Wiley Windows 7 Secrets
Contents
1. This is the full meal deal and it includes BitLocker multi language capabilities and everything else Windows 7 has to offer Let s see how these options break down Obviously there is one other consideration to make here price For example while Windows 7 Ultimate may seem like a best of both worlds type product it also comes with premium pricing We ll examine the various ways in which you can purchase Windows 7 and the cost of each option later in this chapter Chapter 1 Selecting the Right Windows 7 Edition 35 Choosing Between Windows 7 Starter and Home Premium Table 1 10 shows some of the features that differ between the Starter and Home Premium versions of Windows 7 for home users If you ve decided that a consumer oriented version of Windows 7 is what you need Table 1 10 will help you decide which of the two available versions will best suit you Choose Starter if cost is the primary issue and you don t need fancy Aero Glass effects or features like Media Center the ability to burn DVDs or any of the other features that come with Home Premium Choose Home Premium if you have a Tablet PC or if you want the more extensive multimedia features of the Home Premium version Table 1 10 Comparing Windows 7 Starter and Home Premium Home Starter Premium Aero Glass effects Yes Aero Peek Yes Aero Shake Yes Aero Background Yes Windows Flip 3D Yes Live Taskbar Previews Yes Live Preview2. 17 product editions Add the RED version of 24 Part I Surviving Setup gt Windows Vista Ultimate which was originally available only with select new PCs from Dell and eventually at retail and you ve got 18 Or something Here s the list Windows Vista Starter Windows Vista Home Basic Windows Vista Home Basic x64 Windows Vista Home Premium Windows Vista Home Premium N European Union only Windows Vista Home Premium x64 Windows Vista Home Premium N x64 European Union only Windows Vista Business Windows Vista Business K South Korea only Windows Vista Business N European Union only Windows Vista Business x64 Windows Vista Business K x64 South Korea only Windows Vista Business N x64 European Union only Windows Vista Enterprise Windows Vista Enterprise x64 Windows Vista Ultimate Windows Vista Ultimate x64 Windows Vista Ultimate Product RED Edition Secret Microsoft originally planned an Itanium version of Windows Vista which would have run on high end workstations but the company cancelled this project dur ing the beta process due to a lack of customer interest Thus the mainstream PC platform of the future is now secure it will be 64 bit and it will be x64 not Itanium In addition to spamming the market with an unbelievable number of product editions Microsoft also increased the number of ways in which customers could acquire Windows Vista As always most individuals simply got Vi
3. Explorer Yes Physical processor support 1 2 Max RAM 64 bit 8GB 16GB Premium Games Yes Snipping Tool Sticky Notes Windows Journal Yes Windows Media Player Remote Media Experience Yes DVD playback Yes Windows Media Center Yes Windows DVD Maker Yes IIS Web Server Yes Tablet PC and Multi Touch support Yes 36 Part I Surviving Setup oe Choosing Between Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional Table 1 11 compares the features that are present in the Home Premium and Professional versions of Windows 7 Windows 7 Professional unlike Home Premium supports domain networking This enables users to log on to a network server using Microsoft s Active Directory AD technology and share centrally managed resources Windows 7 Professional also unlike Home Premium includes support for XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC which enables you to run XP compatible appli cations virtually under Windows 7 This means that Windows 7 Professional and Enterprise and Ultimate are much more compatible with legacy applications than is Windows 7 Home Premium Table 1 11 Comparing Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional Home Premium Professional Max RAM 64 bit 16GB 192GB Backup to network Yes Encrypting File System EFS Yes Remote Desktop Host Yes Offline Files Yes Windows Mobility Center Yes Yes No Presentation Mode Domain joining Windows Server Yes Windows XP Mode Windo
4. are available only to address low volume but important markets But what really makes this work is the previously mentioned Russian stacking doll structure whereby each version is a true superset of the one below it This is a huge and important change Step 3 Understanding the Differences Between the Product Editions Once you ve whittled the list down to two or four contenders it s time to evaluate them and understand which features are available in each product edition There are vari ous ways to present this kind of information but we find that tables logically divided by category are easy on the eyes and mind Tables 1 1 through 1 9 summarize how the product editions stack up ee Chapter 1 Selecting the Right Windows 7 Edition 29 Table 1 1 User Interface Features Home Ultimate Starter Premium Professional Enterprise Windows Basic UI Yes Yes Yes Yes Windows Aero Ul Yes Yes Yes Windows Aero Glass effects Yes Yes Yes Aero Peek Yes Yes Yes Aero Snaps Yes Yes Yes Yes Aero Shake Yes Yes Yes Aero Background Yes Yes Yes Windows Flip Yes Yes Yes Yes Windows Flip 3D Yes Yes Yes Live Taskbar Previews Yes Yes Yes Live Preview Explorer Yes Yes Yes Jump Lists Yes Yes Yes Yes Windows Search Yes Yes Yes Yes Table 1 2 Security Features Home Ultimate Starter Premium Professional Enterprise More granular UAC Yes Yes Yes Yes Action Center Yes Yes Yes Yes Windows Defender Yes Yes Yes Yes W
