Home Premium / Professional / Ultimate - differences?

[Corabar Entertainment]

Can those in the know please tell me:-

1. the practical differences between windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate? and

2. whether or not it is worth the extra spend for the 'higher' grade in stand-alone computers / home network environment?

:thanks:

[Jiggles]

Nothing really. Pro and Ultimate are more for business with servers and such and have support for that.

[hammy]

I had Home and was given a free upgrade to pro and no difference as said

[Marc J]

I know you've probably seen this already and want a plain English answer, but: -

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/compare?T1=tab15

[Corabar Entertainment]

Yes, thanks Marc, I had already seen that, but I thought I'd seek some 'real world' opinions ;) :D

[Marc J]

Yes, thanks Marc, I had already seen that, but I thought I'd seek some 'real world' opinions ;) :D

Thought so! Basically, Home Premium will do most things the average home user needs.

If you have software which only runs on XP, then you'll need Professional as this has XP Mode. You can either use the XP Mode or install a copy of XP on a Virtual Machine, see http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/10911/run-xp-mode-on-windows-7-machines-without-hardware-virtualization/ - this uses the XP Mode license so you don't need to buy XP as well.

[hammy]

Thought so! Basically, Home Premium will do most things the average home user needs.

If you have software which only runs on XP, then you'll need Professional as this has XP Mode. You can either use the XP Mode or install a copy of XP on a Virtual Machine, see http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/10911/run-xp-mode-on-windows-7-machines-without-hardware-virtualization/ - this uses the XP Mode license so you don't need to buy XP as well.

Learn something new everyday

[Corabar Entertainment]

If you have software which only runs on XP, then you'll need Professional as this has XP Mode. You can either use the XP Mode or install a copy of XP on a Virtual Machine, see http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/10911/run-xp-mode-on-windows-7-machines-without-hardware-virtualization/ - this uses the XP Mode license so you don't need to buy XP as well.Now that's the sort of info I need! :approve:

I was going to ask about older programs and whether or not they would run, and whether that's what 'XP Mode' meant, so that's answered that.

:thanks:

[Corabar Entertainment]

Next silly question...re: 32/64 bit

I do know that 64 bit is 'the way forward' :p , but it is likely that there will be a problem with some programs running on it. So.....

...If I install Windows 7 professional 64 bit on a new machine with visualisation capabilities, am I right in thinking that the XP mode will allow me to run programs that don't run on 64 bit (ie that it will effectively run 32 bit in XP mode)?

[hammy]

I`m on win 7 64bit and the only thing i found was I had to find drivers for my router everything else was fine. It does instal 32 bit as well, To cut a long story short and to stop me blubbering you can run most non 64 bit programs, I have not found any i cant run yet

[Jason]

Yes, thanks Marc, I had already seen that, but I thought I'd seek some 'real world' opinions ;) :D

Pro allows you to join a domain. So, for a typical home network, this is not required.
In a larger businesses, you could use this to limit access and control users. If you're sitting in the same room as your other users... its not required.

Home Premium should be fine for most DJ's.

I purchased this for my daughter, and she can share printers/files etc which I imagine is what most small businesses will need.

Jas

[Marc J]

Next silly question...re: 32/64 bit

I do know that 64 bit is 'the way forward' :p , but it is likely that there will be a problem with some programs running on it. So.....

...If I install Windows 7 professional 64 bit on a new machine with visualisation capabilities, am I right in thinking that the XP mode will allow me to run programs that don't run on 64 bit (ie that it will effectively run 32 bit in XP mode)?

Yes, using XP in XP Mode or a VM (as I linked to earlier) will run 32 bit program no problem. 64Bit Win 7 should also install and run 32 bit programs, they'll install in the 'Program Files (x86)' folder instead of "Program Files'. FYI 32 bit programs actually run slower (but probably not noticably so) on a 64 bit system.

However, if you have very old software which is actually 16 bit, you're out of luck, as these won't run at all.

[Corabar Entertainment]

Thank you both for the info - much appreciated! :thumbsup:

PS: How old is 'very old' in software terms, and how could I check? :D

[Marc J]

How old is 'very old' in software terms, and how could I check? :D

Anything pre-windows, DOS based, that kind of thing might be 16 bit. Rough guess I'd say maybe early 90's and before. I think the only way to check is to see if it installs / works.

[Corabar Entertainment]

OK...if we're talking that old, then I'm OK :D

(I've just got a couple of little bits of software that are getting on in years, but that I love to pieces and would like to keep :) )

Thanks again Mark.

[Marc J]

Thanks again Mark.

You're welcome, and it's Marc :boxer2:

(pet hate of mine) :D

[hammy]

For hardware you already have on the pc check here http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx

And then i went and re-read the post and its a new pc :daft: :muppet:

[Corabar Entertainment]

:lol:

Still useful though - if not for me, then for others :D

:thanks: hammy

[Digitalsounds]

Also

With ro you can Remote desktop to the Pc from another on your network. You can't do this with Home.

Not that most people would need this.

As for x64 this will depend on your hardware if its newer high spec pc and you feel the need for x64 version then go for it we run this on the Dj'ing laptop and that runs Martin Lightjockey and OTS AV without an issue the other bonus i think with the x64 is that it will see more than 4Gb of ram but not sure upto how much.

[hammy]

Just a little snippet, With 32 bit windows will only recognise 4 gb memory no matter how much you have but 64 bit recognises much more(up to 16 exabytes), Incidently
Home Premium can only access up to 16 GB