Windows 7 Editions
The
Windows 7 operating system comes in multiple editions. You will sometimes see
these editions referred to as Stock Keeping Units (SKUs). Microsoft targets
specific editions at different usage scenarios, providing cheaper editions to customers
who do not want all the features available in a more expensive edition. As an
IT professional, your job may involve providing guidance to decision makers on
which edition of Windows 7 should be purchased for the computers in your
organization. You may also need to provide guidance to family and friends as to
which edition of Windows 7 best meets their needs. There are six different
Windows 7 editions:
■
Starter
■
Home Basic
■
Home Premium
■
Professional
■
Enterprise
■
Ultimate
Windows 7 Starter
Windows
7 Starter is available from retailers and on new computers installed by manufacturers.
It does not support or include the Windows Aero user interface, DVD playback,
Windows Media Center, IIS Web Server, or Internet connection sharing. You
cannot join a computer with this edition of Windows to a domain. This edition
does not support enterprise features such as Encrypting File System (EFS),
AppLocker, DirectAccess, BitLocker, Remote Desktop Host, and BranchCache. This
edition supports a maximum of one physical processor.
Windows 7 Home Basic
Windows
7 Home Basic is available only in emerging markets. It does not support or
include the Windows Aero user interface, DVD playback, Windows Media Center, or
IIS Web Server. You cannot join a computer with this edition of Windows 7 to a
domain. This edition does not support enterprise features such as EFS,
AppLocker, DirectAccess, BitLocker, Remote Desktop Host, and BranchCache. This
edition supports a maximum of one physical processor. The x86 version supports
a maximum of 4 GB of RAM, whereas the x64 version supports a maximum of 8 GB of
RAM.
Windows 7 Home Premium
Windows
7 Home Premium is available from retailers and on new computers installed by manufacturers.
Unlike the Starter and Home Basic editions, the Home Premium edition supports
the Windows Aero UI, DVD playback, Windows Media Center, Internet connection sharing,
and the IIS Web Server. You cannot join this edition of Windows 7 to a domain,
and it does not support enterprise features such as EFS, AppLocker,
DirectAccess, BitLocker, Remote Desktop Host, and BranchCache. The x86 version
of Windows 7 Home Premium supports a maximum of 4 GB of RAM, whereas the x64
version supports a maximum of 16 GB of RAM. Windows 7 Home Premium supports up
to two physical processors.
Windows 7 Professional
Windows
7 Professional is available from retailers and on new computers installed by manufacturers.
It supports all the features available in Windows Home Premium, but you can join
computers with this operating system installed to a domain. It supports EFS and
Remote Desktop Host but does not support enterprise features such as AppLocker,
DirectAccess, BitLocker, and BranchCache. Windows 7 Professional supports up to
two physical processors.
Windows 7 Enterprise
and Ultimate Editions
The
Windows 7 Enterprise and Ultimate editions are identical except for the fact
that Windows 7 Enterprise is available only to Microsoft’s volume licensing
customers, and Windows 7 Ultimate is available from retailers and on new
computers installed by manufacturers. The Enterprise and Ultimate editions
support all the features available in other Windows 7 editions but also support
all the enterprise features such as EFS, Remote Desktop Host, AppLocker,
DirectAccess, BitLocker, BranchCache, and Boot from VHD. Windows 7 Enterprise
and Ultimate editions support up to two physical processors.
Windows 7 Hardware
Requirements
Operating
systems work properly only when you install them on computers that meet the minimum
hardware requirements. You should remember that these requirements are just for
the operating system itself, but most people want to do more than just run an
operating system: they also want to run applications. Applications require
memory and storage space beyond that of the operating system minimum
requirements. As someone who may be responsible for making recommendations
about the specifications of computer hardware that your organization will
purchase, you need to take into account the hardware requirements of the
operating system and the applications that will run on it, not just the
operating system itself.
Windows
7 Starter and Windows 7 Home Basic have the following minimum hardware
■ 1
GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
■
512 MB of system memory
■ A
20-GB (x64) or 16-GB (x86) hard disk drive, traditional or Solid State Disk
(SSD), with at least 15 GB of available space
■ A
graphics adapter that supports DirectX 9 graphics and 32 MB of graphics memory
Windows
7 Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions have the following
minimum hardware requirements:
■ 1
GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
■ 1
GB of system memory
■ A
40-GB hard disk drive (traditional or SSD) with at least 15 GB of available
space
■ A
graphics adapter that supports DirectX 9 graphics, has a Windows Display Driver
Model (WDDM) driver, Pixel Shader 2.0 hardware, and 32 bits per pixel and a
minimum of 128 MB graphics memory
Windows
7 supports two different processor architectures. The 32-bit version of Windows
7 is usually labeled as being x86. You should install the x86 version of
Windows 7 on computers with older processors, such as the Pentium IV, as well
as newer small form factor laptop computers, also known as netbooks. The main
limitation of the x86 version of Windows 7 is that it does not support more
than 4 GB of RAM. It is possible to install the x86 version of Windows 7 on
computers that have x64 processors, but the operating system will be unable to
utilize any RAM that the computer has beyond 4 GB. You can install the x64
version of Windows 7 only on computers that have x64-compatible processors. The
x64 versions of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions
support up to 128 GB of RAM. The x64 version of Windows 7 Home Basic edition supports
8 GB and the x64 edition of Home Premium supports a maximum of 16 GB.