5. be included in the price of virtually every PC sold today and the actual cost to you will range from roughly 30 to 80 The cost of upgrading to more expensive Windows 7 versions will vary as well Based on some informal research OK we simply browsed the sites of PC makers online it looks like you can typically move from Windows 7 Starter to Home Premium for less than 30 which is an excellent deal The upgrade to Windows 7 Professional will typically set you back a bit more say 35 to 80 And the upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate is about 125 to 150 These additional costs are all based on a core system running Windows 7 Starter and can of course change over time As an example Figure 1 1 shows Dell s configurator for a typical home PC 38 Part I Surviving Setup ee Chat with us or calt 1 877 294 3355 Dell recommends Windows You are here HE USA gt Home amp Home Office To compare multiple configurations click the review and continue tab below then click Add to Wish List O customize software amp Accessories Services Review SWITCH TO LIST VIEW SELECT MY COLOR P Obsidian Slack add 0 Alpine White Included in Price New Gheny Fed add 40 Promise Pink add 40 Del wil donate 5 00 to Susan G K lee Blue add 40 P Jade Green add 40 Stickers 7 in Green add 60 Stickers 7 in Black add 60 Stickers 2 in Blue add 60 P The Muze in Purple
6. fact almost as many Windows 7 product editions as there were for Windows Vista most individuals will only need to consider a handful of commonsense product editions And with Windows 7 unlike with Vista these product editions are all true supersets of each other so there are no overlapping feature sets as there were with some of the Vista product editions That s good news both for those migrating to Windows 7 and for those Windows 7 users who think they might want a more powerful product edition Consider a typical issue with the Windows Vista product editions In that version of Windows the Windows Vista Business edition didn t include Windows Media Center a fun digital media application that was part of the Home Premium product But business users enjoy digital media too especially when traveling and they told Microsoft that this division in the feature set didn t make sense Okay here s what Microsoft is offering with Windows 7 Windows 7 Home Basic developing markets only Windows 7 Starter Windows 7 Starter x64 Windows 7 Home Premium Windows 7 Home Premium x64 Windows 7 Home Premium N European Union only Windows 7 Professional Windows 7 Professional x64 Windows 7 Enterprise Windows 7 Enterprise x64 Windows 7 Ultimate Windows 7 Ultimate x64 See the big change That s right the Starter and Home Basic versions have S et switched places this time around In Windows Vista Starter edition was aimed at ec
7. you re using the functional equivalent of Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit Versions of Windows 7 The differences between 32 bit x86 versions of Windows 7 and 64 bit x64 versions are more complex but here s the weird bit though virtually every single PC sold over the past several years was x64 compatible virtually every single copy of Windows that went out the door before Windows 7 was in fact a 32 bit version No more With Windows 7 it s time to leave the 32 bit world behind for good and the first step is to run a 64 bit version of Windows 7 These versions of Windows 7 are fully compatible with most of the 32 bit software that runs on 32 bit versions of the OS and they are likewise just about as compatible with the wide number of hardware devices that are available on the market 28 Part I Surviving Setup ee The biggest reason to go 64 bit is RAM after all 64 bit versions of Windows 7 can access far more RAM than 32 bit versions up to 192GB depending on which version of Windows 7 you re talking about compared to less than 4GB of RAM in 32 bit versions Folks with one minor exception it s time to say good bye to 32 bit versions of Windows So with Windows 7 almost universally we recommend that you seek out 64 bit x64 versions instead What is the one exception Many netbook computers come with a version of Intel s Atom microprocessor that is incompatible with the x64 instruction set and thus with x64 versions of Windo
8. EM Versions One of the biggest secrets in the software world is that Microsoft s operating systems are available from online retailers in so called OEM original equipment manufacturer versions which come in just the Full SKU that are aimed at the PC builder market These are the small mom and pop type PC makers who build hand crafted machines for local markets OEM packaging is bare bones and does not come with a retail box Instead you get the disc a Product Key and a slip of paper describing the product OEM versions of Windows 7 differ from retail versions in some important ways They are dramatically cheaper than retail versions As shown in Table 1 14 the OEM versions of Windows 7 are dramatically cheaper than comparable retail versions Note however that OEM pricing fluctuates somewhat so the prices you see online could be a bit different Shop around for the best prices They do not come with any support from Microsoft Because PC makers support the products they sell directly Microsoft doesn t offer any support for OEM ver sions of Windows 7 This explains the cost differential by the way You are not really supposed to buy them unless you re building PCs that you will sell to others Technically speaking OEM versions of Windows 7 are avail able only to those who intend to build PCs to sell to others Furthermore online retailers who sell OEM versions of Windows 7 are supposed to verify that you re a PC builde
9. EM version We will look at clean installs upgrade installs along with other ways to install and upgrade to Windows 7 in the next chapter No matter how you choose to acquire Windows 7 we ve got you covered
