The production version of Windows 7 will be available on October 22nd. Release candidates and test versions of the software have been available for months, so Windows 7 works with a very wide variety of PC hardware and software. 3rd party manufacturers have had plenty of time to develop new drivers, too.
Windows 7 will be available in several versions: Starter, Business, Ultimate, and Home Premium.
Starter is a stripped-down version for netbooks, and leaves out the cool graphics that make Windows 7 so much fun to use. Home Premium is the right choice for most people, because it includes the improvements in graphic interface and easier networking. Business has VPN capabilities and extra security features that will make it a good choice for security-conscious corporations. Business also has Windows XP compatibility mode, useful for corporations that have created custom XP applications. Ultimate has the capabilities of all other versions.
If you want to upgrade a computer running Windows XP or Windows Vista, you'll need to order an upgrade version of Windows 7. The Home Premium upgrade costs $120, upgrading Windows Vista Pro to Windows 7 Business costs $200, and upgrading to Windows 7 Ultimate costs $220. You can pre-order Windows 7 upgrades now, for delivery on the release date if you wish.
The process of upgrading is pretty painless for a machine running Windows Vista. If you're running XP, you have to make a backup of data, wipe the disk, and then install Windows 7, your applications, and your data. To help make backups, inexpensive external hard drives are easy to find these days. For example, I saw a 1 TB drive in a USB external enclosure at OfficeMax the other day for $95. And Fry's regularly has 500 GB external drives for $60.
Here's Microsoft's page that lists the differences in features of the versions:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/compare
And here's a readable summary of new features and goodies in Windows 7. The summary starts about 1/3 the way down the page.
http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20091007/a-windows-to-help-you-forget/
Windows 7 will be available in several versions: Starter, Business, Ultimate, and Home Premium.
Starter is a stripped-down version for netbooks, and leaves out the cool graphics that make Windows 7 so much fun to use. Home Premium is the right choice for most people, because it includes the improvements in graphic interface and easier networking. Business has VPN capabilities and extra security features that will make it a good choice for security-conscious corporations. Business also has Windows XP compatibility mode, useful for corporations that have created custom XP applications. Ultimate has the capabilities of all other versions.
If you want to upgrade a computer running Windows XP or Windows Vista, you'll need to order an upgrade version of Windows 7. The Home Premium upgrade costs $120, upgrading Windows Vista Pro to Windows 7 Business costs $200, and upgrading to Windows 7 Ultimate costs $220. You can pre-order Windows 7 upgrades now, for delivery on the release date if you wish.
The process of upgrading is pretty painless for a machine running Windows Vista. If you're running XP, you have to make a backup of data, wipe the disk, and then install Windows 7, your applications, and your data. To help make backups, inexpensive external hard drives are easy to find these days. For example, I saw a 1 TB drive in a USB external enclosure at OfficeMax the other day for $95. And Fry's regularly has 500 GB external drives for $60.
Here's Microsoft's page that lists the differences in features of the versions:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/compare
And here's a readable summary of new features and goodies in Windows 7. The summary starts about 1/3 the way down the page.
http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20091007/a-windows-to-help-you-forget/
