Windows 7 explained The cost of Windows 7
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 , 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.