10. Part I Surviving Setup Chapter 1 Selecting the Right Windows 7 Edition Chapter 2 Installing or Upgrading to Windows 7 Chapter 3 Hardware and Software Compatibility Selecting the Right Windows 7 Edition AE E SE SE SE SE SE SE SE SE SE SE SE SE E E E i In This Chapter Basic differences between the Windows 7 product editions Which Windows 7 product editions you can safely avoid Differences between the 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Windows 7 Determining the best Windows 7 for you Choosing between the home and business versions Choosing between Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional Features available in all Windows 7 versions Choosing Windows 7 Ultimate LE E SE E SE S AE SE SE SE S E E E E E a 22 Part I Surviving Setup gt you haven t purchased Windows 7 yet or you d like to know whether or not it s worth upgrading from the version you do have to a more capable version this chapter is for you Here we ll explain the differences between the many Windows 7 product editions and help you pick the version that makes the most sense for you The Way We Were XP and Vista Product Editions Back in 2001 life was easy Microsoft released Windows XP in just two product editions Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional Edition The difference between the products was fairly obvious and with its enhanced feature set XP Pro was the more expensive and desirable version as one might expect Over time howe
11. ab a more expensive Full version instead Because the Full versions of Windows 7 cannot be used to perform an in place upgrade to Windows 7 you ll need to back up all your documents and other data and your application settings and find all your application install disks or executables so you can reinstall them after Windows 7 is up and running Those Who Do Qualify for an Upgrade Version of Windows 7 If you are running any mainstream desktop version of Windows XP including Windows XP Home Edition Professional Edition Media Center Edition any version Tablet PC Edition any version or XP Professional x64 Edition you qualify for an Upgrade version of Windows 7 That said there is one serious limitation when upgrading from XP you will not be able to upgrade in place but will need to perform a clean install instead and then migrate your settings and data over to the new Windows 7 install That is you qualify for Upgrade pricing only We explain this process in Chapter 2 Those Who Qualify for an Upgrade Version of Windows 7 and an In Place Upgrade If you re running any version of Windows Vista and you want to upgrade in place to Windows 7 you can do so The trick is understanding how different versions of Windows Vista map to different versions of Windows 7 For example Microsoft will not let you upgrade from Windows Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional Likewise you cannot upgrade from a 32 bit version of Vista to a 64 bit
12. add 60 P The Muse in Orange add 60 cart amp Signin Keyword or E Value Code Search Ck CLICK TO CHAT Inspiron Mini 10 Tech Specs As low as 15 month EN Appi Learn wore Bi Preliminary Ship Date 10 12 2008 Ay Print Summary My Components Starting Price 399 Continue Customizing Intei Atom Processor 2520 1 33GH9533MHz FSB S12K Cache 10 1 Widescreen Display 1024x576 1Yr Ltd Warranty and Mail in Service 100GB 2 5inch 5400RPM SATA Hare Onve j 24WHr Lithium lon Batiery 3 21 Wireless 802 149 1397 Mini Card Integrated 12M Pixel Webcam a Genuine Windows 7 Starter Alpine White Important Product and Service Details gt Dell Return Policy Figure 1 1 When you re buying a new PC be sure to get the Windows 7 version you really want As you ll see in a moment the cost of upgrading to a better or more expensive Windows 7 version is almost always lower if you do it at the time of the PC purchase But regardless of the cost it will always be easier to upgrade during the purchase process because the PC maker will install and configure the OS for you Retail Boxed Copies If you were to walk into an electronics superstore like Best Buy the versions of Windows 7 you would see are what s known as retail boxed copies of the software You will see both Full and Upgrade versions of the software and you should see a version of each for Win
13. atforms like the ill fated Itanium the x64 platform does provide all of the benefits of true 64 bit computing including most importantly a flat 64 bit memory address space that obliterates the 4GB memory ceiling in the 32 bit world For the purposes of this book when we refer to 64 bit computing we mean x64 And as we look ahead to the generation of PCs that will ship during Windows 7 s lifetime what we re going to see predominantly are x64 versions of the OS That said Windows 7 comes in both x86 and x64 variants as we ll discuss later in this chapter tip note oe Chapter 1 Selecting the Right Windows 7 Edition 23 You may occasionally hear Windows 7 s product editions referred to as SKUs This term stands for stock keeping unit While we typically use the more common terms product edi tion version and product versions throughout this book instead these terms are all pretty much interchangeable Following is a list of the major Windows XP versions that Microsoft shipped between 2001 and 2006 In a moment we ll compare these products with their corresponding Vista versions Windows XP Starter Edition underdeveloped countries only Windows XP Embedded sold in embedded devices only Windows XP Home Edition Windows XP Home Edition N European Union only Windows XP Media Center Edition Windows XP Tablet Edition Windows XP Professional Edition Windows XP Professional Edition N European Union only Windows XP Pr
