It’s understood that come the end of June, Microsoft will be financing Vista buyers’ upgrades to Windows 7. But that date is too far off to drive sales now, obviously, so PC sellers Puget Systems in the Seattle area (Auburn) are going to start offering free Windows 7 replacements starting next week.
They’re not going to be installing illicit beta copies or anything like that, it’s just a matter of timing for them. They need the sales and although they’ll be incurring a cost of about $200 per machine they sell, it’s a good way of keeping customers coming and making sure they stick around until 7 comes out.