Different Versions of Windows 7

Microsoft Corporation of USA provides multiple versions of Windows 7 with a mix of features and capabilities intended for different hardware platforms, personal preferences and business needs. These versions of Windows 7 are as follows:

(a) Windows 7 Starter and Home Basic: Windows 7 Starter offers the Windows basic interface only and lacks support for most effects in Aero user experience, but it is fully capable for running virtually all Windows programs. Windows 7 Home Basic offers the Windows standard interface which includes a subset of Aero features. It lacks many of signature features of Windows such as support for multi-touch and Tablet PC features.

b) Windows 7 Home Premium: This edition is mostly used in new PCs. It includes entertainment features as its predecessor, Window Vista Home Premium.

(c) Windows 7 Professional: This edition is a superset of Home Premium and includes all features including Windows Media Center.

(d) Windows 7 Ultimate/Enterprise: These editions are identical. Ultimate is available on retails and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) editions. But, Enterprise is distributed only to large-sized customers. This edition contains all features found in the Home Premium and Professional editions with some advance networking features, BitLocker encryption and support for multiple languages.

All of these editions are available in 32-bit and 64-bit options. Today Windows 7 64-bit is commonly installed on new computers, especially on systems with 4 GB or more RAM.