14. dows 7 Starter Home Premium Home Premium x64 Professional Professional x64 Ultimate and Ultimate x64 Disregarding the obvious differences between 32 bit and x64 64 bit versions here s the difference between each Full version A full version of Windows 7 can be used to perform a clean install of Windows 7 only That is it cannot be used to upgrade an existing version of Windows to Windows 7 Full versions of Windows 7 are more expensive than Upgrade versions Upgrade version An upgrade version of Windows 7 can be used to perform a clean install of Windows 7 or upgrade an existing version of Windows to Windows 7 Upgrade versions of Windows 7 are less expensive than Full versions because you must be an existing Windows customer to qualify for Upgrade pricing ee Chapter 1 Selecting the Right Windows 7 Edition 39 And that s the rub Understanding whether you qualify for an Upgrade version of Windows 7 can be somewhat confusing And even then it s not very clear when you can perform an in place upgrade over an existing Windows version Here are some guidelines Those Who Don t Qualify for an Upgrade Version of Windows 7 If you are currently running any MS DOS based version of Windows including Windows 95 Windows 98 Windows 98 Second Edition or Windows Millennium Edition Me or any version of Windows NT 3 x and 4 0 including Windows 2000 you don t qualify for any Upgrade version of Windows 7 That means you will need to gr
15. e United States will vary but should adhere to the rela tive positioning shown in Table 1 13 If you re buying a retail copy of Windows 7 and you already own a qualifying previous version of Windows such as XP don t buy a full version of Windows 7 Secret Instead find out what Microsoft s current requirements are to qualify for an upgrade version which is much cheaper To successfully load an upgrade version you usually must be installing onto a machine that has the old version installed or you must have the old version on a CD which you insert briefly during the installation of the new OS as proof Microsoft can change these requirements at any time so confirm this before whipping out your plastic tip oe Chapter 1 Selecting the Right Windows 7 Edition 41 Not sure what Windows XP or Vista product edition you have In that OS open the Start menu right click the My Computer or in Vista Computer icon and choose Properties from the pop up menu that appears The window that appears will include your Windows product edition Secret Users with multiple PCs who are interested in Windows 7 Home Premium might also consider the specially priced Windows 7 Family Pack Available for 149 99 in the United States though prices could vary wildly at retail the Family Pack provides three Windows 7 Home Premium product keys allowing you to install the OS on yup you guessed it three different PCs and at bargain pricing O
16. es Yes Yes Yes Remote Desktop Yes Yes Yes Yes Remote Desktop Host Yes Yes IIS Web Server Yes Yes Yes RSS support Yes Yes Yes Yes Internet Connection Sharing Yes Yes Yes Network Bridge Yes Yes Yes Offline files Yes Yes oe Chapter 1 Selecting the Right Windows 7 Edition 33 Table 1 8 Mobility Features Home Ultimate Starter Premium Professional Enterprise Windows Mobility Center Yes No Yes Yes Presentation Mode Windows Sideshow Yes Yes Yes Auxiliary display Sync Center Yes Yes Yes Yes Tablet PC functionality Yes Yes Yes Multi Touch support Yes Yes Yes Table 1 9 Enterprise Features Home Ultimate Starter Premium Professional Enterprise Domain join Windows Yes Yes Server XP Mode licensed Yes Yes AppLocker Yes Boot from VHD Yes BranchCache Yes DirectAccess Yes Federated Search Enterprise Yes Search Scopes Multilingual User Interface Yes MUI Language Packs Location aware printing Yes Yes Subsystem for UNIX based Yes Applications 34 Secret Part I Surviving Setup ee Though 32 bit versions of Windows 7 support 4GB of RAM they can only access about 3 1GB of RAM even when a full 4GB of RAM is installed in the PC This is because of a limitation in the way that 32 bit versions of Windows handle memory access If you were to install an x64 version o
17. f Windows 7 on the same system you would have access to the entire 4GB of RAM The 64 bit Windows 7 versions have dramatically improved memory capacity as noted in the preceding tables The most amazing thing about that 192GB address space on Windows 7 Secret Eh LLE P tip Professional Enterprise and Ultimate is that it s a moving target and could in fact increase in the years ahead In fact it s increased since Windows Vista On that system the maximum amount of RAM was a relatively paltry 128GB Ah progress Step 4 Making the Right Product Edition Choice Armed with the information in the preceding tables we can think of Windows 7 as being divided into four basic product categories each of which is neatly covered by a single product edition First up is Windows 7 Starter which covers the bare bones end of the market netbooks and other very low end PCs Starter edition offers basic functionality but has some serious limitations not the least of which is that it can run only three applications at a time Then we have the two mainstream Windows 7 versions Home Premium and Professional Home Premium is a superset of Starter it has no application limitations comes with the snazzy Aero Glass effects and includes numerous digital media features Professional is a superset of Home Premium adding network backup EFS offline file access and other power user features At the top end of the market is Windows 7 Ultimate
