Back in February, I wrote an article, Windows 7 Product Editions, in which I discussed the various SKUs (stock keeping units, or product editions) that Microsoft would provide with its next operating system. Now, with nearly 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, similar in scope to the work I did documenting Windows Vista. 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. Note: This set of tables has been updated for the final, shipping versions of Windows 7. Unlike similar comparisons, these tables were generated using not by simply observering each product edition, but also by using Microsoft's internal reporting mechanisms to determine exactly which features are, in fact, available in each version. For this reason, I can reasonably state that this is the most complete and accurate list of Windows 7 features anywhere. That said, I'm still human and could have made mistakes transcribing the information. If you see anything wrong or missing, or would like to see a certain feature added, please contact me. Finding what you need

　　Availability

　　Home Basic Starter Home Premium Professional Enterprise & Ultimate

　　Retail packaging Yes Yes Ult. only

　　Can purchase electronically Yes Yes Ult. only

　　Pricing: Full version $199.99 $299.99 $319.99 (Ult)

　　Pricing: Upgrade version $119.99 $199.99 $219.99 (Ult.)

　　Upgrade promotional pricing $49.99 $99.99

　　Bundled with new PCs in major markets Yes Yes Yes Ult. only

　　Windows Anytime Upgrade Yes Yes Yes Yes

　　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

　　Live Preview (Explorer) 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

　　SuperFetch 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

　　Max RAM (32-bit) 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB

　　Max RAM (64-bit) 8 GB 8 GB 16 GB 192 GB 192 GB

　　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 (FreeCell, Hearts, Minesweeper, Purble Palace, Solitaire, Spide Solitaire) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

　　Premium games (Internet Backgammon, Internet Checkers, Internet Spades, Mahjong Titans) 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

　　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

　　Windows Media Player Remote Media Experience Yes Yes Yes

　　MPEG-2 decoding Yes Yes Yes

　　Dolby Digital compatibility Yes Yes Yes

　　AAC and H.264 decoding Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

　　DVD playback Yes Yes Yes

　　Can install MPEG-2 (DVD playback) add-in Yes Yes n/a n/a n/a

　　Windows Media Center Yes Yes Yes

　　Number of TV tuners supported 4 of each type (analog, digital, etc.) 4 of each type (analog, digital, etc.) 4 of each type (analog, digital, etc.)

　　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

　　SMB connections 20 20 20 20 20

　　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

　　Network Bridge 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

　　XP Mode licensed Yes Yes

　　AppLocker Yes

　　Boot from VHD Yes

　　BranchCache 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

　　--Paul Thurrott

　　March 30, 2009

　　Updated March 31, 2009; April 26, 2009; May 29, 2009; June 27, 2009

　　Updated for the final shipping version of Windows 7 on July 28, 2009

　　Find out more

　　Read more about the differences between the various Windows 7 product editions in my article, Windows 7 Product Editions. Related Reading: Windows 7

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