Detailed comparison of Windows 7 Editions

[Pave Low 16]

With Windows 7 now available to pre-order in the US and shortly in the UK (at amazing low LOW prices while stock last!)

Here is a great article for those needing a little bit help of to decide the best edition to get

or for those that were already decided on an edition to see if a "lower" edition could meet their needs

Windows 7 Product Editions: A Comparison

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

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: there are slight differences in the European versions (the so called "E" editions) as they don't contain IE8

[Rocky 1,223]

Thanks. Home Premium looks like the most suitable for us lot...?

[firefly2442 0]

Does anyone know if the upgrade will require an existing install of XP or Vista? For some previous versions I believe you could just do a clean install of the OS without having a previous version installed. You could just give it the old product key and it would know that it was a valid upgrade.

[Pave Low 16]

Microsoft says you can perform a clean (full) install of Windows 7 with the "Upgrade" media (so long as you have a valid XP/Visa licence key + media).

but it's not yet clear if there has to be an existing version of Windows installed on the PC or if you can install it on a "bare" hard-drive

*The "Upgrade" version of Win 7 is not for sale in Europe only the "Full" version know as "E versions" (basically "full" but without IE8)

Although the "E versions" will still be available to preorder at seriously reduces price comparable to the US "upgrade"/"Full"

but apparently the "Full" version & "E version" will be not be able to perform in-place upgrades of Windows Vista/XP to Windows 7, only a clean install (have to reinstall all programs again)

Thanks. Home Premium looks like the most suitable for us lot...?

Yes looking at those tables, Professional doesn't seem to be necessary for an extra £50 / £100

particularly as UK can preorder Home Premium at £49.99

Not unless you specifically need

"192 GB RAM" (64-bit)

"Backup to network"

"Encrypting File System (EFS)"

"Remote Desktop Host"

"Offline files"

"Domain join (Windows Server)"

"XP Mode licensed"

"Location-aware printing"

Although with "Windows Anytime Upgrade" you can pay later to add the extra functions of a higher edition