18. indows Firewall Yes Yes Yes Yes IE8 Protected Mode and Yes Yes Yes Yes DEP support Windows Update can access Yes Yes Yes Yes Microsoft Update Fast User Switching Yes Yes Yes Yes Parental Controls Yes Yes Yes Yes 30 Part I Surviving Setup ee Table 1 3 Performance Features Home Ultimate Starter Premium Professional Enterprise Windows ReadyDrive Yes Yes Yes Yes Windows ReadyBoost Yes Yes Yes Yes SuperFetch Yes Yes Yes Yes 64 bit processor Yes Yes Yes Yes support Physical processor 1 2 2 2 support Processor core support Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Max RAM 32 bit 4GB 4GB 4GB 4GB Max RAM 64 bit 8GB 16GB 192GB 192GB Table 1 4 Reliability Features Home Ultimate Starter Premium Professional Enterprise Windows Backup Yes Yes Yes Yes System image Yes Yes Yes Yes Backup to network Yes Yes Encrypting File Yes Yes System EFS BitLocker Yes BitLocker To Go Yes Automatic hard disk Yes Yes Yes Yes defragmentation Previous Versions Yes Yes Yes Yes Create and attach Yes Yes Yes Yes mount VHD ee Chapter 1 Selecting the Right Windows 7 Edition 31 Table 1 5 Bundled Applications Home Ultimate Starter Premium Professional Enterprise Internet Explorer 8 Yes Yes Yes Yes Windows Gadgets Yes Yes Yes Yes and Gallery Games Explorer with basic Yes Yes Yes Yes games FreeCell Hearts Minesweeper Purble Place Solitaire Spider Solitaire Premium game
19. machines Aside from the absence of Internet Explorer the Windows 7 E versions are functionally identical to their U S based counterparts Note too that the Windows 7 N Editions also sold only in Europe do not include IE 8 either Understanding the Differences and Choosing the Right Version The first step is to understand the differences between each Windows 7 product edition Then you need to understand the various ways in which you can acquire Windows 7 either as a standalone product or as an upgrade to an existing version of Windows includ ing confusingly Windows 7 itself After that you can weigh the various trade offs of each option features price and so on and act accordingly Let s do it Step 1 Whittling Down the Product Editions List While the clinically sarcastic will dryly complain that there is precious real world differ ence between Vista s 18 product editions and Windows 7 s 12 that s just a smoke screen In the real world most people will have to choose only between two Windows 7 prod uct editions To get to this number we need to temporarily forget about the differences between 32 bit and 64 bit versions don t worry we ll get to that and just skip over the versions that really don t matter Once we do this the following list emerges Windows 7 Starter 32 bit or x64 Windows 7 Home Premium x64 Windows 7 Professional x64 Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Okay this is four options not two but i
20. ndows 7 N edition which is sold only in EU markets This product came about because of a 2004 EU ruling that required Microsoft to offer versions of Windows without the Windows Media Player included The requirement for a separate version of Windows was intended to enhance competition in the market for media players such as the downloadable RealPlayer application But because Microsoft sells its N versions for the same price as its full featured Windows versions demand for the N versions never materialized Until there s a big price difference consumers will continue to interpret N to mean Not Interested Ditto for the K versions though we re having trouble coming up with a witty K related word to help you remember why All you need to remember is that you should forget these versions ever existed You re Not the Enterprise Windows 7 Enterprise is a special version of Windows 7 that is aimed at Microsoft s largest corporate customers It is functionally identical to Windows 7 Ultimate but there is one difference between the two products whereas Windows 7 Ultimate is available at retail both with new PCs and as stand alone software Windows 7 Enterprise is available only through Microsoft s corporate volume licensing subscription programs Because of the unique way in which you must acquire this version chances are good you won t be hunting around for Windows 7 Enterprise That said if you do get a PC from work with Windows 7 Enterprise on it
21. ofessional Edition K South Korea only Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Windows XP for Itanium based systems All Windows XP product versions except Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and Windows XP for Itanium based systems were available only in 32 bit versions The N and K versions of Windows exist because of antitrust related actions against Microsoft around the world These versions are each limited in some way and have proven unpopular with customers Obviously Microsoft wouldn t even make them unless they were so required For Windows Vista Microsoft surveyed the market and came away with two observations First its experiment splitting the Windows XP and Microsoft Office product lines into multiple product editions had proven enormously successful for the company Second customers appeared willing to pay a bit more for premium product SKUs such as XP Media Center Edition that offered extra features It doesn t take a rocket scientist to see that Microsoft s experiences over the past few years led directly to the situation we had with Windows Vista the company created six core Vista product editions two of which were considered premium versions Or if you include the so called N and K editions for the European Union and South Korea respectively there were actually nine product edi tions Or if you count the 32 bit and x64 64 bit versions separately since they are in fact sold separately for the most part there were
