After a lot of speculation over the last couple of months, we finally have confirmation on the Windows 7 SKU’s. At first look, it looks like Windows 7 Professional will be the way to go.
Windows 7 Starter Market: Emerging markets, with new PCs only Key features: Enhanced taskbar, Jump Lists, Windows Media Player, Backup and Restore, Action Center, Device Stage, Play To, Fax and Scan, basic games What's missing: Aero Glass, many Aero desktop enhancements, Windows Touch, Media Center, Live thumbnail previews, Home Group creation Windows 7 Home Premium Market: Mainstream retail market Key features: Aero Glass, Aero Background, Windows Touch, Home Group creation, Media Center, DVD playback and authoring, premium games What's missing: Domain join, Remote Desktop host, advanced backup, EFS, Mobility Center, Offline Folders Windows 7 Professional (superset of Home) Market: Mainstream retail market Key features: Domain join, Remote Desktop host, location aware printing, EFS, Mobility Center, Presentation Mode, Offline Folders, Media Center What's missing: BitLocker, BitLocker To Go, AppLocker, Direct Access, Branche Cache, MUI language packs, boot from VHD Windows 7 Enterprise Market: Volume-license business customers only Key features: BitLocker, BitLocker To Go, AppLocker, Direct Access, Branche Cache, MUI language packs, boot from VHD What's missing: Retail licensing Windows 7 Ultimate Market: Retail market, limited availability Key features: BitLocker, BitLocker To Go, AppLocker, Direct Access, Branche Cache, MUI language packs, boot from VHD What's missing: Volume licensing
Windows 7 Starter Market: Emerging markets, with new PCs only Key features: Enhanced taskbar, Jump Lists, Windows Media Player, Backup and Restore, Action Center, Device Stage, Play To, Fax and Scan, basic games What's missing: Aero Glass, many Aero desktop enhancements, Windows Touch, Media Center, Live thumbnail previews, Home Group creation
Windows 7 Home Premium Market: Mainstream retail market Key features: Aero Glass, Aero Background, Windows Touch, Home Group creation, Media Center, DVD playback and authoring, premium games What's missing: Domain join, Remote Desktop host, advanced backup, EFS, Mobility Center, Offline Folders
Windows 7 Professional (superset of Home) Market: Mainstream retail market Key features: Domain join, Remote Desktop host, location aware printing, EFS, Mobility Center, Presentation Mode, Offline Folders, Media Center What's missing: BitLocker, BitLocker To Go, AppLocker, Direct Access, Branche Cache, MUI language packs, boot from VHD
Windows 7 Enterprise Market: Volume-license business customers only Key features: BitLocker, BitLocker To Go, AppLocker, Direct Access, Branche Cache, MUI language packs, boot from VHD What's missing: Retail licensing
Windows 7 Ultimate Market: Retail market, limited availability Key features: BitLocker, BitLocker To Go, AppLocker, Direct Access, Branche Cache, MUI language packs, boot from VHD What's missing: Volume licensing
Link: Neowin.net
Hey Teal, you forgot...
the Win7 Alaska Edition... for users who want to see Russia from every window:
the Win7 Banker Edition... has bonus maps outta town to avoid stoning with rotten fruit:
the Win7 Hooker Edition... for $20 extra you get fringe benefits and a glass of cheap champagne:
the Win7 Governor Edition... does a little quick step if you ask it to do anything (Best Little Whorehouse in Texas reference there)
On a serious note, I hope the x64 versions are more readily available (here in Oz particularly) than the x64 Vista editions were... most retailers didn't and still don't stock them, and can't or won't get them in.
An idea on pricing would also be nice... and hopefully, MS will take into account the global recession and price Win7 reasonably.
Windows 7 Torrent Market: Mainstream wasters, losers, youth of today, people who can't spell Key features: Free, built in malware What's missing: Product key, self respect
Market: Mainstream wasters, loosers, youth of today, people who can't spell
Is that including you?
Yep, i forgot, haha, sorry about that, but really its fun to poke fun, but MS has really been doing a decent job lately and Windows 7 is looking quite seriously as a very nice OS. Will like to give it a try, but am waiting for it to come out of beta. But some using it now, say it is doing well. That is very encouraging news.
