Choosing an Edition

Organizations deploying Windows 7 on a large scale are faced with a difficult decision: Which edition or editions should they use? Organizations essentially have to choose between two editions: Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Enterprise, as other editions either lack necessary features or lack the security and management capabilities required to deploy them on a large scale. Choosing between Windows 7 Professional and Enterprise requires balancing management, security, and remote access requirements against an organization’s software budget. Large, global organizations will often find the balance tips toward Enterprise.

Six Editions, but Two for Large Organizations

Windows 7 is available in six different editions—each edition is a superset, that is, it has all the features of the previous edition plus some additional features. (For an overview of the six editions, see the illustration “Windows 7 Editions“.) The edition with the least functionality is Starter edition, which is preinstalled on entry-level computers for emerging markets. The next two editions in terms of increasing functionality, Windows 7 Home and Windows 7 Home Premium, offer features that focus on the computing needs of consumers.