Thinking about finally upgrading my desktop from XP to Win 7, will likely go with Premium to have the "XP mode"

But searching for best price has me REALLY confused:

which of these should I buy to upgrade from XP32 to Win7/64 Premium: Professional

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=windows+7+professional+upgrade&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&biw=1045&bih=531&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=3870803260970352673&sa=X&ei=wx1PT4a1DMrlggfnxtXODQ&ved=0CIYBEPMCMAE

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=windows+7+professional+upgrade&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&biw=1045&bih=531&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=7510110190298611132&sa=X&ei=wx1PT4a1DMrlggfnxtXODQ&ved=0CH8Q8wIwAA


http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=windows+7+professional+upgrade&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&biw=1045&bih=531&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=7510110190298611132&sa=X&ei=wx1PT4a1DMrlggfnxtXODQ&ved=0CH8Q8wIwAA

It's quite a large price spread!! What the 4377 is Microsoft thinking, except to confuse and screw over as many people as possible, that is.

You do know that XP mode isn't for games right?

D*amn - that was main reason for wanting it - why won't it work for games though?
I do have some older programs (Like Office 97, and Lotus SmartSuite 2000) that I still use occasionally.

I think it's primarily for old business software that only works on XP.

But Windows 7 has pretty good compatibility for older games anyway, so it's not that big of a deal. If you don't need the other features of Pro, you could go with Home Premium instead and save some money.

Home Premium if:

You don't plan on exceeding 16 GB of RAM, don't care for remote desktop (I personally love RDP, vastly better than anything except NX for remoting), don't care for group policy/Active Directory (useful at times), and don't plan on using XP mode (as noted, XP mode is only useful for business software)

Professional if:

You want to use more than 16 GB of RAM or any of the other features I listed above

Ultimate if:

You have a Windows 2008 R2 Server (almost all features Ultimate has that Professional doesn't require an Active Directory environment with Windows Server 2008 R2) or need full multilingual support.

Also: You need either an Upgrade license or a Retail license. OEM licenses are only good for new builds and Anytime Upgrade is only good for upgrading from Windows 7 Home Premium to WIndows 7 Professional

Upgrade copies: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116713, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116714

Retail copies: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116716, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116717

all 3 of the links are to Professional version, but widely varied price range

That's because one of them was an anytime upgrade license only good for Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional, one was an OEM license, and one was a full retail license

You need an Upgrade license (cheapest that you will be able to use) or a retail license (most expensive)

So it looks like the $159 version is the correct one for me

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=windows+7+professional+upgrade&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&biw=1045&bih=531&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=7510110190298611132&sa=X&ei=wx1PT4a1DMrlggfnxtXODQ&ved=0CH8Q8wIwAA

figures - oh, well, it's only money

You could always just download the Win8 beta and use it until it gets released. Windows 7 is good but you're going to want to upgrade to Windows 8 eventually

Or you could just stay with XP -- been just fine with it.

That's not really a viable option for gamers since so many new releases require DX10

The latest I've played is Skyrim, and DX9 works fine with it. Also installed Saints Row on my cousin in law's machine, works fine with DX9. As long as one knows the potential drawbacks and are okay with them (me), it can't be a bad decision. I like to present alternative options.

oh no it's not a bad decision at all, it's just not the best decision in the long run since he's going to have to upgrade eventually. (Especially since we'll probably start to see Win7&8-exclusive software soon because Visual Studio 2011 can't be used to create applications that run on XP)

Got win7 ultimate and I have to say I love the thing. Absolutely hate using vista on my laptop plus I don't use my old desktop anymore. Would say W7 Professional is a good bet since down the road you may want to upgrade to more ram. Though having w7 Ultimate i'm probably not using 1/2 the stuff that's on it to be honest. The only problem I had so far gaming wise was Crisis going all weird during the last level. Isolated this to a problem with the DX settings and bumped it down to 9 instead of 10 fixing the problem.

Would be nice to know if my board could use 16gigs of ram, but Newegg says 24gigs while the manufacturer says 12gigs .

The way I see it I would probably choose one of those two, because within 1-3 years the support for XP will stop if Microsoft hasn't change their mind which usually not happen to often. If you want to use ASP.Net or any network components then the professional is the right choice since they don't exist in Home Premium. However there is a couple of things that you should know that you can forget about Outlook Express since Microsoft has remove it from Windows7 and WinHlp32.exe is another thing you need to have a patch for, because WinHlp32.exe doesn't exist and you'll definitely need the patch if you're gonna be able to read the old help .chm files such as the help file for http://www.gamesas.com/topic/24-comprehensive-tutorial-and-useful-link-list/ (scroll down a little).

You are? Exo's a psychic knowing what the OP wants before even the OP does


Erm. Windows Professional and Windows Ultimate can see the same amount of RAM. It's Windows Home Premium that's limited to 16 GB.
Like I said, Pretty much all of Windows Ultimate's features Windows Professional doesn't have requires a Windows 2008 R2 server (usually running as an AD controller) or a need for full multilingual support

I am actually, just ask Teehee:3 if you don't believe me

I'm probably going to skip 8 and wait for 9... 8 doesn't really seem to have any advantages over 7 that are revelant to me, and it'll be quite a while before Windows 7 loses all support.

Especially since the rumor is that MS is prepping Windows 9 to be released only 2 years after Windows 8 in order to keep their business partners happy (since Windows 8 is basically a consumer OS no business would want to use). That's quite the quick turnaround.


1. Why would you choose the retail version over the upgrade version just because in 2 years (precisely: April 8th 2014) XP support ends? That won't interfere with your upgraded Windows 7 copy.
2. ASP.NET is available on WIndows 7 Home Premium. I just checked
3. The only networking feature not in Home editions that is in the Professional edition is Domain Joining, which requires a Windows Server.
4. Outlook Express svcks and always has. Windows Live Mail replaced it in either case and other options exist such as Thunderbird. Though I think the amount of people using a desktop mail client isn't very high in either case.
5. CHM files work fine in Windows 7, you just have to set them as "Trusted" http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2021383


Seeing as how that link just takes me to a listing on Google and at the top it says " pricing: OEM" I'll stress once again that you want the UPGRADE version, not the OEM version

I'm thinking the same - Win8 UI looks to pretty much bite, and it offers no big advantage over 7

Noticed error in links - posted OEM version twice

upgrade version http://www.adorama.com/MIW7PU.html?utm_term=Other&utm_medium=Shopping%20Site&utm_campaign=Other&utm_source=gbase

It's cheaper and of course easier to install one Windows version.

I would download the Windows 8 consumer preview (which is free and the license is for a year) and see what you think. If you like it you can buy it later this year, if not then I'd go with 7.

Not it isn't. Retail goes for $250 dollars whereas the upgrade version goes for $175. You're thinking of OEM, which can only be used on new assembled builds, not for upgrades from Windows XP. To use OEM copies as an upgrade is to violate the EULA.

It's called http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_imaging. Learn it, love it. http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/4241/how-to-create-a-system-image-in-windows-7/, http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/7702/restoring-windows-7-from-an-image-backup/.

I'd go with the Home Premium version.16 GB RAM limit isn't really a problem now and probably won't be for another 6-7 years

Yes I mean OEM and I do know quite well what disk imaging is thank you, so I use it with every program I've and can create a disk image of every program I've just for personal use which is perfectly legal.

Well that's the main reason why I don't bother with upgrades since an upgrade in Sweden will cost the same as an OEM.