Windows 7 Product versions revealed

As the majority of the sites that are reporting this are doing a dreadful job of it, I'm going to link to the only site that explained it well (Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows), and I'm going to summarize:

Microsoft announced that, yes, there are again six skus for Windows 7 instead of the single sku that all the closet Mac-lovers are supposedly crying for (like they really want to switch). But it's a lot simpler than it sounds when you pay attention. In particular, only THREE versions will be relevant to consumers (and probably only two will be that visible anyway), and four for people in the computer support industry.

While there are still Starter and Home Basic versions, these are now ONLY for ultra-low-cost developing countries or some netbooks. We'll likely never see either one in the US in normal use, and consumers shouldn't be aware they exist.

• Home Premium now becomes the base version. Just like the current Home Premium, it's like XP's Media Center Edition was. Everything the home user needs, including Media Center, DVD movie burning, etc. This is what we'll see shipping with the vast majority of computers.


• Professional replaced Business, but unlike Business it is a step ABOVE Home Premium and doesn't sit beside it. So it contains everything Home Premium does (including Media Center), plus domain joining, remote desktop hosting, advanced backup functionality, offline folders, etc. This is the one most small to mid-size businesses should be buying or upgrading to.


• Enterprise/Ultimate are essentially the same OS as each other, adding Bitlocker, Applocker, Branche Cache, booting from VHDs, etc. Enterprise is the VLK version, while Ultimate uses retail licensing. Ultimate will have virtually no visibility, existing as an upgrade box, an upgrade option in Anytime Upgrade, and a rare incentive for OEMs to throw in for promotional purposes.

So the new nested structure makes it less confusing for someone to choose between versions (having no MCE or DVD movie burning in Business was annoying, but not having the fax center, shadow copy, remote desktop host, or domain support was a no-sell for me). Also, upgrading's much easier. Anytime Upgrade for Vista allowed you to pay a lower fee to step up, but they made it so they had to ship you a disk and the appropriate license for it (initially you could use your original install disk and an emailed key, but supposedly this was too confusing, so they made it "easier" by doing it all by mail). 7's process is a lot simpler, as it requires NO disk (everything's already on your hard drive), the new key is given to you online at the time of purchase, and the upgrade process takes 15 minutes. So for the many, many business customers who will buy a computer at Staples with Home Premium only to learn upon their support technician's arrival that it won't work on their network, they're one credit card transaction and 15 minutes away from the solution.

No, it's not the easy, one-size-fits-all solution so many people were asking for, but it's much better than what we had with Vista, and when marketed properly will be no more confusing than XP's version structure.

Nothing's been said yet about pricing, but I wouldn't expect much better than the current Vista pricing structure. Then again, with all the surprises Microsoft's thrown at us lately (7's awesomeness, the beta's incredible stability, the speed of launch, the genuinely original functionality, and this improved version structure), who knows what we'll see. It sure would be nice to at least see some deals for people who bought retail copies of Vista. Especially Ultimate, with its almost-forgotten promises of "Ultimate Extras.