Windows 7 versions detailed

"We learned a lot with Vista"

3 February 2009 21:06 GMT / By Verity Burns

Some new information has been released about Microsoft's Windows 7 OS.

Firstly, and rather predictably, Windows 7 will have two main, familiar SKUs - Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional - the first more suitable for consumers, the latter more for businesses.

A spokesperson for Microsoft said: "We learned a lot with Windows Vista in terms of how we satisfy our 1 billion customers and hundreds of thousands of industry partners with the right set of experiences and features that Windows delivers".

"The primary change, based on customer and partner feedback, is to have a superset SKU model. This means that each higher edition SKU will have every feature lower edition SKUs have - and then some".

This means, for example, that Windows 7 Professional will have every feature in Windows 7 Home Premium, but will also benefit from new features above and beyond Home Premium. This was not the case with Vista, in that Windows Vista Home Premium contained Media Center but Windows Vista Business did not.

Windows 7 Home Premium is said to provide customers with "a full function PC experience" that is big on entertainment and connectivity in a "visually rich environment".

Windows 7 Professional on the other hand, has been designed with businesses in mind, and focuses on "protecting critical data and broad network connectivity", according to Microsoft. It also sees a name change from its Vista equivalent ("Vista Business"), after Microsoft found customers did not relate to it as well as XP Professional before it.

Aside from the two main SKUs, there will be others to choose from. Windows 7 Basic will be the option for affordability and PCs with limited hardware capability, while at the other end of the spectrum there will be Windows 7 Ultimate, for "tech enthusiasts who want every benefit Windows provides".

For customers who are part of Microsoft's Software Assurance program, and who have more demanding management requirements than Professional offers, there will be Windows 7 Enterprise, and lastly there will be Windows 7 Starter, a low-cost limited-functionality OS for low-end hardware, targeted at first-time PC buyers.

We'll get you more information on Windows 7 when we get it.

Full tags

Software, Microsoft, Windows 7, Operating Systems