Six SKU's for Windows 7

**Namakan** · 02-03-2009, 09:38 PM

Re: Six SKU's for Windows 7

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?ContentId=8066

Focus will be on two primary editions of Windows 7: Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional.

The complete SKU lineup for Windows 7 is: Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Home Basic (in Emerging Markets only), Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 7 Ultimate.

For Consumers Microsoft is recommending Windows 7 Home Premium for most customers and Windows 7 Professional for customers who want additional features and functionality useful for small business activities.

For Businesses, the company recommends Windows 7 Professional for most customers and Windows 7 Enterprise for medium-to-large business and enterprise customers that choose to license Windows through Software Assurance.

These are the key features by SKU:

Windows 7 Starter: up to 3 concurrent applications, ability to join a Home Group, improved taskbar and JumpLists;

Windows 7 Home Basic: unlimited applications, live thumbnail previews & enhanced visual experience, advanced networking support (ad-hoc wireless networks and internet connection sharing), and Mobility Center;

Windows 7 Home Premium: Aero Glass & advanced windows navigation, improved media format support, enhancements to Windows Media Center and media streaming, including Play To, and multi-touch and improved handwriting recognition;

Windows 7 Professional: ability to join a managed network with Domain Join, data protection with advanced network backup and Encrypting File System, and print to the right printer at home or work with Location Aware Printing;

Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 7 Ultimate: bitLocker data protection on internal and external drives, DirectAccess for seamless connectivity to corporate networks based on Windows Server 2008 R2, BranchCache support when on networks based on Windows Server 2008 R2, and lock unauthorized software from running with AppLocker.

**Iwantcable** · 02-03-2009, 10:38 PM

Re: Six SKU's for Windows 7

What's the approximate OEM value of those?

**[Expletive Deleted]** · 02-04-2009, 12:13 AM

Re: Six SKU's for Windows 7

Looks like I'll be passing on another version of Windows. Well, at least until I see proof that every single game I play on a regular basis works at least as well as on XP.

**Shawn Zipay** · 02-04-2009, 12:45 AM

Re: Six SKU's for Windows 7

Originally posted by Unnamed Assailant

Looks like I'll be passing on another version of Windows. Well, at least until I see proof that every single game I play on a regular basis works at least as well as on XP.

Uhm, try the beta?

It's a fantastic OS, especially for it still just being a beta. I do not get the Vista hate. Sure, the beginning was a little rocky, primarily due to the horrible driver support from companies that weren't Microsoft.

The multiple SKU's, however, is just completely stupid. For Vista, for Win7. It's not needed and just causes nightmares for tech support.

**Busby, Paul (Bicci)** · 02-04-2009, 06:41 AM

Re: Six SKU's for Windows 7

thats insane... in a world where everything is merging together windows decide to make things more complicated. Idiots

**=98=** · 02-04-2009, 06:44 AM

Re: Six SKU's for Windows 7

They should cut home basic and pro. That would make more sense.

**Busby, Paul (Bicci)** · 02-04-2009, 07:02 AM

Re: Six SKU's for Windows 7

And starter... limited to 3 applications at once? thats just insane talk... i know its probs more meant for mobile devices but still i think such tight limitations is rediculaus and would ruin anyones day.

**=98=** · 02-04-2009, 07:06 AM

Re: Six SKU's for Windows 7

Originally posted by [7F]H|Jgr.B1scu1T[FM]

And starter... limited to 3 applications at once? thats just insane talk... i know its probs more meant for mobile devices but still i think such tight limitations is rediculaus and would ruin anyones day.

It's meant for developing markets actually with very low end hardware. It won't be available here.

**[Expletive Deleted]** · 02-04-2009, 08:33 AM

Re: Six SKU's for Windows 7

Originally posted by [MyIS]Zips

Uhm, try the beta?

It's a fantastic OS, especially for it still just being a beta. I do not get the Vista hate. Sure, the beginning was a little rocky, primarily due to the horrible driver support from companies that weren't Microsoft.

The multiple SKU's, however, is just completely stupid. For Vista, for Win7. It's not needed and just causes nightmares for tech support.

Yes, that sounds like a splendid idea. Trust my data to a Microsoft Beta product. Because they have such a good track record with "proven" software that a beta should be infallible.

My Vista hate comes from quite a few things, and it isn't due to pure ignorance such as: "people said it sucks." I have it installed on a media center computer and a laptop. And things that work just fine in XP get errors or poor performance in Vista. I'm also irritated at the stupid number of SKUs. It's a lame way to charge more because something is called "Ultimate" or "Premium." It's like having the Core X360, with no hard drive, HDMI support, or wireless controllers. "See, look how cheap the X360 is!" But then you realize that if you ever want to play Xbox games or get broken games patched, you NEED the HDD. So you end up paying MS more in the end. Which seems to be their plan for Windows as well, since they have "ads" telling me to upgrade to Ultimate when I have Home Premium.

Okay, that was a rant and a half. But will 7 be any different?

