Windows 7 explainedThe cost of Windows 7

Windows 7 Live Q&A

Replay our live online Windows 7 Q&A session, where the Which? Computing experts answered all your Windows 7 questions.

 

Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate

As with its predecessors, Windows 7 comes in a variety of different editions, but this time around Microsoft is only focusing on three of them at retail: Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate. 

Some editions, such as Windows 7 Starter edition, will be available to buy only in certain countries or preinstalled on certain types of PC.

Windows 7 Home Premium

upgrade £80, full £120

If you’re a home user, this is the most obvious choice. It is a direct equivalent to Windows Vista Home Premium, with easy home networking, Windows Media Center and Windows Touch, which allows you to control your computer via the screen (if you have a compatible touch-sensitive display).

Windows 7 Professional

upgrade £190, full £220

The Professional edition of Windows 7 is aimed at business users. In addition to the functions of Home Premium you’ll find extra business-oriented tools, such as advanced backup and restore features, improved options for joining company networks and support for older corporate software running under a ‘virtual’ version of Windows XP.

Windows 7 Ultimate

upgrade £200, full £230

Like the Ultimate version of Vista, Windows 7 Ultimate combines all the features of the other versions and throws in a few extras of its own. Highlights include heightened security with Microsoft’s advanced BitLocker hard disk encryption, and the option to work in multiple languages simultaneously.

32-bit versus 64-bit Windows 7

All three versions of Windows 7 come in two formats; a 32-bit edition and a 64-bit edition. You’ll find both in the box (on separate discs) if you buy the software yourself. 

The main difference is that the 64-bit edition has the potential to run faster and make use of larger amounts of system memory. However, to install the 64-bit version of Windows, you need to make sure that your PC is 64-bit compatible. 

There’s not always an obvious way to find out; often the only way to know for sure is to check with your PC’s manufacturer. And, while 64-bit computing will eventually become standard, switching to 64-bit can currently cause major compatibility issues with older software and games.