Apr 01
With almost fully-functional versions of each product edition available to the public, I thought I’d provide a series of tables comparing each Windows 7 product editon.
It’s early yet, and things will no doubt change, so I’ll be updating these tables as needed going forward. But even at this early stage, I believe these tables will help you pick which Windows 7 product edition makes the most sense for you, based on your needs and wants. Let’s dive right in.
Availability
| |
Home Basic |
Starter |
Home Premium |
Professional |
Enterprise & Ultimate |
| Retail (boxed, with new PCs) |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Ult. only |
User interface features
|
Home Basic |
Starter |
Home Premium |
Professional |
Enterprise & Ultimate |
| Windows Basic UI |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Windows Standard UI |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Windows Aero UI (“Glass”) |
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Aero Peek |
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Aero Snaps |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Aero Shake |
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Aero Background |
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Windows Flip |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Windows Flip 3D |
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Live Taskbar Previews |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Jump Lists |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Windows Search |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Security features
|
Home Basic |
Starter |
Home Premium |
Professional |
Enterprise & Ultimate |
| More granular UAC |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Action Center |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Windows Defender |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Windows Firewall |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| IE 8 Protected Mode and DEP support |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Windows Update (can access Microsoft Update) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Fast User Switching |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Parental Controls |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Performance features
|
Home Basic |
Starter |
Home Premium |
Professional |
Enterprise & Ultimate |
| Windows ReadyDrive |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Windows ReadyBoost |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| 64-bit processor support |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Physical processor support |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
| Processor core support |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
| Number of running applications supported |
Unlimited |
3 |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
Reliability features
|
Home Basic |
Starter |
Home Premium |
Professional |
Enterprise & Ultimate |
| Windows Backup |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| System image |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Backup to network |
|
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
| Encrypting File System (EFS) |
|
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
| BitLocker |
|
|
|
|
Yes |
| BitLocker To Go |
|
|
|
|
Yes |
| Automatic hard disk defragmentation |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Previous Versions |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Create and attach (mount) VHD |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Bundled applications
|
Home Basic |
Starter |
Home Premium |
Professional |
Enterprise & Ultimate |
| Internet Explorer 8 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Windows Gadgets and Gallery |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Games Explorer with basic games |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Premium games |
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Calculator |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Paint |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Snipping Tool |
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Sticky Notes |
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Windows Journal |
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Windows Fax and Scan |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Windows PowerShell and ISE |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| WordPad |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| XPS Viewer |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Windows Anytime Upgrade |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Digital media and devices
|
Home Basic |
Starter |
Home Premium |
Professional |
Enterprise & Ultimate |
| Windows Photo Viewer |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Basic photo slide shows |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Windows Media Player 12 with Play To |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| DVD playback |
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Windows Media Center |
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Windows DVD Maker |
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Device Stage |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Sync Center |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Networking features
|
Home Basic |
Starter |
Home Premium |
Professional |
Enterprise & Ultimate |
| Network and Sharing Center |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| HomeGroup sharing |
Join only |
Join only |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Improved power management |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Connect to a Projector |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Remote Desktop |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Remote Desktop Host |
|
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
| IIS Web Server |
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| RSS support |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Internet Connection Sharing |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Offline files |
|
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
Mobility features
|
Home Basic |
Starter |
Home Premium |
Professional |
Enterprise & Ultimate |
| Windows Mobility Center |
Yes (No presentation mode) |
|
Yes (No presentation mode) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Windows Sideshow (Auxilliary display) |
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Sync Center |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Tablet PC functionality |
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Multi-Touch support |
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Enterprise features
|
Home Basic |
Starter |
Home Premium |
Professional |
Enterprise & Ultimate |
| Domain join (Windows Server) |
|
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
| AppLocker |
|
|
|
|
Yes |
| Boot from VHD |
|
|
|
|
Yes |
| Branche Cache |
|
|
|
|
Yes |
| DirectAccess |
|
|
|
|
Yes |
| Federated Search (Enterprise Search Scopes) |
|
|
|
|
Yes |
| Multilingual User Interface (MUI) Language Packs |
|
|
|
|
Yes |
| Location-aware printing |
|
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
| Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications |
|
|
|
|
Yes |
Leave a Reply
April 1st, 2009 at 1:49 pm
This would be great if you could actually see the entire table.
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:17 pm
So far I absolutely love it for its simplicity, and it is very user friendly. I have been testing for weeks now and so far no problems, no complaints. Maybe I am just easy to please but the sooner it hits the market the better.
April 2nd, 2009 at 3:45 pm
I am very pleased with W7′s performance. The sooner it gets on the marketr, the better.
April 3rd, 2009 at 9:39 pm
i want to see the rest of the comparison chart. why is the whole thing not shown? at least i can see the features for the basic sucky editions, but i wanna see the features for the better editions that i am interested in purchasing.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Select the Table, then copy and paste it into a blank word document – problem solved – Whole table is now visable – Peet
August 6th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
I’ve copied the table into a single page:
http://sixnine101.com/ham/win7versions.html
May 17th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
[...] Yes, if you’re using a PC, you probably need Windows 7. But you don’t need Windows 7 Ultimate edition, or even the Professional edition. Windows 7 Home Premium has pretty much all of the stuff you’ll need. To see the differences, check out this Windows 7 comparison chart. [...]
August 2nd, 2011 at 5:55 am
[...] Well if you don’t have a disk then newegg is still the way to go. Ultimate does have more eye candy if your into that. It also has a few networking and security features over home premium but for the average user it is not worth the extra money. 100.00 for eye candy is not justifiable to me but I am not the one who would use it any way. Windows 7 Product Editions Comparison Chart | Windows 7 [...]