When Windows 7 finally hits the market, much anticipated after the disappointment that was Windows Vista, it will be available in six different versions, although only two of them will generate mass market interest.
According to Windows general manager Mike Ybarra, most interest will be in the Home Premium edition, aimed at consumers, and the Professional edition, geared for businesses.
In part, that’s a response to all the confusion surrounding the multiple editions of Vista.
"The first change in Windows 7 was to make sure that editions of Windows 7 are a superset of one another," said Ybarra.
"As an example, some business customers using Windows Vista Business wanted the Media Center functionality that is in Windows Vista Home Premium but didn’t receive it in Business edition. Customers won’t have to face that trade-off with Windows 7."
The other four versions of Windows 7 will be geared at smaller markets. Home Basic will be aimed at emerging markets, while the OEM-exclusive Starter version will be for manufacturers of low-cost computers.
Finally, big businesses can buy the Enterprise edition in volume, and those companies wanting to fork out big bucks can purchase Windows 7 Ultimate.
Users will be able to perform an upgrade from Vista, but those wanting to move on from XP will have to perform a clean install.
The company didn’t offer any pricing on the different versions of the new OS.
