Windows 7 to Come in Six Varieties
Remember back in the day before we had choices? Yeah, me neither. Anyway, with the word coming out today that Windows 7 will be released in six different varieties, those days, whether imagined or real, seem at first glance to be farther away than ever.
Of course versions of Windows have released in multiple flavors since near the beginning of the product line--remember Vista--and there were rumors swirling around during the Windows 7 beta that indicated there would be multiple versions in this case too, but still at face value six different versions seems like a lot. But according to a quick but informative breakdown of the different skus reported on Gizmodo this morning maybe the choices laid before us will not be too daunting after all. The six Windows 7 versions are:
Windows 7 Starter (limited to three apps concurrently)
Windows 7 Home Basic (for emerging markets)
Windows 7 Home Premium (adds Aero, Touch, Media Center)
Windows 7 Professional (Remote Desktop host, Mobility Center, Presentation mode)
Windows 7 Enterprise (available to volume license owners only, boot from virtual drive, BitLocker)
Windows 7 Ultimate (consumer customer oriented but with limited availability, includes everything)
According to this post, as well as the information above, the average user is basically looking at a very XP like choice of Home vs. Professional, or more accurately, Home Premium vs. Professional. This is based on the Starter version's limited functionality, making it almost a demo version of the software or perhaps something more suitable to netbooks; the Home Basic version's focus on emerging markets; the Enterprise version's exclusivity to volume licensees; and the Ultimate edition's bias toward the needs and deep pockets of the consumer power user.
The other good news is that per the All About Microsoft blog, Microsoft has confirmed that XP users who want to upgrade directly to Windows 7, without passing Vista, will be able to do so, although they will need to do a clean installation of Windows 7. No word yet on pricing for this unfortunately. All in all, sounds like a pretty simple 'either/or' choice for the average consumer putting together a system or shopping for a license online or at a brick and mortar store, which is how a massive percentage of users are going decide the fate of their OS anyway.
--Tom Milnes
rt on February 05, 2009 at 05:54 AM
how about the the licensing? is microsoft going to limit users to two hardware upgrades and then null out the license?
Mister Snitch on February 05, 2009 at 05:55 AM
"All in all, sounds like a pretty simple 'either/or' choice for the average consumer"
Oh, yeah. All this does is simplify things for the Average Joe. Pass whatever you're smoking over here, please.
ErikZ on February 05, 2009 at 05:56 AM
"Microsoft has confirmed that XP users who want to upgrade directly to Windows 7, without passing Vista, will be able to do so..."
So, there are people who want to go from XP to Windows 7, but insist on installing Vista first and then erasing it completely?
Ron Hardin on February 05, 2009 at 06:24 AM
These various crippleware choices suggest my upgrading to Linux, when the time comes to leave XP. I assume Linux will have the necessary drivers by then.
Ron W on February 05, 2009 at 06:25 AM
Microsoft has trouble enough getting any version of Windows to work properly. Why not just do one version and try to get it right? Sell Ultimate for $100 per license and make a few billion. Avoid the complication. Don't put limits on the operating system. Make this change while they still have a good market share.
If not, someone else will. Linux isn't there yet, but getting much closer. Or maybe someday Apple will see the light and make their OS for clone PCs.
rasqual on February 05, 2009 at 06:25 AM
Heh.
With Vista, the Business version allowed access to "previous versions" of files. Vista Home did not.
This system isn't, properly speaking, a "backup" system. Backups are done with methods that let you restore data even if your system burns to a crisp.
But most consumers experience disaster when they overwrite a file with bogus changes, or somesuch. They just wish they could roll back the clock a day or two.
Meanwhile, most business users have roaming profiles where their files are synced with servers that get backed up daily, or that also have this "previous versions" system operating on them.
So the features Microsoft exposes in Pro are not as much needed by businesses, but they ARE darned handy for home users who don't have I.T. departments who back stuff up every day.
I've never understood the IDIOCY of this inversion, and I've also never understood why tech-savvy folk don't more loudly advocate on behalf of home users for this feature to be included in consumer-oriented versions of Windows.
In the Mac OS, this same feature is available in all versions.
Rupert on February 05, 2009 at 07:12 AM
"Presentation Mode?" Seems like something that students, as well as "professionals," would need...
This is making a "flat" OS (one version for all) look as good as Obama's cabinet fumbling makes flat tax look reasonable, too.
amy on February 05, 2009 at 08:00 AM
if world of warcraft had linux support i'd have already ditched windows. why must must microsoft make things so unneccessarily complicated?
