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I have never owned a laptop. This is the first time i am going to buy one. I don't know the details about installing another OS apart from what comes with it.

I am going to by a Sony VAIO E Series laptop. I hate the Windows 7 Home Basic that comes with it. I want to install Windows 7 Ultimate. I heard someone recommend dell to others because of issues with updates to drivers for sony laptops, when new OSes come. I want to install Win7 Ultimate. Can I do it on a sony vaio e series laptop?

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not a good idea. the CD that comes with Sony laptops is a special OEM version of the OS that has special built-in and non-downloadable drivers. another copy of a windows CD will probably not work. – djangofan Oct 20 '10 at 5:41
@djangofan Oh really? Could you please tell me what this link is? esupport.sony.com/perl/select-system.pl You can download virtually ANY driver for any PC that any major computer manufacturer has ever produced. The link I gave you is for Sony's driver repository, contains the exact same drivers you claim are only on the OEM version. There is nothing "special" about a base OEM version of Windows, though a manufactures specific version may have other software (including drivers) built in. The important difference between OEM and Retail is how they are activated and registered. – typoknig Oct 21 '10 at 2:16
maybe someone else will give a comment. – djangofan Oct 21 '10 at 15:21
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You shouldn't have a problem with drivers or anything else since your laptop originally came with Windows 7. The same drivers will be used for Windows 7 Home Basic and Windows 7 Ultimate (and all versions of Windows 7 for that matter). You will be able to simply download the drivers from Sony and install them on your new OS. If Sony is being a b** about their drivers (which is possible) then it is always possible to unzip them from their installer package and install them manually. I do recall doing that more than once on my Vaio desktop when I installed a retail version of XP versus the OEM version it came with.

In summary any issues you might have installing Windows Ultimate are minimal and can easily be worked through.

On a side note I haven't seen any major usage differences between Windows 7 Home Basic and Windows 7 and any other version of Windows 7. If you looking for more features such as Media Center, BitLocker, etc., then upgrading might be a good idea. If you simply hate the look and feel of Windows 7 Home Basic then I wouldn't bother upgrading.

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With Sony laptops (and I know from experience) , you wont have much luck with ANY other copy of any operating system (including windows7) unless you use the copy that came on the system rescue CD that came with the laptop. Any other attempt and your milage will vary or will be cut short. – djangofan Oct 20 '10 at 5:40
@djangofan that is totally wrong. You can put ANY x86 OS on ANY x86 computer and have full functionality of that computer's hardware IF drivers are available. Obviously the drivers ARE available because the system came with Windows 7. I have had DOZENS of OEM computers that I have changed the OS on with absolutely no problem at all. And to say your "milage" (I assume you mean "mileage") would be cut short is totally ridiculous. What is a non-OEM version of Windows 7 going to do? Wear out the transistors faster? I don't know where you got your "experience" from but I wouldn't go back. – typoknig Oct 21 '10 at 2:05
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