Question What Win7 version should I get?

[Ripley]

Hi fellow Orbiteers.

I'm still with my old faithful XP SP3, but odds are that we'll soon have to say farewell.
Thinking about a "power user" home pc, with no advanced/fancy domain needs, which Win7 version would you consider installing?

FWIW, I use it for gaming (Orbiter, IL-2, LFS, GTL) and the usual Internet/Office/Gimp stuff (who doesn't?).

Thanks

 

[garyw]

Windows 7 home premium will suit your needs just fine.

 

[orb]

Windows 7 home premium

64-bit version.

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit version.

 

[RisingFury]

Home premium can be a real pain in the ass. Some features are locked. For example, you can't change system language (thanks, Microsoft) once installed, so make sure to get the one you really want, in case you speak multiple languages.

 

[Fabri91]

I'd also go with Windows 8/8.1 (you can buy 8 now and upgrade for free to 8.1 in a couple of weeks). Stick with the basic version, no need to go with the Pro one.

Windows 8 Pro is comparable to Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate[4][5] and is targeted towards enthusiasts and business users; it includes all the features of Windows 8. Additional features include the ability to receive Remote Desktop connections, the ability to participate in a Windows Server domain, Encrypting File System, Hyper-V, and Virtual Hard Disk Booting, Group Policy as well as BitLocker and BitLocker To Go. Windows Media Center functionality will be available only for Windows 8 Pro as a separate software package.

Takes a bit of getting used to, but it's much snappier and lighter on resources than Windows 7 (or at least it feels like it is), and it uses the same drivers of Vista/7, so compatibility is a non-issue.

That being said, if you want to stick to 7, I'd agree that Home Premium is the best choice, but be aware that in case you decide to change your system in the future it supports a maximum of 16GB of RAM.

EDIT: Window 8 also allows to change the system language after installation.

 

[Eccentrus]

I would also suggest you to jump to the Win8 bandwagon, Microsoft abandoned the whole multiversion stuff in Win8 and there's only two versions which are easy to understand, the Regular and the Pro

 

[n122vu]

Another vote for Win8 here. Can't believe I'm saying that. 6 months ago I was the most anti-8 person I know. I upgraded my personal laptop from 7 to 8 a couple weeks ago, and not only am I getting used to it, but as Fabri91 mentioned, it definitely feels a lot faster. I honestly don't miss the old Start button menu, so I'm not in a rush for the revamped Start button coming with 8.1.

 

[goaowonk]

it definitely feels a lot faster.

Does it really go faster?: does it seem to go like that but not really (just appearances), or does it actually need less system resources?

Sent from my Deltaglider using Potatolk.

 

[Hielor]

Home premium can be a real pain in the ass. Some features are locked. For example, you can't change system language (thanks, Microsoft) once installed, so make sure to get the one you really want, in case you speak multiple languages.

It's too bad that's not listed on the back of the box or on Microsoft's webpage.

Oh wait, it is. If that's a fundamental requirement for you, then you should buy the version that meets your requirements.

 

[n122vu]

Does it really go faster?: does it seem to go like that but not really (just appearances), or does it actually need less system resources?

Sent from my Deltaglider using Potatolk.

Programs seem to load faster. I haven't observed task manager enough yet to see if it is really using fewer resources.

Bootup is about the same, maybe a little slower. This could be due to the way I have something configured at boot, haven't dug into it just yet.

 

[Fabri91]

From what I've seen the boot is quite a bit faster since the kernel session gets hibernated and not re-initialized every time.

 

[RisingFury]

It's too bad that's not listed on the back of the box or on Microsoft's webpage.

Oh wait, it is. If that's a fundamental requirement for you, then you should buy the version that meets your requirements.

Got mine pre-loaded on the computer. Later got Ultimate. In either case, this a very bad business practice. It's deceptive. Microsoft just locked a bunch of features on certain versions to justify the high cost of Ultimate, even though Professional and Home versions are exactly the same pieces of software.

