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Windows 7 to come in 5 varieties

3 February 2009 15:17 by Andre "DVDBack23" Yoskowitz | 55 comments

Although they have been criticized for offering Windows Vista in far too many versions, Microsoft has confirmed that the upcoming Windows 7 will come in five different versions, with the company "focusing" on two.

The different versions of Windows 7 will be, Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate. The company did note that "Home Basic" would only be sold in emerging markets however.

"We're going to focus on two versions," noted Microsoft Senior Vice President Bill Veghte. Veghte added he expected the Home Premium and Professional versions to account for 80 percent of Windows 7 sales.

The Starter version will be "severely limited" and will most likely only be sold in emerging markets as well or to those who simply want a cheap OS. The crippled version will have screen resolution limitations, processor limitations, and will only be able to have three applications running at the same time.

Cnet also adds that upgrading will be much easier this time around and "Windows 7, despite its many versions, will actually come as a single piece of code, or image. That means all the features will come loaded onto a Windows 7 PC, ready to be unlocked with an upgrade product key."

A functional beta of Windows 7 has been available from the company since early last month.

Permalink to this article

Windows 7 cuts down UAC prompts, WMP12 gets better multimedia support (27 April 2009)

Windows 7 still on track, investors pleased despite revenue decline (23 April 2009)

Microsoft site reveals Windows 7 RC date (19 April 2009)

New Windows 7 and Vista releases coming next week (21 February 2009)

Microsoft to open brick and mortar retail stores (15 February 2009)

Windows 7 beta downloads halted temporarily (9 January 2009)

Windows 7 beta out in the wild (29 December 2008)

Windows 7 coming in 2009 (8 April 2008)

Microsoft plans Windows 7 release in 3 years (20 July 2007)