-Teal
Yeah, it's great to poke a bit of fun when it harms no-one... and isn't MS a fitting target after its boo-boos regarding the release of its editions of Vista, though I've not had any major issues with it since trying the first piublic beta. In fact, I prefer Vista to XP because it is faster, more stable and reliable... moreso now that I've installed the 64 bit version of Vista Home Premium.
Having said that, I am trying the Windows 7 x64 beta and I'm loving it. Not only is it faster than Vista, it has a smaller footprint and uses resources more efficiently... meaning programs and apps run that much better, especially when multi-tasking. Even at this stage of development Win 7 is better than when Vista went 'gold', so why wait to try it if you have a license key on hand and the drive space?
If you don't already have a licence key you can get it here, but be quick as the betas are closing in a day or two.
Win 7 Burger King Edition... will send free burgers, fries and coke - with USB burger warmer and coke cooler - if you delete 'Google Friends' and 'Google Search' in favour of 'Live Search' and 'Friends of MS' There are currently NO 'friends of MS', but if you sign on in the first 100 you also get a free dessert with each burger meal.
Win 7 Stimulus Edition... no it doesn't give away free money, but rather a USB powered vibrating seat cushion for your PC chair
Win 7 Chrysler Edition... not for the average user, but rather for car enthusiasts who don't mind frequent pop ups saying thank you for the 'stimulus' payments frivolously spent on "thank you" ads.
Win 7 Madoff Edition... though primarily aimed at bankers, this edition will help users stash ill-gotten cash reserves in places the government and prosecutors can't find.\
Win 7 Superbowl Edition - All the normal features but also loads of annoying commercials that are celebrated and praised for some reason. Cause it's American, don't ya know? Crashes after 4 hours.
Win 7 Professional edition - Every time you move an icon on the desktop, Christian Bale appears on your screen for 30 minutes yelling and asking you if you are professional or not. Does not boot unless you wear a suit.
Right now the beta is good ... ... I can only see it getting better ...
They should only have 4 products. Two versions for laptops and 2 for
desktops. A 32 bit and a 64 bit ... The 64 bit verision should have
special options that can be downloaded and added to it. So, you
can connect to a corporate server and network.
If Microsoft thinks alot of companies are going to swarm to Windows 7 ..
I don't see it happening ... Right now most big companies are still using
Win XP ... and it works ... All IT groups aren't spending ... an some are
thinking of going to linux for cutting costs ... Also, IT staff in most companies
are small now. So, I don't see any major OS rollouts in the coming months
happening ...
So bottom line ... Make a better consumer version ... the average joe or
techie will get it before the corporate types " O.K."
I disagree.
They should have one product. At installation it should detect what environment it's installed in, and configure the OS accordingly.
It should also allow for manual selection of OS environment, since a user might want another OS environment than the most logical choice.
From a commercial point of view it makes sense to have a personal and business edition of the OS though. Anything else is just too much...
"Starter edition" is just way silly. People will pirate the full editions to get the things that are not included in the starter edition anyway.
An edition of Windows 7 I would have liked to see is a Gamer's Edition, which would be wriiten to runs demanding apllications. Just a thought.
I read on the Windows Blog site that the installation discs this time will contain all the bits for every version, that which version you get depends on the license purchased... thus making is easier for users to access the 'Upgrade Now' function. OK, it doesn't address the too many SKU's issue, but it is a step in the right direction.
One concern I have is OEM's installing the 'emerging market' edition on PC's intended for other domestic markets, thus cutting their own costs and forcing unsuspecting consumers to purchase a license for a Home Premium or a Professional version later, because the find being able to run only 3 apps is too restrictive. Hope fully MS would takes steps to prevent this, but I doubt it.
Disagree.
I think separating personal and business is okay, and thankfully they're letting business be a superset of Home - which means I can buy business and get all of the home stuff. I just couldn't afford Vista Ultimate.
. . . and in all honesty, I think Microsoft should move back towards users being able to choose which features they want during the install. Let the SKUs determine what features are available, but don't force the user to install features they don't want.
