How to migrate from old Windows operating systems to Windows 7.

The long awaited Microsoft new operating system, Windows 7 will be finally released on October 22 and the reviews have been generally good. Now remains the question of how easy will it be for users to make the transition? The answer to that question is two fold : one for the owners of computers with Vista as operating system, and one for the many more owners of computers running with Windows XP, Microsoft previous operating system.
For Vista run PCs, the transition should be an easy one because the new operating system shares most of Vista's underlying components ; Windows 7 should almost installs itself on Vista run PCs, preserving all files, folders, folders, settings and programs.
For Windows XP users, the transition poses more challenges as they have to start from scratch by wiping out everything on their old machine before any installation can take place. The disk wipe out process can be done automatically or manually. But there is a catch: the process will cause the loss of any current file or folder organization and any program. Personal files can be preserved by transferring them to an external hard drive or to another PC via a network or a cable.
Those files would need to be transferred back to the old PC and all other programs and software have to be reinstalled as well.
To help with the transfer of your personal files, Microsoft has set up a site that will automate the process for people who prefer not to do it themselves.
But even before step can be taken, people should be sure that their old machines has enough memory, hard disk space or graphics power to handle Windows 7.

For more, see WSJ.com