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bobiroc (Member) 4 February 2009 9:29
*Quote:* *Quote:* *Quote:* *Originally posted by bomber991:* Yeah they just do this 5 versions crap so they can say "Windows 7... starting at $49.99!!!" yeah, i mean what's the point really? Does anybody remember the days when we only had to worry about just 1 version and 1 version only? Saved alot of headaches and confusion about what to buy, IMO. Its about choice. Giving the consumer options on what they want to pay for. Maybe a person wants to build a basic unit for their grandmother that all she wants is email and the internet and to play solitaire. Why shouldn't he or she have the choice to pay less for a basic OS to do that. Then you got the power user that wants all the bells and whistles so they are willing to pay more for those features. If 5 levels of the OS (most in 32bit and 64bit flavors) is too many and confusing then people are more dumb than I thought. Should car makers just make 1 car model or 1 level of car for each model? No! If Microsoft just made 1 version with all the features you people would cry that they are "forcing" those on you. So now they make different version levels to give a choice and you stil cry. I don't get it. But the majority of cars are made to large have to many needless features and are very inefficient the industry is to top heavy cars cost to much we have to many dealers to many cars on the road and in stock, hell with them breaking down in less that 5 years thats added cost the industry has to bear. Build them better and cheaper and drive sales based on the disposable mentality of the modern consumer... MS is at least moving in the right direction, but perhaps they can trim off 1 or 2 of the 5 options.. Well the way I see it there are 2 choices for Home Use (Home Premium and Ultimate) and 2 for Businesses (Professional and Ultimate/Enterprise). They did say that Starter and Basic will be limited so I do not think we will see much of those. I really do not see the confusion. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 4 February 2009 9:34
*Quote:* *Quote:* *Quote:* *Quote:* *Originally posted by bomber991:* Yeah they just do this 5 versions crap so they can say "Windows 7... starting at $49.99!!!" yeah, i mean what's the point really? Does anybody remember the days when we only had to worry about just 1 version and 1 version only? Saved alot of headaches and confusion about what to buy, IMO. Its about choice. Giving the consumer options on what they want to pay for. Maybe a person wants to build a basic unit for their grandmother that all she wants is email and the internet and to play solitaire. Why shouldn't he or she have the choice to pay less for a basic OS to do that. Then you got the power user that wants all the bells and whistles so they are willing to pay more for those features. If 5 levels of the OS (most in 32bit and 64bit flavors) is too many and confusing then people are more dumb than I thought. Should car makers just make 1 car model or 1 level of car for each model? No! If Microsoft just made 1 version with all the features you people would cry that they are "forcing" those on you. So now they make different version levels to give a choice and you stil cry. I don't get it. But the majority of cars are made to large have to many needless features and are very inefficient the industry is to top heavy cars cost to much we have to many dealers to many cars on the road and in stock, hell with them breaking down in less that 5 years thats added cost the industry has to bear. Build them better and cheaper and drive sales based on the disposable mentality of the modern consumer... MS is at least moving in the right direction, but perhaps they can trim off 1 or 2 of the 5 options.. Well the way I see it there are 2 choices for Home Use (Home Premium and Ultimate) and 2 for Businesses (Professional and Ultimate/Enterprise). They did say that Starter and Basic will be limited so I do not think we will see much of those. I really do not see the confusion. ya refresh my memory home basic is the one that dose not let you use task manger thus you can not close froze programs right? That turned me off of vista, now I used home premium a few weeks ago and was minorly impressed at its performance, 3GB ramm, 2.0 Athlon X2 mobile and a 81XX or 82XX nvida chipset, played HD movies(MKV/ogg,ect) without skipping a beat even for seeking,playing and changing windows. Even on desktops with twice better CPUs and equal or lesser chipsets they stuttered. [ + quote]
ThePastor (Junior Member) 4 February 2009 13:55
The only reason Windows has the monopoly it has now is because they had a single OS for everyone. Now they are fracturing it all up. As far as the whole..."It should work in all versions..." sure, it should, but try to do tech support with Grandma who is running a version of Windows that doesn't have all of the features. "Yes ma'am, please start up the Group Policy editor and add your name to the list. What? You don't have a Group Policy editor?" And what is up with these prices??? The OS costs more than the HARDWARE! The price of hardware has steadily gone down while the OS has steadily gone up. It's a pricing scheme and nothing more. They could offer ONE REASONABLE PRICE for ALL FEATURES YOU WANT/NEED. It's SOFTWARE, for crying out loud. It doesn't COST MORE to install an extra feature after that feature has already been built!!! [ + quote]
bobiroc (Member) 4 February 2009 14:49