That's an interesting idea.
The problem with it, though is that the download would be very large...and what would happen if you wished to migrate to another machine (with a different use)? Would it be a "Custom" installation with different modules adding different amounts to a "final" price?
As I said, an interesting idea, mickeko.
Realistically, there are only 2 versions consumers will care about: Home Premium and Professional. The rest are for specialized markets.
There are still some 32 bit only processors that can run Windows 7. P4s can probably run it. In addition, upgrading a 32 bit system to 64 bit requires a fresh install, and some people may not want that.
I'd say make 64 bit the default, but still have 32 bit around for CPUs that don't support it.
While I agree with moving in that direction, a lot of people and businesses move slowly. And to be honest I understand their reasoning: Don't fix what's not broke, and don't upgrade just because it's the cool thing to do. A machine that does its job might not need memory upgrade.
running 7 x64 on my laptop, only thing that's broke is my wireless button
uses 200 MB less ram while idling than vista. wtg microsoft(take that how you want to )
While I get tired of people bashing microsoft these days I do have to admit this is really unfortunate news. They may have just lost my purchase, I don't feel like researching what I use to figure out the perfect version for me.
Why does idle memory usage matter? I don't care if the OS use every single bit of available memory when idle, as long as my software has access to as much as possible of that when needed. And that's really not easily measurable.
Just because the OS grab memory when idle doesn't have to mean it's not available for applications.
Oh come on, I mean, how hard could it be? Microsoft has stated that 2 main versions will be made readily available in stores for the general public, Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional., with Windows 7 Ultimate probably being an 'order in' option if you want it. With editions lower than Home Premium likely to be less than what the average user needs, and the Enterprise Edition being made available to big business, it doesn't leave too many choices to um and ah about, does it!
It never ceases to amaze me, how some feel the need to over-complicate matters when the choices are pretty straight forward. It's either Home Premium or Professional for most... and Ultimate if they have the bucks for more bang.
Sheesh!
Exactly, it just means MS tweaked Superfetch a bit. The purpose of which is to use as much memory as possible to speed up the things you are using often. After all, RAM unused is RAM wasted, since you're paying the power to keep it alive whether it's being used or not...
Use all my RAM, please!
PS and for the record, I just installed the W7 beta (32 bit version) on some 3 ghz P4 machines with 1 gig of RAM and I gotta tell ya, it's way faster on that configuration than Vista was. So, my unscientific experiments confirm the benchmarks people are reported about the new compiler optimizations under the hood of W7. Yummy!
It never ceases to amaze me how nobody can have a differing outlook on life than other people without getting badgered about it.
Badgered, eh? You implied that there were too many Win 7 SKU's to research for your needs, and I responded with the facts... that MS will simplify your options through the release of just 3 commercially available versions. The other SKU's are not likely to enter the equation as those would be made available to Developing nations, OEM builders and corporate entities, so the choices are akin to those of XP.... Home or Professional, with the addition of Ultimate (combining all Win 7 features) for power users.
Unless you're a power user with the bucks to spare to purchase an Ultimate license, you've got an either (Home) or (Professional) choice. I mean, how hard is that?
Furthermore, 'badgering' is when somebody latches on to something you said or did and persistently harps on/won't let go. I did no such thing! I merely pointed out the folly of your "They may have lost my purchase" comment and supplied you with the facts, as supplied per Microsoft.
As the post hints, by and large we will only see two of these. Home Premium and Pro.
Most of us are not considered to be in an emerging market, so we won't see Starter.
The other two are more exclusive, with availability being restricted.
So just two versions for us average folk -- Home Premium and Professional.
I'd also like a Gamer Edition with special security features to prevent SuckoROM from installing.
Also a Mobile Edition. Comes with a Wireless LAN Cable.
Personally, I will be going for the Barack Obama Edition... when a 'fatal error' message comes up and I type in: "Can we fix this?", it will reply: "Yes WE Can"
I had thought about the Win 7 Bankers Edition... but then I learned all the gratuitous bonuses are paid in Monopoly money.
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