabilities as Vista Home basic, in that it can safely upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Ultimate editions. There is no safe upgrade path from Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional.
  
  

Windows Vista Business

• Vista Business edition safely upgrades to Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate. Vista Business cannot upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium, because some features that are part of Vista Business edition are not featured in Windows 7 Home Premium. A move from Vista Business to Windows 7 Home Premium would therefore be a "downgrade" rather than an upgrade. The features of Vista Business that do not appear in Windows 7 Home Premium would be stripped out, and any existing data or settings relying on those features would then be invalid.
  
  

Windows Vista Ultimate

• Windows Vista Ultimate edition can only upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate edition while safely preserving files and settings, because this is the only upgrade path that can preserve settings specific to features that only appear in both the Vista and Windows 7 Ultimate editions.