*Originally posted by ThePastor:* The only reason Windows has the monopoly it has now is because they had a single OS for everyone. Now they are fracturing it all up. As far as the whole..."It should work in all versions..." sure, it should, but try to do tech support with Grandma who is running a version of Windows that doesn't have all of the features. "Yes ma'am, please start up the Group Policy editor and add your name to the list. What? You don't have a Group Policy editor?" And what is up with these prices??? The OS costs more than the HARDWARE! The price of hardware has steadily gone down while the OS has steadily gone up. It's a pricing scheme and nothing more. They could offer ONE REASONABLE PRICE for ALL FEATURES YOU WANT/NEED. It's SOFTWARE, for crying out loud. It doesn't COST MORE to install an extra feature after that feature has already been built!!! If you are trying to walk grandma or any average home user through group policy editing then theres a problem in that. But that is a topic for another forum. The cost goes to pay the developers and designers and every software/hardware company does it. Should Quickbooks Pro be the same as Quickbooks STD? Should the Adobe Creative suite charge the same for their standard and premium offerings? Should all levels of Windows Server be the same price? That is just a few but most software companies charge more for more features. Hardware companies do to. How many video cards are there that the manufacturer clocks down the GPU/Memory or turns off features and charges more to have those turned on. I am pretty sure Intel did similar with their Celeron chips verses the Pentium equillivant. Windows/Microsoft is NOT a monopoly so I wish people would quit throwing that word around. Yeah they are the biggest player but monopoly no. There is nothing stopping a person from installing another compatible OS on their computer. If they do not like that most OEMs offer Windows then go to you neighborhood computer shop and have a computer built or build one yourself. If you cannot do that then you take what is being sold and what the manufacturer knows that will sell. Companies are not going to invest millions/billions into R&D to cater to 3% of their potential customers. That is why I build my own computers. I can never seem to find the computer I want from an OEM and I can build them cheaper. [ + quote]
EvilDeeds (Junior Member) 4 February 2009 17:44
"The Starter version will be "severely limited" and will most likely only be sold in emerging markets as well or to those who simply want a cheap OS. The crippled version will have screen resolution limitations, processor limitations, and will only be able to have three applications running at the same time. " It's like they want Linux/OSX to take the market. It's this sort of stupidity that will end them, and it's unfortunate, because I'm a .NET programmer. :( More versions = more room for dissapointed customers + increased windows hacking (to break the shackles of the cheap versions). Vista fell on it's arse because they over-complicated its design, it was too drm heavy, too many different versions, and just something as simple as copying a file over a network resulted in a drop in performance over xp/nt/osx/*nix systems... Win 7 was meant to be them going back to basic slim design, they should do Home and proffesional and be done with it - if emerging markets can't afford Windows they will pirate it until they can afford it, or use something else... Starter is a waste of time!! [ + quote]
windsong (Junior Member) 4 February 2009 18:04
*Originally posted by Seclusive:* For gaming, MAME32 and Project64 are beaten as well(Vista started, 7 just finished them off) Sorry but this is a deal breaker for me. I NEED Mame32, PJ64 not so much. But Mame is a requirement. I'd imagine some of the more unstable emulators like those for the PS2 will be f'ked as well for a long time with W7. I also use NullDC for ISOs. Works great in XP..but we'll see for windows7. [ + quote]
joe777 (Member) 4 February 2009 18:39
New windoze.......yawn.......... Sometimes no news is good news [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 4 February 2009 18:42
*Originally posted by joe777:* New windoze.......yawn.......... Sometimes no news is good news It is newz since it runs as good or better than XP pro. [ + quote]
joe777 (Member) 4 February 2009 21:21
*Originally posted by ZippyDSM:* *Originally posted by joe777:* New windoze.......yawn.......... Sometimes no news is good news It is newz since it runs as good or better than XP pro. Not as good as linux, no where near it. So again yawn.... Ah zip dont take me too serious:P Hope the death of proprietary software comes swiftly. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 4 February 2009 21:32
*Originally posted by joe777:* *Originally posted by ZippyDSM:* *Originally posted by joe777:* New windoze.......yawn.......... Sometimes no news is good news It is newz since it runs as good or better than XP pro. Not as good as linux, no where near it. So again yawn.... Ah zip dont take me too serious:P Hope the death of proprietary software comes swiftly. :P no hard just trying to keep to the facts and the lulz. The trouble is Lunix/unix is as "proprietary" you need spacial stuff to run it and while its nice to be able to alter the kernel on the fly compared to windose its lack of simplicity and support is as incomprehensible as windoze self service to your anus.. What we really need is a Non profit org to buy either Win2K or XP(and all its sub parts) from MS and make it open source MS can sell to the noobs and the community can truly fix and in part future proof. Hell MS could sell them packs that bring the OS up to date on secondary things like DX and they could in turn sell at cost the upgrades. That or a more true windose clone is about the only way you'd get a huge movement in open source OS. Fallout 3 has stole my soul, for about 30 hours till the paint wore off.... even if its a action focused FPS RPG, at least its a FPS RPG not a under deved shooter like Bioshock! [ + quote]
joe777 (Member) 4 February 2009 22:23
*Originally posted by ZippyDSM:* *Originally posted by joe777:* *Originally posted by ZippyDSM:* *Originally posted by joe777:* New windoze.......yawn.......... Sometimes no news is good news It is newz since it runs as good or better than XP pro. Not as good as linux, no where near it. So again yawn.... Ah zip dont take me too serious:P Hope the death of proprietary software comes swiftly. :P no hard just trying to keep to the facts and the lulz. The trouble is Lunix/unix is as "proprietary" you need spacial stuff to run it and while its nice to be able to alter the kernel on the fly compared to windose its lack of simplicity and support is as incomprehensible as windoze self service to your anus.. What we really need is a Non profit org to buy either Win2K or XP(and all its sub parts) from MS and make it open source MS can sell to the noobs and the community can truly fix and in part future proof. Hell MS could sell them packs that bring the OS up to date on secondary things like DX and they could in turn sell at cost the upgrades. That or a more true windose clone is about the only way you'd get a huge movement in open source OS. The prob is that some hardware vendors will not give up their source to the linux