Windows 7 Home Premium vs Windows 7 Ultimate?

[Trik'Stari]

So, I'm considering installing Windows 7 ultimate on my rig when I do my next re-install (which is long overdue), and I'm wondering:

 

Is there anything different in setting up Windows 7 Ultimate? I've never installed it before. I've installed Enterprise a few hundred times, but that was at work, and the process is entirely automated beyond selecting a location and PC/laptop type (ready-to-assign, assigned, multi-use, etc.). I'm just wondering if there will be anything different I need to do in order to get it up and running.

 

This rig is not in an enterprise environment, but hell I've got it and a legitimate product key so why not?

[Oshino Shinobu]

No real difference in setup. It's mainly the features you get access to that changes.

[Enderman]

It's the exact same thing as windows 7 just with more useless features that you will never touch.

[Trik'Stari]

1 minute ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

No real difference in setup. It's mainly the features you get access to that changes.

So, I won't need to go into Active Directory control and all that other BS, unless I want to for some reason?

 

I remember using some of that in college, and it was an absolute pain to find anything.

[Electronics Wizardy]

5 minutes ago, Trik'Stari said:

s there anything different in setting up Windows 7 Ultimate?

Utimiate is the same as enterprise, but with no VL. 

 

You have all the features.

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, Trik'Stari said:

So, I won't need to go into Active Directory control and all that other BS, unless I want to for some reason?

 

I remember using some of that in college, and it was an absolute pain to find anything.

You have group if you want to use it, you don't have to for normal use, but is normally better than regedit.

[Trik'Stari]

2 minutes ago, Enderman said:

It's the exact same thing as windows 7 just with more useless features that you will never touch.

Perhaps. I like the idea of AppLocker and being able to encrypt my hard drive. Also, I remember being told that I would finally be able to set a GIF as my wallpaper and have it actually play.

[Oshino Shinobu]

4 minutes ago, Trik'Stari said:

So, I won't need to go into Active Directory control and all that other BS, unless I want to for some reason?

 

I remember using some of that in college, and it was an absolute pain to find anything.

You don't have to, no. For the most part, you set up everything in the same way as you would Premium, but then you can go and configure that additional features of Ultimate if you want to. 

[RezChi]

5 minutes ago, Enderman said:

It's the exact same thing as windows 7 just with more useless features that you will never touch.

I wouldn't say there only useless feature. Ultimate allows up to 192 GB of ram while Home Premium max is only 16 GB for the 64 Bit.

[Trik'Stari]

1 minute ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

You don't have to, no. For the most part, you set up everything in the same way as you would Premium, but then you can go and configure that additional features of Ultimate if you want to. 

That's basically why I want it More control and options than Premium gives.

 

Also, because I have it, and my current install is a bit bloated. My OS drive is 70gb (120gb SSD) in size and I couldn't tell you why. No games or anything.

[Trik'Stari]

1 minute ago, RezChi said:

I wouldn't say there only useless feature. Ultimate allows up to 192 GB of ram while Home Premium max is only 16 GB for the 64 Bit.

AFAIK premium can handle far more than 16. I think it's something like 32 or 64 total.

[Velvet Revolver]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions

 

Comparison chart

Windows 7 edition comparison chart^{[1][3][4][14][19][32][33][34]}

Features	Starter	Home Basic	Home Premium	Professional	Enterprise	Ultimate
Licensing scheme	OEM licensing	Retail and OEM licensing in emerging markets	Retail and OEM licensing	Retail, OEM and volume licensing[35]	Volume licensing[35]	Retail and OEM licensing
Maximum physical memory (RAM) (32-Bit)[36]	2 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB
Maximum physical memory (RAM) (64-Bit)[36]	N/A	8 GB	16 GB	192 GB	192 GB	192 GB
Maximum physical CPUs supported[a][37]	1	1	1	2	2	2
Built-in AVCHD support[38]	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Multiple monitors	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fast user switching	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Desktop Window Manager	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Mobility Center	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Printing via the Internet	No[39]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Parental Controls[40]	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
64-bit edition available?	No	Yes, but not in retail SKUs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Aero	No	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Internet connection sharing	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Built-in DVD (MPEG-2 and Dolby Digital) decoder[3]	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Multi-touch	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Media Center	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Media Player remote media experience