22. r Windows Anytime Upgrade Windows 7 provides an integrated capability to upgrade from a less powerful product edi tion to a more capable version at any time Once you ve installed Windows 7 you simply run the Windows Anytime Upgrade applet select a source to purchase an upgrade license oe Chapter 1 Selecting the Right Windows 7 Edition 43 from and your PC is quickly enhanced with the more powerful version you ve selected Because of the way in which the Windows 7 product line is designed however Windows Anytime Upgrade is available only in the following product editions Windows 7 Starter can be upgraded to Windows 7 Home Premium Professional or Ultimate via Windows Anytime Upgrade Windows 7 Home Premium can be upgraded to Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate via Windows Anytime Upgrade Windows 7 Professional can be upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate via Windows Anytime Upgrade Windows Anytime Upgrade is shown in Figure 1 2 We examine Windows Anytime Upgrade more closely in the next chapter er is currently running gt jut Windows Anytime Upgrade Windows 7 Starter Do even more with your PC In about 15 minutes you can add new Windows 7 features and do more with your PC It s easy quick and you ll keep your programs files and settings How do you want to begin Go online to choose the edition of Windows 7 that s best for you After your purchase Windows wall upgrade automatically gt Ente
23. r an upgrade key If you already have a Windows Anytime Upgrade key begin the process here How can l upgrade when am not connected to the Internet 1220M 5 3 2009 Figure 1 2 Windows Anytime Upgrade lets you upgrade from certain Windows 7 versions to other more powerful versions There are other ways to acquire Windows 7 actually We mentioned previously that Microsoft sells subscription based software through its volume licensing programs for example and those users will typically get Windows 7 Enterprise However in this book we re focusing on the ways in which individuals can acquire Windows 7 If you do get a copy of Windows 7 Enterprise with a work PC remember that this version of Windows 7 is functionally identical to Windows 7 Ultimate Secret 44 Part I Surviving Setup gt Summary Windows 7 certainly offers a lot of options when it comes to picking a product version but with a little know how you will be able to make the right choice one that matches both your needs and your budget In this chapter we ve given you what you need to know to match a Windows 7 version to your needs Now you just need to figure out how much the upgrade is going to cost Remember that it s often much cheaper to acquire a new Windows version with a new PC so if you re going to be buying a new PC be sure to get the right Windows 7 version at that time Or if you re more technically proficient you can save big bucks with an O
24. r and or sell the products with some kind of hardware For this reason you ll sometimes be asked to purchase a hardware tchotsky like a USB cable when you purchase OEM software gt There s no box This shouldn t matter too much but you don t get the cool Windows 7 retail packaging when you buy OEM Instead you pretty much get an install disc shrink wrapped to a piece of cardboard and a product key 42 Part I Surviving Setup ee Table 1 14 U S List Prices for Windows 7 OEM Product Editions Windows 7 Home Basic Windows 7 Starter OEM 39 99 Windows 7 Home Premium Windows 7 Home Premium OEM 73 99 Windows 7 Business Windows 7 Professional OEM 139 99 Windows 7 Ultimate Windows 7 Ultimate OEM 199 99 Depending on which version you re looking at the savings are usually substantial All of the OEM products which are Full versions are less expensive than the Upgrade retail versions of Windows 7 That said OEM products cannot be used to upgrade an existing PC they re for new installs only Secret As with the retail versions you also have to choose between both 32 bit and 64 bit OEM versions of Windows 7 online However you can t purchase Upgrade OEM software because OEM versions are only aimed at new PC installs Secret OEM versions of Windows 7 are sometimes sold in multi OS packs So for example you can purchase a three pack of Windows 7 Ultimate if you d like You know because you re a PC make
25. r developing markets only and wasn t available to mainstream Windows customers while Home Basic was broadly available worldwide on budget PCs In Windows 7 this is no longer the case Now Windows 7 Home Basic is made available only with new PC purchases in emerging markets while Windows 7 Starter will be sold worldwide primarily on netbooks and other very low end budget PCs 26 Part I Surviving Setup gt Why not just have one or two product editions as we did back when Windows XP first shipped Microsoft says that it has over one billion Windows users worldwide and that their needs are diverse and cannot all be met with a single product So it has instead moved to a Russian nesting doll model where as you increment up the list of Windows 7 product editions features or capabilities are simply adopted from the previous editions They are true supersets of each other and additive not arbitrarily different Because of antitrust regulations in the European Union EU Microsoft created S et special E versions of the various Windows 7 versions that do not include Internet ecr Explorer Unlike other versions of Windows 7 these Windows 7 versions don t allow you to add or remove Internet Explorer via the normal Control Panel based mechanism But Microsoft is making Internet Explorer available to users of these products separately and of course PC makers in the EU will always include a Web browser with their Windows 7 E based
