Windows 7 Editions: Windows 7 Professional
Windows 7 Professional is the second Windows 7 edition that we take a closer look at (after Windows 7 Home Premium yesterday). This edition is actually the equivalent to Windows Vista Business but Microsoft decided to rename it in this operating system. Some say they did so to make it easier for Windows XP Pro users to switch to Windows 7.
The price difference between Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional is steep. You can currently get a so called Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack that includes three licenses for roughly $200 whereas a single Windows 7 Professional license puts you down $299 (some rebates are currently available dropping that figure to $260).
Still, users would expect value for that price difference. As outlined yesterday there are only a few additional features in Windows 7 Professional that are not available in Home Premium.
The following list lists the features that Windows 7 Home users don't get. They are only included in Windows 7 Pro and Windows 7 Ultimate.
- Backup and Restore Center (backup to networks is the additional feature here)
- Windows Server Domain support.
- Remote Desktop Server support.
- Location aware printing: Automatically changes the default printer based on the location of the user.
- Encrypting the file system
- Presentation mode: Presentation Mode is found in the Mobility Centre (Windows Key + X) and lets you control your machine’s behavior while you are giving presentations
- Windows XP Mode: Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC, available on Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate, allow you to run multiple Windows environments, such as Windows XP Mode, from your Windows 7 desktop
Most of these features have been designed for a business or professional environment while some could be useful for other users as well.
Most of these features can be substituted with third party software: this includes software backups, file system encryption, presentation mode, location aware printing or the Windows XP mode. Computer users who know that they need several of these features might want to pick this version whereas everyone else is probably better off with Windows 7 Home Premium or even Windows 7 Ultimate which retails for only $20 more than Windows 7 Professional.
One of the core features that Windows 7 Professional supports but Home does not is the Group Policy. Other features that may be of interested include Windows XP Mode, Bitlocker support, and if required, Windows Server Domain support.
Windows 7 Professional does support computer memory of up to 192 Gigabytes whereas Home Premium only supports 16 Gigabytes. This could be a valid reason to use the Pro (or Ultimate) version instead of Home Premium although it is highly unlikely that many end users are using computer systems which exceed 16 Gigabytes of computer memory.
Yeah, but thanks to a Ghacks article, I got my Windows 7 Pros cheap for US$29.99 each :)
That was definitely a nice bargain ;)
I have bought a new laptop (sadly returned to repair already), which comes pre-installed with Windows 7 Home Premium x64. First of all I’ll need to get rid of all the pre-installed junk. However, one thing I can’t find is the speed difference. Is there a speed difference between Home Premium and Professional?
I’ll probably be more than happy with a working laptop with Home Premium, but being a student who presents a lot, the presentation mode would be nice. Location aware printing and XP mode are the two other reason to consider an upgrade, which should be cheaper as a student anyway.
There is no speed difference between the different editions.
Interesting… so cramming more features into system doesn’t change the speed? It was just something I was wondering about when considering the options. Thanks!
I would not exactly call those few additional features cramming ;)
If you do a Google Search under “getting rid of windows 7”, there are about 14,500,000 hits. Think that perhaps Microsoft has a problem bubbling on the front burner?
Recently purchased a Gateway laptop computer that came pre-loaded with Windows 7. After spending considerable time trying to use Windows 7 for even the basic setup options, I’ve become quite frustrated. The result is that this new computer sits idle and is not used. The stuff on the screen is too small and attempts to remedy the situation have failed.
Have yet to figure out how to enlarge the font or image size so that the screen print is readable. The few customized changes that were able to be made just don’t stick and Windows 7 reverts to some sort of crappy default mode. This operating system totally sucks.
Did the secret right click on the desktop trick but find the options to be mostly confusing clutter. Windows 7 is annoying and dysfunctional!
Decided that I want to get rid of the Windows 7 OS and install Windows XP. My concern however is for installing the correct drivers after doing a disk reformat with a new Operating System. Unlike my Dell computer, the Gateway laptop did not come with any support software disks.
Still, I think that loading a fresh copy of Windows XP onto the hot little dual-core laptop will at least allow the thing to be used. We shall see!
You can edit the display options by right-clicking the desktop, selecting personalize and then display in the lower left corner of the screen which will lead to all the display options. This includes calibration of the computer monitor and adjusting the font settings. Nothing complicated about that.