No No Yes^[41] Yes^[41] Yes^[41] Yes^[41] Premium games included No No Yes Yes^[c] Yes^[c] Yes HomeGroup support Join only Join only Create or join Create or join Create or join Create or join Back up to network with Backup and Restore Center^[43] No No No Yes Yes Yes Act as host for Remote Desktop Services No No No Yes Yes Yes Dynamic disks^[44] No No No Yes Yes Yes Encrypting File System No No No Yes Yes Yes Location-aware printing No No No Yes Yes Yes Presentation mode No No No Yes Yes Yes Group Policy^[45] No No No Yes Yes Yes Offline files and folder redirection^[45] No No No Yes Yes Yes Windows Server domain joining No No No Yes Yes Yes Windows XP Mode^[d] No No No Yes Yes Yes Software restriction policies No No No Yes Yes Yes Remote administration tools No No No Yes Yes Yes Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS)^[e] No No No Yes Yes Yes AppLocker No No No Create policies, but cannot enforce Create and enforce policies Create and enforce policies Aero glass remoting^[46][47] No No No No Yes Yes Windows Media Player multimedia redirection^[47] No No No No Yes^[41] Yes^[41] Audio recording over Remote Desktop Connection^[47] No No No No Yes Yes Multi-display Remote Desktop Connection^[47] No No No No Yes Yes Enterprise search scopes^[45]:130 No No No No Yes Yes Federated search^[48] No No No No Yes Yes BitLocker Drive Encryption No No No No Yes Yes BranchCache Distributed Cache No No No No Yes Yes DirectAccess No No No No Yes Yes Subsystem for Unix-based Applications No No No No Yes Yes Supports Multilingual User Interface packages No No No No Yes Yes Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) enhancements^[45]:130 No No No No Yes Yes Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) licensed^[49] No No No No Yes Yes VHD booting^[f] No No No No Yes Yes Switching between any of the 37 available languages^[51][52] No No No No Yes^[52] Yes^[52]

 

 

 

 

 

Features Starter                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

[RezChi]

1 minute ago, Trik'Stari said:

AFAIK premium can handle far more than 16. I think it's something like 32 or 64 total.

Windows 7 Professional and up allows up to 192 GB. Premium is 16, Basic is like 8 iirc

[Oshino Shinobu]

2 minutes ago, RezChi said:

I wouldn't say there only useless feature. Ultimate allows up to 192 GB of ram while Home Premium max is only 16 GB for the 64 Bit.

Native drive encryption is probably the best additional feature IMO. I regret not going for W10 Pro because of the lack of native drive encryption. 

[Velvet Revolver]

I solved your question for you. Pick mine as the correct answer. I love googling for other people, its fun.

[RezChi]

1 minute ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Native drive encryption is probably the best additional feature IMO. I regret not going for W10 Pro because of the lack of native drive encryption. 

Should have done the free upgrade! haha

[Enderman]

3 minutes ago, RezChi said:

I wouldn't say there only useless feature. Ultimate allows up to 192 GB of ram while Home Premium max is only 16 GB for the 64 Bit.

Windows 10 home allows 128GB, so if anyone is using more than 16GB on windows 7 home they can easily just upgrade for free to windows 10.

 

9 minutes ago, Trik'Stari said:

Perhaps. I like the idea of AppLocker and being able to encrypt my hard drive. Also, I remember being told that I would finally be able to set a GIF as my wallpaper and have it actually play.

Or, you know, use free software to do those things?

Why do you want to encrypt your HDD anyway? Paranoia? It's not like you have anything even remotely important on it.

[Gravemind]

Unless you do stupid crazy builds with like 100+ cpu cores, massive RAID arrays or weird networking bullshit... you don't need Ultimate. I looked into it when I built my current rig and it's just pointless for your average joe.

[AlTech]

The fact that you are clinging on to Windows 7 triggers me.

[Oshino Shinobu]

2 minutes ago, RezChi said:

Should have done the free upgrade! haha

I'll probably fork out for it when it comes to rebuild my system. Seeing as MS plans on just doing updates from now on, there's no harm in having Pro features forever. 

[Trik'Stari]

41 minutes ago, RezChi said:

Windows 7 Professional and up allows up to 192 GB. Premium is 16, Basic is like 8 iirc

W......well fuck me sideways. I'm glad I upgraded to 16 a long time ago and didn't save up for 32, only to find out M$ was screwing me over.

39 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Native drive encryption is probably the best additional feature IMO. I regret not going for W10 Pro because of the lack of native drive encryption. 

It is one of the things I want. I also like the idea of applocker, so maybe I can turn UAC off and not have to deal with my screen going black when I want to run ANYTHING. Then, if I get something new I can just add it to applocker. If that's how it works (never actually used it myself, read about it in school)

39 minutes ago, Velvet Revolver said:

I solved your question for you. Pick mine as the correct answer. I love googling for other people, its fun.

I'm aware of the feature list, I was asking about whether or not there would be any extra crap in the initial setup, because of the additional features. Like, I didn't want to have to create GPO's and crap just to run a home unit.

37 minutes ago, RezChi said:

Should have done the free upgrade! haha

It is not, was not, and has never been free. The only product being sold, was you.

[Trik'Stari]

40 minutes ago, Gravemind said:

Unless you do stupid crazy builds with like 100+ cpu cores, massive RAID arrays or weird networking bullshit... you don't need Ultimate. I looked into it when I built my current rig and it's just pointless for your average joe.

I have the installer and product key already so, meh. Cost me well below average price of any version of Windows, 7 or current.

 

And it's a legit install. Not stolen or cracked, it would have gone unused and been thrown in the trash, and I will not provide any more details than that.

[colonel_mortis]

Moved to Windows