Windows 7, which of the 11 versions should you buy?

I am down here in Atlanta at CED Solutions getting my MCITP on Windows 7 and brushing up on my MCITP Server and Enterprise for Windows 2008 R2.  It is early Thursday morning and I am studying and thought I would take a break and write in my blog.

CED is a GREAT place to learn and get certified on all sorts of technology.  BE WARNED!  This is not for the faint of heart nor the weak of mind!  While rewarding, the whole experience will beat you up bad.  Most days start at 6 am and end around 2 am or 3 am.  That is right 3 to 4 hours of sleep a night.  For me, this is what it takes.  For some it takes less, for most others, it takes more.  I don't like to retake certification tests so I will study as hard as I can the FIRST time so that I don't have to do it again.  Some will study, fail the test and realize what they need to study the next time; and go take it again.  Not me, I want 1000 out of 1000 everytime.  Anything less is disappointing to me.

HUH? There are 11 versions of Window 7? Yep! And I’ll get to that in a moment. First let me answer the questions I have received the past few months.

1.  What should I do?  Give me all your money of course!  :)  Honestly, I really like many of the different flavors of Linux!  SuSE is my favorite.  What don't people like about FREE?!  Keep in mind, IT IS NOT WINDOWS.  Much like a car and an aircraft carrier are both modes of transportation, it takes different skills for each.  Understanding that there must be a change an a learning curve is key.  Once you get this realization, you are good.

2. Should I upgrade to Windows 7? If you have Vista, ABSOLUTELY! Which version? We are getting to that. If you have Windows XP or lower there isn’t a direct upgrade path. In order to move all of your stuff over, there is this product call WET (Window Easy Transfer) or USMT (User State Migration Tool) that will do a pretty good job moving your data over. But chances are, if you are running Windows XP, your hardware will not support either Windows Vista or Windows 7.

Let me talk about Windows Vista for a moment. For those who remember Windows ME, Vista is even worse. Windows 7 should be called Windows Vista service pack 3. However, since Vista left a bad taste in everyone Microsoft decided to scrap it all together in favor of a new name to rebrand their product. While there are some major back end changes, the user experience is just about the same.

3. Will Windows 7 run my older apps? It depends on your definition of “older”. In Windows 7, Microsoft has completely gotten rid of NTVDM, the major component that allowed for 16 bit legacy (really old) applications. Even with some of the older applications, many of them are written in a way that will not work until the software writer rewrites them for Windows 7.

4. What can I do to see if I can upgrade? Again, no real “upgrade” process from anything other than Windows Vista. Everything else is pretty much a wipe and load. There are two tools that you can download to see how things would work for you. Again, these will evaluate your system pretty much against the MINIMUM requirements. Just because it will work, doesn’t necessarily mean it will work well.

a. ACT, Application Compatibility Tool. This will check the applications you have installed to see if they might work with Windows 7. I have yet to run it on any system that gave me 100% confidence that an upgrade will be successful.

b. MAP, Microsoft Assessment and Planning. This is more for large scale roll outs of an operating system. Unless you have 10 or more installations, I would not use this tool.

Okay, about the 11 different versions. First let me break these down into TWO left and right side categories, 32 bit and 64 bit.

Not since Windows 95 where we went from 16 bit to native 32bit processing has there been such a change. For the past 15 years, programmers have been programming all their software to function in the win32 bit environment (save a few early adopters and linux heads). Now, ALL applications on the face of the planet, all drivers, all EVERYTHING pertaining to the desktop has to be rewritten. This is not going to happen overnight, nor is it ever going to go smoothly. This is one the big issues with Vista64. Not many software vendors got ready for it.

So there are going to be two categories of operating systems 32 bit and 64 bit. We already know that 64 bit is going to be the standard, much like we know that Blue-Ray is going to replace the DVD. There isn’t any competition; it is just going to happen. What is different is that Blue-Ray players can play DVD’s, 64 bit OS may not play 32 bit applications at all (with a MAJOR exception I’ll talk about later). You are going to find better success with applications on the 32 bit platform rather than the 64 bit platform, but they are coming. You are going to see a SIGNIFICANT performance increase in the 64 bit OS over the 32 bit OS simply because all the hardware IS 64 bit. When you run a 32 bit OS on 64 bit hardware you are essentially binding your hardware’s figurative “hands and feet” and asking it to run a mile. It has to work harder than if the OS was 64 bit.

Oh, and there is absolutely no way to upgrade from 32bit to 64bit EVER! If you have Windows Vista 32 bit, the only upgrade you can do is to Windows 7 32bit. If you want to go from 32bit to 64bit, you must completely, and I mean COMPLETELY wipe out your computer, purchase a NEW version of the OS, and start from scratch.

So now that we have a left and right categories of 32 bit and 64 bit, lets talk about the up and down categories, Personal/Home and Business, each having 3 options; for a total of 6 different OSs. But if they all come in a 32 bit and a 64 bit option shouldn’t we have 12 to choose from?

The Personal/Home Windows 7 category comes with 3 different editions. Window 7 Starter, Home Basic and Home Premium.

