What Is the Difference Between Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Ultimate Edition?
Microsoft offers the Windows 7 operating system in several different editions, each with a slightly different feature set and included utilities. Windows 7 Home Premium has features designed for use around the home, with programs focusing on basic computing tasks and entertainment. Windows 7 Ultimate includes all the features of Home Premium, in addition to several other utilities.
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Home Premium Features
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Windows 7 Home Premium includes many familiar Windows features, along with upgrades and new software. The interface uses the new Windows Aero theme, and features the Start Menu search bar and the "Snap," "Peek" and "Shake" functions for managing Windows. It comes with Internet Explorer 8, DirectX 11, Windows Media Player 12 and an updated Windows Media Center.
Ultimate Additions
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In addition to the entire feature list of the Home Premium edition, Windows 7 Ultimate includes "Homegroup" creation features, support for joining domains, remote desktop connectivity, "Windows XP Mode" for running older programs and network backup tools. Many of these features are also available in the Windows 7 Professional edition, which includes many business features but lacks some entertainment programs included in the Home Premium version.
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Unique Ultimate Features
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While it shares features with the Home Premium and Professional editions, Windows 7 Ultimate also has some functions not found in any other versions. These include additional language packs for working with Windows in other languages, the "BitLocker" tool that encrypts drives for additional data security and "AppLocker" for management of program permissions over a network.
Costs
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Windows 7 Ultimate costs significantly more than Windows 7 Home Premium, making it the most expensive of the Windows 7 editions. Users with a system running Windows 7 Starter, Home Premium or Professional can upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate for cheaper than a full copy of the OS, using the Windows Anytime Upgrade feature.
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References
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