3 Responses to “Windows 7 – Whats the difference between the Professional version and Ultimate?”

1. Bryan A says:

   August 20, 2010 at 7:18 pm

   Wikipedia has a good article on the differences in major features:
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions

   Note that Ultimate contains all of the features of Enterprise, but can actually be purchased by the end user (unlike Enterprise, which is Volume License only), and is only supported through 2015 like the Home editions.

   Some of what is missing from Professional is Enterprise features, like enhancements to remote desktop, bitlocker drive encryption, enterprise search and some policy management features. The boot from VHD is interesting, but probably not worth the extra price. The extra price is worth it if you need to use the bitlocker encryption, but note that there are alternatives such as Truecrypt that can also do full drive encryption.
2. Yeti says:

   August 20, 2010 at 7:26 pm

   Most consumers don’t need the additional features of Ultimate (or even the additional ones of Professional).

   Ultimate is really just the way for consumers to get all the features that are in Enterprise if they’re one of the rarer people who could benefit from them — the features would normally mainly be useful in some business scenarios, and Enterprise is only available via volume licensing.

   Beyond Professional, Ultimate includes BitLocker drive encryption, and the ability to use language packs (to change the language the operating system uses). There are also a couple more minor things. But most consumers would never touch the extra features, and those who “prefer” it are often simply those wanting to pay for “the best” without actually understanding anything about what they’re doing.
3. Tara_WinTeam says:

   August 20, 2010 at 8:11 pm

   Hello Peter,

   You can compare the editions for yourself here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/compare-editions/default.aspx.

   Cheers,
   Tara
   Windows Outreach Team