Windows 7 Features Summary

As I was browsing my RSS feeds in Outlook I came across a post from Jon Box who is an Architect Evangelist in Developer & Platform Evangelism with the Microsoft Corporation.

He has a terrific post that talks about the features you can expect in the various versions of Windows 7. 

He starts off with this graphic to show how each version builds to the next one:

As you can see above each successive version adds to the features of the version before it until ultimately (pun intended) you get to Windows 7 Ultimate which has all of the features of the 4 previous versions.

In his post he mainly focuses on the last three versions – here is what he says about them:

Windows 7 Home Premium

In addition to the features of Windows 7 Starter and Windows 7 Home Basic, this edition includes:

• Aero Glass & advanced Window navigation
• Windows Touch (Multi-touch and handwriting support) Video demo, More here
• Windows Media Center
• Internet Explorer 8: Web slices, accelerators, InPrivate Browsing

Windows 7 Professional

Contains all features in Windows 7 Home Premium and also includes these features:

• Domain Join (Step-By-Step Guide)
• Group Policy Controls (More)
• Location Aware Printing
• Encrypting File System
• Advanced Backup (First Look)
• Offline Folders (more)
  • transparent caching, background sync for offline files
• Remote Desktop Host (More)
• Windows Mobility Center: Presentation Mode

Windows 7 Enterprise

In addition to the features of Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional, this edition includes (Some features require Windows Server 2008 R2):

• DirectAccess keeps mobile users connected on the go

• BranchCache makes file access faster (TechNet description)

• Search information on the PC, mail or SharePoint

• BitLocker protects data on a PC and portable drives

• AppLocker lets you control what user’s can run

• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure made better

Of course as we have already heard – no special stuff for the Ultimate version like there was in Windows Vista Ultimate although I would not mind seeing some of those games make their way to Windows 7!

I am not sure about you all but I am getting very excited about Windows 7.  I continue to believe that this is going to like Windows XP was to Windows ME – a huge success.

Related Posts

• Windows 7 Versions Abound
• Windows 7 Pricing and Upgrade Options Revealed
• Is Microsoft Dropping the 3 App Limitation for Windows 7 Starter Edition?
• Windows 7 Google Alerts for 03 February 2009
• Windows 7 Google Alerts for 15 January 2009

Richard Hay  (3358 Posts)

Richard is the Owner of WindowsObserver.com and has been involved in tech for over 25 years. His first website – AnotherWin95.com – came online in 1995. Back then he used GeoCities Web Hosting for it and what you see here today is the result of the work he has continued on the site since 1995. In January 2010 his community contributions were recognized by Microsoft when he was awarded the Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Award for Windows Desktop Experience. In January 2011 he was renewed as a Microsoft MVP but in a new category called Windows Expert - Consumer and in January 2012 he received the award for the third time.