As Windows 7 launch is expected on October 22 this year, Microsoft has already sent invitations to many people to celebrate Windows 7 launch, but Windows XP users will not be able to upgrade to this new version of operating system.

As an in-place upgrade to Windows 7 option is available only for Windows Vista SP1 users, Windows XP users will not be able to upgrade their operating system directly to Windows 7, instead they will have to do a full backup of their data and do a ‘Custom Install’ to get Windows 7 up and running on their computer, in other words it will be a clean install for their PC’s.

Hardware requirements recommended by Microsoft are not at very high end, it seem that users will be able to run Windows 7 on their computer if their PC’s hardware is manufactured in last 3-4 years. (Windows 7: System Requirements) (Windows 7 Homepage)

Windows 7 will be available for both 32-bit and 64-bit platforms.