26. s Internet Yes Yes Yes Backgammon Internet Checkers Internet Spades Mahjong Titans Calculator Yes Yes Yes Yes Paint Yes Yes Yes Yes Snipping Tool Yes Yes Yes Sticky Notes Yes Yes Yes Windows Journal Yes Yes Yes Windows Fax and Scan Yes Yes Yes Yes Windows PowerShell Yes Yes Yes Yes and ISE WordPad Yes Yes Yes Yes XPS Viewer Yes Yes Yes Yes Windows Anytime Upgrade Yes Yes Yes Table 1 6 Digital Media and Devices Home Ultimate Starter Premium Professional Enterprise Windows Photo Viewer Yes Yes Yes Yes Basic photo slide shows Yes Yes Yes Yes Windows Media Player 12 Yes Yes Yes Yes with Play To Windows Media Player Yes Yes Yes Remote Media Experience MPEG 2 decoding Yes Yes Yes continues 32 Part I Surviving Setup Table 1 6 Digital Media and Devices continued Home Ultimate Starter Premium Professional Enterprise Dolby Digital Yes Yes Yes compatibility AAC and H 264 Yes Yes Yes Yes decoding DVD playback Yes Yes Yes Can install MPEG 2 Yes n a n a n a DVD playback add in Windows Media Center Yes Yes Yes Windows DVD Maker Yes Yes Yes Device Stage Yes Yes Yes Yes Sync Center Yes Yes Yes Yes Table 1 7 Networking Features Home Ultimate Starter Premium Professional Enterprise SMB connections 20 20 20 20 Network and Sharing Center Yes Yes Yes Yes HomeGroup sharing Join only Yes Yes Yes Improved power Yes Yes Yes Yes management Connect to a Projector Y
27. sta with a new PC and some continued to purchase retail boxed copies of Windows Vista Then there were the not quite retail versions of the software called OEM versions which were technically supposed to be sold only to PC makers but were widely available online and a new option called Windows Anytime Upgrade that enabled you to upgrade from one version of Vista to another It was confusing And it s still that confusing because these purchase options are all available with Windows 7 as well But then that s why you re reading this chapter right Here s our advice don t get bogged down in semantics or complicated counting exercises With a little bit of knowledge about how these product editions break down and are sold you can whittle the list down quite a bit very quickly and easily Then you can evaluate ee Chapter 1 Selecting the Right Windows 7 Edition 25 which features are available in which editions and choose the one that s right for you based on your needs Windows 7 Product Editions Only a Little Bit Simpler As with Windows Vista Windows 7 will ship in many different product editions On the surface this seems confusing just as confusing in fact as the Vista product line But this time Microsoft made a few commonsense changes to the product lineup that should make things easier on most people So assume the Lotus position breathe deeply and relax It s not as bad as it sounds For starters though there are in
28. t s still a much more manageable list than what we started with Before we whittle this down to just two options let s take a closer look at the four options now in front of us After all there were 12 product editions in the original list How did we cut it down this far so quickly ee Chapter 1 Selecting the Right Windows 7 Edition 27 Here s how Windows 7 Home Basic You don t need or want Windows 7 Home Basic But it s even simpler than that you can t get it anyway That s because Windows 7 Home Basic is available only with new PCs in emerging markets You can t get it in the U S Europe or any other developed area So unless you re buying a PC in one of the few countries in which you can acquire Windows 7 Home Basic you probably won t hear much more about this product And if you are buying such a PC your computing needs are pretty basic so it s unlikely that you re ready for this book just yet The K and N Editions Aren t for You Either Whatever Windows 7 versions are being offered in Korea with a K moniker or in Europe with an N moniker they re designed to satisfy the antitrust regulations and rulings in those locales and you should also ignore them Why Because these versions are more limited than the non K and non N Windows 7 versions that are sold in South Korea and the EU respectively And they don t cost any less so there s no reason to even consider them even if you do live in these areas Consider the Wi
29. ver Microsoft muddied the waters with a wealth of new XP product edi tions Three major product editions were added Windows XP Media Center Edition which received three major releases and one minor update between 2002 and 2005 Windows XP Tablet PC Edition which received two major releases between 2002 and 2005 and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition which took most of XP Pro s feature set and brought it to the x64 hardware platform Other XP versions such as XP Embedded and XP Starter Edition can t really be considered mainstream products because they targeted specific usage scenarios and were never made broadly available to consumers Most PCs sold during Windows XP s lifetime were 32 bit computers based on Intel s x86 platform While the industry was widely expected to make the Secret jump to 64 bit computing at some point that leap came from an unexpected place Intel s tiny competitor AMD developed the so called x64 platform which is essentially a 64 bit version of the aging x86 platform The x64 based PCs are completely compatible with x86 software and though all PCs sold today are in fact x64 compatible most PC operating systems to date including Windows Vista were sold in 32 bit versions for compatibility reasons Even Intel is on board though the x64 platform was created by AMD all of Intel s PC compatible chips are now x64 compatible as well Though not as technically elegant as so called native 64 bit pl
