Windows 8 Upgrade from RC and keep dual-boot?

No, you cannot install Win 8 retail as an upgrade to thr RC. You will need to run a clean install (which in any case I would strongly recommend anyway).

Hmm, okay this is a super dense question - is there any way to preserve that Office 2013 install? Can I back it off to DVD or USB so I can reinstall it?

Can I keep dual boot with the Win8 retail?

Thanks so much for the quick response.

There is no method of "transferring" or backing up an installed program - there are masses of associated settings, libraries to be dealt with. It may only be installed from an original install program. There is no reason why you should not set up a triple boot alongside your existing Win 7 and Win 8 RC. (I have a quadruple boot system with Win XP, Win 7, Win 8 and Linux.)

You are so helpful - thanks again!

I'm a tech editor, so I need to be able to access the 2013 apps, but my copy of Win8RC is about to blow up on me. I need to nail this down today if possible.

I think what I'm hearing is that I can't save the 2013 unless I do triple-boot and that I should be able to do dual boot with the retail version of Win8, just not on top of my existing copy of Win8RC. Is that right?

So, dual-boot, yes - but clean install without grabbing anything I have from my work in Win8 RC.

This is *not* the answer I was hoping for.

Yes - you can setup a dual boot by completely overwriting the RC with the retail which would lose you all installed apps and data or you can set up a triple boot installing the retail to a new partition preserving your RC with Office 2013 but you could not access programs installed under the RC from the retail install. Before doing either you should back up any user data files from the RC partition to and external medium. This data could be copied over to any new partition, including Win 8 Retail installed to either a dual or triple boot setup. This option is limited to data files and would not allow you to do similarly with app software.

Very helpful - thank you! Is it safe to assume that I should proceed using the same method that I used for the dual-boot with Win7 and Win8 RC? IOW, just pretend that I never installed Win8 RC - format the partition that I created for RC and use it to dual-boot into Win8 Builder and Win7 Home Premium?