Hi, I've just bought a new laptop and it came with this 'upgrade your windows vista experience' cd which on the side says that I have to purchase a separate upgrade license, is this true because I thought it would have come with windows vista

Where did you buy the computer from? Did it say that it came with the option of Windows Vista? Did you already try and install Windows Vista? Did you check for any extra numbers on the disc or on the computer, box, etc? Is the computer designed to run with Windows XP?

But I would say to check and see if it is not already validized. You can do this by going to How to tell, Microsoft Forum, and Microsoft Support.