Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional?

**gkline** · 10-07-2009, 08:02 AM

I need input and help from fellow sharkys. I had run Windows 7 RC for quite awhile on my 939 AMD 4800 and found it much better than Vista Business. I gave that machine to my daughter and rebuilt a new one recently ( rig 1 below). I installed Vista Home premium 64 bit OEM from Newegg with the Windows 7(W7) upgrade coupon. I ordered the upgrade. Earlier in July, I was able to order W7 Professional upgrade for @$99 ( it was that 1/2 price special from MS). My new rig is definitely going to W7 - I'm just not sure which version. The upgrade from Vista Home to W7 home is simple. Would it be wiser to use the W7 Professional upgrade (I know it will only work as a clean install) instead of the W7 home upgrade?

I could use the W7 home premium upgrade on my wife's Sony laptop that has 4 gigs ram and Vista 64 home premium on it.

Pros and cons?

Can I use the Vista 64OEM home premium license to qualify for the Windows 7Pro upgrade even if I have to do a clean install?

Rig 1 is very powerful and I might be tempted to run XP virtual machine in it but that requires at least W7 Pro.

**Dark Sonic** · 10-07-2009, 08:31 AM

http://www.sharkyforums.com/showthread.php?t=318005

**proxops-pete** · 10-07-2009, 12:29 PM

For us gamers, just go Win 7 Prem... that "XP Mode" crap only works with softwares!!

Does NOT work with games (ie. Direct3D)

**Geforce255** · 10-07-2009, 01:28 PM

Originally Posted by gkline

My new rig is definitely going to W7 - I'm just not sure which version. The upgrade from Vista Home to W7 home is simple. Would it be wiser to use the W7 Professional upgrade (I know it will only work as a clean install) instead of the W7 home upgrade?

It's simple, do you need to join to a domain? If not, use Home Premium. If you do, you must use either Business or Ultimate. Business lacks most of the media functions, so isn't good for home use.

**gkline** · 10-07-2009, 10:55 PM

Thanks for the replies. W7 Home premium it is!

**JKILLA74** · 10-26-2009, 09:54 PM

I have home premium(64 Bit) and I love it!!!!!!!!! It even has a better feel that the latest Beta(RC1) I was using for the last couple of months. I am so happy with this operating system. Games run great too!

**Spaceman Spiff** · 10-31-2009, 12:49 AM

Originally Posted by Geforce255

It's simple, do you need to join to a domain? If not, use Home Premium. If you do, you must use either Business or Ultimate. Business lacks most of the media functions, so isn't good for home use.

I don't think that's true.

You're thinking of Vista. Windows 7 Professional has every single feature Home Premium does, plus the few extras, according to everything I've read or seen.

**ua549** · 10-31-2009, 07:47 AM

Professional has more networking features such as joining a domain and network backup for home or business networks.
It also has XP mode for running old applications.

**Kernel Panic** · 11-11-2009, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by Geforce255

It's simple, do you need to join to a domain? If not, use Home Premium. If you do, you must use either Business or Ultimate. Business lacks most of the media functions, so isn't good for home use.

What about 'advanced' file permission?

For example:
Currently I have Windows XP Professional desktop for my young kids. Obviously I have their accounts set up as limited users. However they like playing some old games (like StarCraft) which need write access to the 'Program Files' area. In Windows XP Home the advanced file permissions are not available by default (there are some tricks you can use to access them) furthermore, I wanted to disable printing because my kids like to waste paper. That level of control was also unavailable in XP Home.

I'm curious if Windows 7 Home Premium has that same limitation.

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