The leading OEMs have unveiled their Vista upgrade plans, and so far Dell is the only vendor planning to charge some customers who buy certain PCs this holiday season for the move.

Dell has decided to charge a $45 fee to upgrade from Windows XP Home to Vista Basic, but the upgrade from Windows XP Media Center Edition to Vista Premium and from Windows XP Pro to Vista Premium will only incur a shipping and handling fee.

A Gateway spokesperson said that all eMachines and Gateway PCs are eligible for a free upgrade to Windows Vista, starting Oct. 26.

North American consumers who buy a new HP Pavilion or Compaq Presario desktop or notebook PC, or HP Digital Entertainment Center, with a qualifying Windows XP operating system that is designated "Windows Vista Capable" during the promotional period, will also be eligible for a free upgrade to Vista.