**=98=** · 02-04-2009, 08:35 AM

Re: Six SKU's for Windows 7

Windows 7 beta is pretty much as stable as Vista, which, post SP1 is rock solid :)

The hate bandwagon derailed a while back after service pack 1, so it's probably time to jump off

**[Expletive Deleted]** · 02-04-2009, 11:29 AM

Re: Six SKU's for Windows 7

Originally posted by Alex98uk

Windows 7 beta is pretty much as stable as Vista, which, post SP1 is rock solid :)

The hate bandwagon derailed a while back after service pack 1, so it's probably time to jump off

I have SP 1 and things still don't work the way I'd like when compared to XP. I'm not on any bandwagon as I have Vista and use it on a fairly regular basis. My dislike comes from personal experience, not from any supposed peer pressure or whatever.

When my Skype phone causes BSODs if I get a call while watching a movie or playing a game, I'm going to be a little irritated.

Yes, that's almost certainly due to poor drivers made by Linksys. I still see driver support and game updates as part of the whole package and if hardware vendors and game publishers do not update their products to cooperate fully with one OS, yet they work in another OS, I'm going to favor the OS that has the better support from third parties. I dislike Vista for the same reason I don't use Linux much. I don't want to jump through hoops to use my applications if I don't have to.

You're assuming that I've based my hatred of Vista and reluctance to jump onto the next OS on assumptions, prejudice and old data. My issues still exist as of this weekend. SP1 did not fix them. So I'm not operating on ignorance and assumptions or pre-SP1 experiences. This is right now and right now I still prefer XP over Vista.

**=98=** · 02-04-2009, 01:45 PM

Re: Six SKU's for Windows 7

Any remaining Vista issues are down to poor support from 3rd party driver manufacturers. Not sure you can blame MS on that one.

Anyway, i use Skype and I game, no problems to report here

**[Expletive Deleted]** · 02-04-2009, 03:27 PM

Re: Six SKU's for Windows 7

Originally posted by Alex98uk

Any remaining Vista issues are down to poor support from 3rd party driver manufacturers. Not sure you can blame MS on that one.

Anyway, i use Skype and I game, no problems to report here

It's not a problem with Skype. It's a problem with the Linksys CIT200 series cordless USB handset. Vista is not liking the whole 2 sound devices running at once thing. So yes, it's a problem with a 3rd party driver. But that 3rd party driver works just fine in XP. If I have 3 things that worked in XP and have problems in Vista, how many more things will be problematic in 7? I highly doubt that issues will be magically resolved in 7 that existed in Vista.
If not all hardware manufacturers are 100% on board, why should I, an end user, jump on the next big thing? For the price of an OS that I'll probably have issues with I can offset a processor upgrade or buy games that will most likely work just fine on XP.
I installed Vista on a spare computer to test it in some pretty mundane areas as a media center and I have not been impressed. I tried to put a few games on it for my daughter and quite a few refused to work. Since I'm pretty sure all of them use the same engine and some work while others don't, and all work on XP, what conclusion should I reach? "Oh well, I guess I'll just have to deal with paying for less functionality than I had before." Or maybe, "Why pay to have less functionality when my current OS works just fine?" Why should anyone choose to pay money for a frustrating experience?

BLUF, I have yet to see any really compelling reasons to go through the pain of switching to a new OS at this time.

**Shawn Zipay** · 02-04-2009, 05:23 PM

Re: Six SKU's for Windows 7

Originally posted by Unnamed Assailant

Yes, that sounds like a splendid idea. Trust my data to a Microsoft Beta product. Because they have such a good track record with "proven" software that a beta should be infallible.

My Vista hate comes from quite a few things, and it isn't due to pure ignorance such as: "people said it sucks." I have it installed on a media center computer and a laptop. And things that work just fine in XP get errors or poor performance in Vista. I'm also irritated at the stupid number of SKUs. It's a lame way to charge more because something is called "Ultimate" or "Premium." It's like having the Core X360, with no hard drive, HDMI support, or wireless controllers. "See, look how cheap the X360 is!" But then you realize that if you ever want to play Xbox games or get broken games patched, you NEED the HDD. So you end up paying MS more in the end. Which seems to be their plan for Windows as well, since they have "ads" telling me to upgrade to Ultimate when I have Home Premium.

Okay, that was a rant and a half. But will 7 be any different?

This is why there are such things as VMWare, separate partitions, secondary hard drive's and the like.

From what I'm reading about your "issues" with Vista and apparent lack of issues with XP, then perhaps you wouldn't know how to set things up to leave your primary OS alone and set up Win7 Beta as a second OS in a dual-boot configuration. So, perhaps it's for the best that you don't try it.

You're basing your hatred on a new OS because you've run into easily avoidable issues with Vista. Be it from not having the proper drivers or user error. That's quite unfair to make a judgment like that for those reasons.

Six SKU's for Windows 7

Six SKU's for Windows 7

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