Microsoft will not close a loophole that offers consumers a cheaper way to upgrade to Windows Vista.

As vnunet reported about a Vista loophole that offers free clean install to upgraders of the new operating system as a fresh installation, even if they do not currently own a licensed copy of Windows XP.

"People without a licensed copy of XP that use this workaround are violating the terms of use agreed to when they purchased the upgrade version of Windows Vista," a Microsoft spokesman told.