Windows 7 Starter: This ONLY comes in 32 bit! It is primarily found preloaded on Netbooks which simply do not have the same processing power as a laptop. They are not mean to do the same thing! This edition is great for the user who just wants to go online, do some minor word processing, and that is about it. You can only run 3 apps at a time. Because of the limited functionality, you have a menu called a “jumplist” which has only pre-populated apps. This edition lacks most of the tools and utilities that anyone needing to install applications would want. While you can do some business and educational things, this version, IMHO, is a fun toy to get online and goof around. Unfortunately a good majority of Netbooks ONLY come pre-populated with this version. I expect that as Nebooks become robust we are going to see better OS options. This is very good at streaming media and broadband/online applications.

Windows 7 Home Basic: From here on out all of the versions will come with both 32bit and 64bit flavors, It can run more than 3 apps at a time, but has what is called a “fancy GUI” (Graphical User Interface). This OS is for the person that does have the OLD hardware and really, really, REALLY wants to upgrade it. When Microsoft talks about their MINIMUM requirements, it is for this version.  I am not even sure you'll see this version in the USA because is designated for "Emerging Markets"  My assumption is this is for areas of the world where Linux is heavily used.  :)

Windows 7 Home Premium: This is the one that most people are going to see and purchase. It comes with the cool GUI called “Aero” which does some of the cool special effects. You must have a fairly good video card to do these things. It also comes with “Media Center” This product is your total entertainment center! Windows 7 also comes with the new “HOMEGroup” for basic home networking. DVD Playback and Authoring

So there are your Home/Personal computers. So what is the big difference between Home/Personal and Business? PLENTY!

Probably most substantial is that the Business OS software line are meant for a network environment. Home OS software can only attach to 10 other home computers, that is all! Business OS software computers are meant to be a part of a system “Domain” and can attach to more than 10 computers. Nothing new hear, just emphasizing the point that HOME/Personal computers have no business in Business environments.

So, here is my strong suggestion, if you are going to be getting a computer for a “home” business, DO NOT get the HOME OS editions! If you are buying a computer that you might want to attach to a Business system, DO NOT buy a HOME OS edition.

So what are these Business editions? Let me first start by saying that all of these are additive. In other words as we move up from the Starter Edition, we are adding features to each version. All the features in the Business editions are NOT available in the Home editions.

Perhaps the most concerning issue as a Network Director is that of licensing. There has always been a significant difference in the way Microsoft has licensed Home/Personal editions and Business editions.

Home Edition licensing is a single licenses managed by a single person. Really, this is fairly simple. One, two, three machines means, one, two, three licenses to manage and activate.

However, imagine if you have 1000 or 10000 computers that you have to manage ALL of those 26 digit activation codes and perform a manual registration process for each PC. PHEW! Windows XP allowed for a volume license that did not need to be activated. If you bought 700 copies, you were allowed, on your honor, to install 700 copies. Well….Windows 7 has completely changed the backend licensing model. EVERY SINGLE COPY of the license needs to be activated. Because of this, Microsoft came out with a Key Management Service which must be installed on a workstation (for smaller environments of less than 50 computers) or server.

This allows workstation to connect to a KMS (Key Management Service) server for activation instead of having to manually go to a Microsoft server each time it want to activate or verify its activation. Each time a workstation is imaged or goes out to get updates, the workstation now must connect to the Microsoft Genuine Advantage to make sure it isn’t a pirated version. As a result, in a small environment without KMS, you may have to click a few buttons just to get updates. KMS eliminates this process.

Windows 7 Professional: I was so fooled into thinking that this was the equivalent of Windows XP Professional where we had everything we needed. WRONG! So what does it have.

1. EFS, Encrypted File System. Some people need to secure their systems from theft and data loss.

2. Group Policies. Because this version can join a Domain, it can also have group policies applied to it. NONE of the home systems can be managed in a business environment just because of this!

3. RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) inbound and Offline folders. This is very useful for those who need to remote into a computer. Also, used to manage computers in a larger network.

4. Advanced Backup software. You can actually backup and entire image of your computer to a network location, and restore it just as it is.

5. This is the SINGLE reason to buy a Business OS over a HOME/Professional OS. All of the Business Oss come with what is called “Windows XP Mode” It is a FREE download from Microsoft which will allow you to install a Windows XP application within a Virtualized environment right on Windows 7.

Windows 7 Enterprise: Now I am going to throw some things out here that are pretty much only important to an enterprise administrator expect the first one.

1. BitLocker Hard Disk Drive Protection. You can lock your hard drive and even your USB stick so that you YOU, with a password, can have access to it. There is more to this but I’ll leave it at this.

2. AppLocker. (no need to go into this one but super important in a Doman environment)

3. Branch Office Caching (again no need to go into this one unless you are a part of a Domain environment)

4. Direct Access (Something really interesting with IPv6, and not really knowing about here)

5. Ability to start from a VHD, (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure). This in combination with a MED-V (Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization), allow a user to receive an OS from a server from anywhere in the world.

Windows 7 Ultimate: This is the edition that comes with everything. What is different about this edition that the other two Business editions? Simple it doesn’t have a volume license agreement. It is the one that can be installed for technical.

So as you purchase a new computer or upgrade one to Windows 7, you have a few things to think about. 32bit or 64bit?, Home/Personal or Business? And which flavor will work for you? It all depends on what you want to do with it and what you expect it to do.

If someone corners me and ask what they should get, Windows Ultimate x64 everytime! :)

Tom