Much has been written about Windows 7, especially now that Microsoft has decided to tell all about its new operating system, scheduled to be widely available on October 22. In fact, Rob Enderle has already put together a thorough analysis of Microsoft's pricing strategy for Windows 7, so be sure to check it out.

In the meantime, I hope this mini-cheat sheet will be of use to you.

• There will be six editions of Windows 7, though some of them will only be available via volume licensing or come already preinstalled. Small and medium-sized businesses are likely to be interested in either the Professional or the Ultimate editions.
• New PCs purchased from now onwards will have the option to upgrade to Windows 7 without charge when it is available.
• Certain countries will have the option to pre-order Windows 7 at a discounted rate. At the moment, you can preorder Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional if you live in the U.S., Canada and Japan.
• Windows 7 retail upgrades as well as full retail boxes will be available.
• For upgrade retail products, the prices for the various editions are: Home Premium ($119.99), Professional ($199.99) and Ultimate ($219.99). The prices for Full retail products: Home Premium ($119.99), Professional ($299.99) and Ultimate ($319.99).
• A clean install is necessary to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7.
• There is no need for a clean install when upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7 if the destination edition is the same or higher than the source edition.

I have also written a number of blogs in the last few months pertaining to Windows 7.

• Gartner advises organizations to forget about deploying Windows Vista.
• Time for SMBs to Plan for Windows 7.
• And if you have not looked at it yet, now is the time to evaluate Windows 7.

Let me know if I've left anything out.