30. version of Windows 7 or vice versa Table 1 12 clarifies the in place upgrade story Table 1 12 Which Versions of Windows Vista Can Upgrade In Place to Which Versions of Windows 7 Windows Version Windows 7 Windows 7 Windows 7 Windows 7 Starter Home Premium Professional Ultimate Windows Vista Home No No No No Starter Windows Vista Home No No No No Basic Windows Vista Home No Yes No No Premium Windows Vista Business No No Yes No Windows Vista Ultimate No No No Yes 40 Part I Surviving Setup gt Your decision regarding which version to purchase will also be influenced by the cost difference of the more capable versions Table 1 13 shows the current U S list prices for the different Windows 7 versions These prices will almost certainly change over time Table 1 13 U S List Prices for Windows 7 Product Editions Windows 7 Home Premium Windows 7 Home Premium Full 199 99 Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade 119 99 Windows 7 Professional Windows 7 Professional Full 299 99 Windows 7 Professional Upgrade 199 99 Windows 7 Ultimate Windows 7 Ultimate Full 319 99 Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade 219 99 Secret Adding to the complexity here is that all retail versions of Windows 7 except for Windows 7 Starter are available in both 32 bit and 64 bit x64 versions Windows 7 Starter will not be made available as a retail product but will instead be sold with new PCs only Pricing in countries other than th
31. will be with a new PC and when PC makers have occasional special offers that make it cheaper than usual Keep your eyes open for such offers if you can get Ultimate edition for little additional cost it will absolutely be worth having since it s the full meal deal Purchasing Windows 7 There are almost as many ways to purchase Windows 7 as there are Windows 7 product editions This can make acquiring Windows 7 somewhat complex especially if all you want to do is purchase a Setup disc and install the operating system on your own PC Here are the ways in which you can acquire Microsoft s latest operating system With a New PC The single best way to acquire Windows 7 is with a new PC from a major PC maker such as Dell HP or Lenovo That s because Windows is cheaper when bundled with a new PC and PC makers spend huge amounts of time testing every hardware device that they sell in order to ensure that customers have the best possible experience One thing that has sullied this market of course is crapware a practice in the PC market where PC makers include useless or unwanted preinstalled applications on their precon figured PCs The good news is that this practice is slowly going away Dell and other PC makers now offer new PCs without crapware either for free or for a small fee The cost of Windows on a new PC varies from PC maker to PC maker and from machine to machine Generally speaking a copy of some version of Windows 7 will
32. ws 7 On such a PC you will need to use a 32 bit version of Windows 7 instead And that s just fine given the limited usage scenarios for these computing lightweights that s perfectly acceptable It s also the exception to the rule Contrary to the conventional wisdom 64 bit software isn t magically faster than Secret 32 bit software That said 64 bit PCs running a 64 bit version of Windows 7 and native 64 bit software can often outperform 32 bit alternatives But that s because you can stick far more RAM in the 64 bit machine systems with massive amounts of memory just aren t as constrained and can operate to their full potential Step 2 Whittling a Little Further Rationale aside you may be looking back over the preceding list and thinking well hold on a second there that s still four product editions Is Microsoft really simplifying anything Yes because the vast majority of Windows 7 users will really have to consider only two of these product editions Windows 7 Home Premium Windows 7 Professional Microsoft and its partners will focus most of their efforts selling Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional to the retail and consumer markets and Enterprise to volume licensing business customers That means most consumers will simply have two options when it comes to Windows 7 Home Premium and Pro just like with XP when that OS first shipped Meanwhile Ultimate and Starter are by definition niche products that
33. ws Virtual PC Yes Location aware printing Yes While Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC are new to Windows 7 this isn t the first time Microsoft has attempted to include this technology in Windows Secret Back during the Windows Vista beta Windows Vista Enterprise was originally going to include a feature called Virtual PC Express However before Windows Vista was finalized Microsoft decided to make its entire Virtual PC product line which enables you to run operating systems and applications in virtualized environments under a host OS available for free Windows Virtual PC is the new version of Virtual PC and the big new feature this time around is that Windows 7 Professional Enterprise and Ultimate customers can get an entire virtualized Windows XP environment for free with the download See www microsoft com virtualpc for more information ee Chapter 1 Selecting the Right Windows 7 Edition 37 Choosing Windows 7 Ultimate Windows 7 Ultimate combines all of the features that are available in all of the other Windows 7 versions adds some unique features of its own and comes with a pre mium price tag In fact Windows 7 Ultimate is so expensive compared to Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional that the only serious reason to get it is if you absolutely must have two drive encryption features BitLocker and BitLocker To Go Frankly it s not worth it for most people Secret The cheapest way to get Windows 7 Ultimate
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