Paul A'Barge on February 05, 2009 at 08:09 AM
Crap. It's all crap. It has been crap from the M/S DOS days and it's still crap.
Woe is us.
gb_in_tx on February 05, 2009 at 08:26 AM
"These various crippleware choices suggest my upgrading to Linux, when the time comes to leave XP. I assume Linux will have the necessary drivers by then."
A> It depends on your hardware. Some (most) is supported quite well, and some isn't and won't ever be supported -- especially when it comes to low end printers. I'd suggest googling your hardware and making sure, or just going to the Fedora or OpenSUSE sites and downloading one of the LiveCD images and giving it a try.
B> It isn't like Vista wasn't released as crippleware, ya' know. That is yet another reason why I opted to do the same thing a while back. The result is what I'm composing this post on -- a repaired Winbook notebook that originally ran XP Pro and became inoperable. After coming back from repair with a wiped hard drive I figured that it was a good time to upgrade. I installed OpenSUSE Linux 11.0 from a downloaded DVD image. It worked like a shot -- well, except for the wireless driver which sorta worked at the time, but now works just great after the latest kernel release.
Seriously, give it a shot. Try one of the LiveCD images. It won't hurt anything on your hard drive to give it a look-see.
FWIW, you can install Linux dual boot if you have the spare hard drive room, so you don't even have to give up running XP. It makes for a smooth transition.
Aric Annear on February 05, 2009 at 09:38 AM
@Amy: World of Warcraft works just fine in Linux if you use WINE:
http://www.winehq.org
@OP: This is horrifically disappointing. I was really hoping MS had finally gotten their act together with W7. I seriously don't understand who sits in a board room and greenlights silly decisions like this. Ah well.
Jefferson D. Grindle on February 05, 2009 at 01:39 PM
Personally, I think that just two versions is enough but that's just me.
5 years and 5 billion dollars after XP we have Vista which forces you to upgrade your entire system if you wanted more than the basic functionality which was in itself limited at best because regardless of who you are, your computing needs will change.
So home users shouldn't be excluded from having the features that are found in the commercial versions of Windows. There are user limitations in XP home but there is more functionality in the Pro edition as well as Server (x64). I use x64 because the 32 bit version of XP will not run on my 64 bit dual core processor. There are some versions of Linux mind you that won't run let alone boot on a 64 bit dual core processor based system. If there was support for the SB X-Fi and Audigy class audio cards I would be dual booting linux on my primary system; alas, there is only support for the older cards and the on-board sound circuits on motherboards.
But to cut to the chase, all the functionality should be put into all the editions or better yet, just have only two or just one version and leave it to the user to install what they personally need.
As for backup, the system restore is based on an application called "Go-Back" which preceded XP and was a stand-alone program. It worked well, but the downside was it slowed your system down considerably. There are tons of application that allow you to back up your data so there is little need for Microsoft to throw away what they have for system backup and create something similar that is currently marketed by someone else. You also have to consider that not all applications including the parent defrag program work very well. When you are prompted to defrag your drive, it is at the point where the fragmentation is severe and at that point you are experiencing serious system problems and/or have lost data.
To my knowledge, Tech-Savvy folk don't have a direct communique with Microsoft and maybe at one time they probably didn't care to hear input from the user community. That is changing with the public release of Windows 7 beta which I am running.
Some changes don't come in leaps and bounds but in baby steps.
Lorenz Gude on February 07, 2009 at 03:56 AM
I'm running Win 7 32bit BETA on my HP tx 1000 tablet notebook and Win 7 64 bit Beta on a homebuilt core 2 duo 3.16Mhz desktop. I'm impressed. For me the new taskbar with its outsized preview menus allows me to work efficiently with multiple windows and apps. Slightly better than the multiple desktop approach used by Linux. I'll buy Windows 7 for the Tablet - even if it's Ultimate, but I'm wobbling on the desktop. I've used Ubuntu before and it does everything I need day to day. I'm looking at the new SUSE 11.1 and I'm impressed, and the new Ubuntu will do the trick too for free. It is hard to justify spending much extra to license a second machine with Linux so good. I can transact all the Windows stuff I need to do on the Notebook. It will depend on the price and the license terms about which I am not hopeful. That said, Win 7 looks to me like the best Windows yet, or what Vista should have been and more and I will happily pay to have at least one solid Windows machine.
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