Windows Anytime Upgrade

Windows Anytime Upgrade was a utility that was introduced in Windows Vista that facilitated upgrades across successive editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7. Prices for upgrades purchased through Windows Anytime Upgrade were lower than prices for upgrades that are purchased in retail stores.

In Windows 7, Microsoft made changes to WAU to reduce the time to upgrade by pre-installing the components for the upgraded editions and it no longer required Windows Anytime Upgrade discs and instead, it required the user to purchase a license for the edition that the user wanted to upgrade to.

In Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, the feature was re-branded as Add Features to Windows and was used to purchase an upgrade license for the Pro edition or to add Windows Media Center to an existing Pro installation. Support for this feature was discontinued on 31 October 2015.