Windows 7 Introduction

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.