 

[Hielor]

Got mine pre-loaded on the computer. Later got Ultimate. In either case, this a very bad business practice. It's deceptive. Microsoft just locked a bunch of features on certain versions to justify the high cost of Ultimate, even though Professional and Home versions are exactly the same pieces of software.

There's nothing deceptive about it. Your computer was advertised with Home Premium, and ten seconds of searching the internet or reading the box will tell you what the differences are. As for bad business practices--multiple system display languages isn't a common scenario for most users, so why should they have to pay for features they won't use? It's just like many other products. Cars, for example. Sure, the GPS navigation system is offered if you want it, but if you don't want to pay extra for it, you don't have to.

Note also that it's not "exactly the same pieces of software." Specifically the multi-language thing requires additional content for each language you want to add. It's not like your Home Premium install actually supports all languages and it's just being hidden from you.

Note also that you can type in whatever language you want with any version. It's only if you want to change the system language that you need to go for Ultimate instead of Home Premium, and not very many people want to do that.

 

[Linguofreak]

There's nothing deceptive about it. Your computer was advertised with Home Premium, and ten seconds of searching the internet or reading the box will tell you what the differences are. As for bad business practices--multiple system display languages isn't a common scenario for most users, so why should they have to pay for features they won't use? It's just like many other products. Cars, for example. Sure, the GPS navigation system is offered if you want it, but if you don't want to pay extra for it, you don't have to.

But they don't ship all their cars with a GPS in a locked compartment and offer to give you the key if you pay them more money.

Note also that it's not "exactly the same pieces of software."

http://blogs.windows.com/windows/ar...2/04/a-closer-look-at-the-windows-7-skus.aspx

This means the bits for all the editions are already on your computer if you are running Windows 7.

Straight from the horse's mouth.

Specifically the multi-language thing requires additional content for each language you want to add. It's not like your Home Premium install actually supports all languages and it's just being hidden from you.

You're being disingenuous here: Win7 Ultimate doesn't have all the language packs on it either, and language packs themselves are completely free. It does have the code required to load and use a language pack.

And Home Premium *also* has all the code required to load and use a language pack, it's just disabled. So Microsoft has put development time (and thus programmer salaries and thus extra cost to the user) into making the code they actually ship pretend not to have all the capabilities it really does (making it less valuable to the user) in order to soak the user for more money.

Note also that you can type in whatever language you want with any version. It's only if you want to change the system language that you need to go for Ultimate instead of Home Premium, and not very many Americans want to do that.

FTFY.

More than half of the world's population is multilingual, and while I don't have any hard statistics, I'm fairly certain that households where different family members have different native languages are not at all uncommon in places like Europe, India, and China, to name a few.

 

[Hielor]

Actually, in the case of many cars, it is the same software, they just don't have the database of streets needed for the GPS to work.

So in the car case you pay more to have access to the streets database so you can use the GPS. In the computer case you pay more to have access to the language packs so you can have multiple languages.

The alternative to "people pay less when they don't need all the features" is "everyone pays the same even when they don't need all the features."

Do you want to pay the same amount when there are features you won't ever use? Or would you rather be able to choose to pay less when you don't want all the features?

You're thinking of it as "pay more to unlock features" when you should be thinking of it as "pay less to not have features you won't use."

Any additional programmer time to "lock" the features would be rather negligible next to the time the feature took in the first place.

Keep in mind also that applications not included with the system (which I suspect is the majority of applications people use on a daily basis) can be in whatever language they were written in and are not limited to the system language.

Edit: Of course, it's all kind of a historical point anyway since Windows 7 isn't "current" anymore and Windows 8 only came in two editions available to end-users. According to the comparison chart, the language thing in particular is not differentiated between the SKUs, and other resources online seem to suggest that the non-Pro SKU also has support for multiple display languages. It's almost like Microsoft heard your feedback and did what you asked...but of course that would never happen...