community and have them writing better software for free. But for example Ubuntu will run almost everything right out of the box. Now with my experience with windows that has never happened, always having to install some drivers here and there. The ease of use with linux now is the mutts nuts. Very simple to use especially installing most software, it has all been made for the newcomer in mind. With gnu/linux being open source projects I hear you when your saying about proprietary software also being used, with regards to, for example, graphic cards. But the truth is linux will run it right out of the box without the need for the vendors proprietary drivers. And support, man theres loads of support for linux within the community.If more people used linux then I think it would take over. I dont think its anything to do with ease of use, cause its prob easier to use than windows and compared to windows linux is bullet proof. Anyway enough rambling from me [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 4 February 2009 22:26
*Originally posted by joe777:* *Originally posted by ZippyDSM:* *Originally posted by joe777:* *Originally posted by ZippyDSM:* *Originally posted by joe777:* New windoze.......yawn.......... Sometimes no news is good news It is newz since it runs as good or better than XP pro. Not as good as linux, no where near it. So again yawn.... Ah zip dont take me too serious:P Hope the death of proprietary software comes swiftly. :P no hard just trying to keep to the facts and the lulz. The trouble is Lunix/unix is as "proprietary" you need spacial stuff to run it and while its nice to be able to alter the kernel on the fly compared to windose its lack of simplicity and support is as incomprehensible as windoze self service to your anus.. What we really need is a Non profit org to buy either Win2K or XP(and all its sub parts) from MS and make it open source MS can sell to the noobs and the community can truly fix and in part future proof. Hell MS could sell them packs that bring the OS up to date on secondary things like DX and they could in turn sell at cost the upgrades. That or a more true windose clone is about the only way you'd get a huge movement in open source OS. The prob is that some hardware vendors will not give up their source to the linux community and have them writing better software for free. But for example Ubuntu will run almost everything right out of the box. Now with my experience with windows that has never happened, always having to install some drivers here and there. The ease of use with linux now is the mutts nuts. Very simple to use especially installing most software, it has all been made for the newcomer in mind. With gnu/linux being open source projects I hear you when your saying about proprietary software also being used, with regards to, for example, graphic cards. But the truth is linux will run it right out of the box without the need for the vendors proprietary drivers. And support, man theres loads of support for linux within the community.If more people used linux then I think it would take over. I dont think its anything to do with ease of use, cause its prob easier to use than windows and compared to windows linux is bullet proof. Anyway enough rambling from me Which is all nice but without out reasonable support from MS to let the nixs run windose app its moot, perhaps one day they will build a better emulator but for now its wiondose or nothing.. Fallout 3 has stole my soul, for about 30 hours till the paint wore off.... even if its a action focused FPS RPG, at least its a FPS RPG not a under deved shooter like Bioshock! [ + quote]
ddp (Moderator) 4 February 2009 23:14
i_am_alex, edit your sig to conform to forum specs ASAP. yours is 10 lines of text. 1. Text-only signatures should have at most 5 lines of text. [ + quote]
varnull (Inactive) 4 February 2009 23:31
Life amongst the sheeple.. what a bunch of losers yawn XD Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work. I would rather you hate me for who I am than love me for what I am not. Welcome to the other side of the looking glass Alice [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 4 February 2009 23:35
*Originally posted by varnull:* Life amongst the sheeple.. what a bunch of losers yawn XD Meh windose is like gas/cars you have a standardize unleaded that can be used on most vehicles if you go diesel or bio diesel or eletric your ability to drive far and do things may be hampered. Fallout 3 has stole my soul, for about 30 hours till the paint wore off.... even if its a action focused FPS RPG, at least its a FPS RPG not a under deved shooter like Bioshock! [ + quote]
EvilDeeds (Junior Member) 5 February 2009 3:29
*Quote:* *Originally posted by varnull:* Life amongst the sheeple.. what a bunch of losers yawn XD Meh windose is like gas/cars you have a standardize unleaded that can be used on most vehicles if you go diesel or bio diesel or eletric your ability to drive far and do things may be hampered. But my car's a diesel! :( I do live in Europe though, where our petrol (gas) stations always stock at least 2 types of fuel! :) [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 5 February 2009 9:35
*Quote:* *Quote:* *Originally posted by varnull:* Life amongst the sheeple.. what a bunch of losers yawn XD Meh windose is like gas/cars you have a standardize unleaded that can be used on most vehicles if you go diesel or bio diesel or eletric your ability to drive far and do things may be hampered. But my car's a diesel! :( I do live in Europe though, where our petrol (gas) stations always stock at least 2 types of fuel! :) In the past 20 or so years diesel has always been cheaper than gas, for the past 2 or so its been higher. Much like gas OS's can suck the more universally sound one genreally tends to be the cheaper one. [ + quote]
SProdigy (Member) 5 February 2009 10:12
*Originally posted by joe777:* The prob is that some hardware vendors will not give up their source to the linux community and have them writing better software for free. But for example Ubuntu will run almost everything right out of the box. Intel and HP support Linux builds. Usually easy to find a driver. As for Windows finding drivers, well, that all depends on the build. Ubuntu has new builds every 6 months or so. If I go back to v6, a couple years ago, my wireless card in my laptop did not install by default with Ubuntu, but it does now with v8. As for Windows, an XP SP3 install disc will have more drivers than an original XP disc. Same goes if the CD/DVD have custom drivers slipped into it, such as an OEM HP restore disc. On the same laptop mentioned above, neither XP retail disc installed the wireless, but the HP OEM did and so did Windows 7. It's all relevant. As for making Windows open source, would that cause more virus related issues or less? The only reason Linux operates faster is because of no need to have antivirus/spyware apps running in the background. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 5 February 2009 10:15
*Originally posted by SProdigy:* *Originally posted by joe777:* The prob is that some hardware vendors will not give up their source to the linux community and have them writing better software for free. But for example Ubuntu will run almost everything right out of the box. Intel and HP support Linux builds. Usually easy to find a driver. As for Windows finding drivers, well, that all depends on the build. Ubuntu has new builds every 6 months or so. If I go back to v6, a couple years ago, my wireless card in my laptop did not install by default with Ubuntu, but it does now with v8. As for Windows, an XP SP3 install disc will have more drivers than an original XP disc. Same goes if the CD/DVD have custom drivers slipped into it, such as an OEM HP restore disc. On the same laptop mentioned above, neither XP retail disc installed the wireless, but the HP OEM did and so did Windows 7. It's all relevant. As for making Windows open source, would that cause more virus related issues or less? The only reason Linux operates faster is because of no need to have antivirus/spyware apps running in the background. Well if something is popular enough it will have virus and worms on it unless it simply dose not have those holes. Fallout 3 has stole my soul, for about 30 hours till the paint wore off.... even if its a action focused FPS RPG, at least its a FPS RPG not a under deved shooter like Bioshock! [ + quote]
joe777 (Member) 5 February 2009 10:34
The reason linux runs more effecient is because its a multi user platform, thats what it has been built for. The OS which of course is the kernel only, is like night and day between linux and windows. Windows are playing catch-up and trying very hard with vista and now windows7. But my opinion is they would have to go back to the start with their OS's and build from scratch if they want to compete with linux.They built the NT kernel and everything since then has been a slightly different version of that kernel and you know what they say, "you cant polish a turd" Another prob is satisfying the media monkeys, which in microshafts world will prob be impossible to do with proprietary software in mind. I would also say that the big prob with linux is it's diversity, which could be changing with Ubuntu for the average user. I see Dell are also offering notebooks pre-installed with linux and as for intel and HP, of course they support linux as most of the worlds servers are run on linux/unix systems and that on its own tells you a story. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 5 February 2009 10:36
*Originally posted by joe777:* The reason linux runs more effecient is because its a multi user platform, thats what it has been built for. The OS which of course is the kernel only, is like night and day between linux and windows. Windows are playing catch-up and trying very hard with vista and now windows7. But my opinion is they would have to go back to the start with their OS's and build from scratch if they want to compete with linux.They built the NT kernel and everything since then has been a slightly different version of that kernel and you know what they say, "you cant polish a turd" Another prob is satisfying the media monkeys, which in microshafts world will prob be impossible to do with proprietary software in mind. I would also say that the big prob with linux is it's diversity, which could be changing with Ubuntu for the average user. I see Dell are also offering notebooks pre-installed with linux and as for intel and HP, of course they support linux as most of the worlds servers are run on linux/unix systems and that on its own tells you a story. But its still equitable to bio diesel because of how limited it is. Fallout 3 has stole my soul, for about 30 hours till the paint wore off.... even if its a action focused FPS RPG, at least its a FPS RPG not a under deved shooter like Bioshock! [ + quote]
omegaman7 (AfterDawn Addict) 7 February 2009 2:43
*Originally posted by varnull:* Life amongst the sheeple.. what a bunch of losers yawn XD LOSERS??? Sheeple??? Kinda harsh dont you think :) Diehard linux fan to the end huh(:D :D)? Windows is for people who want a SIMPLE user interface. (If there are simple Linux user interfaces, I apologize for that statement). THERE ARE ALOT of those kind of people. Given time however, learning, adapting, some people get fed up enough to make a switch to another software/OS. I know I MAY!!! I think they went to far with wanting people to make a switch. Ive come across something rather irritating. You can read about it in the windows 7 beta forum. So yes, you were right varnull. M$ has BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPed me off!!! Ok, breaks over, LOL. Back to my build. :D [ + quote]
leglessoz (Newbie) 7 February 2009 9:00
Stupid and ill thought out as usual with Microsoft. Someone who has the limited lower end versions will have just as much of their drive filled up with Windows as the high end version but unable to use the code. Talk about bloatware. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 7 February 2009 9:22
*Originally posted by leglessoz:* Stupid and ill thought out as usual with Microsoft. Someone who has the limited lower end versions will have just as much of their drive filled up with Windows as the high end version but unable to use the code. Talk about bloatware. WElll...... not really.....only 2 real versions of the driver 32 and 64, for the limited version it just means it has a app/ramm limit. [ + quote]
Fred_Mack (Newbie) 20 March 2009 1:42
5 versions - which one is in the Windows 7 Beta Customer Preview? [ + quote]
Mik3h (AfterDawn Addict) 20 March 2009 10:28
*Originally posted by Fred_Mack:* 5 versions - which one is in the Windows 7 Beta Customer Preview? Ultimate. Run DXDIAG and will show you :) [ + quote]