I think the title explains this Going to buy Windows 7 for my new build, just wondering what the differences are between Professional and Ultimate. According to Microsoft Ultimate has this additions: Help protect data on your PC and portable storage devices against loss or theft with BitLocker. Work in the language of your choice and switch between any of 35 languages. Are these the only differences? Will I lose out on anything else by going with Professional? Thanks Abbo
Is there a particular reason as to why Home Premium is not an option? I think Pro and ultimate is a waste of money for most people.
Here's a wiki page with a table showing more differences than i knew there were. But basically unless you're running a buisness or a large network, there is no reason yo go above premium. (Unless you're a student like me and can get 7 pro for £30, the same price as premium in which case why not.
We do run a small business from home. With that and the machine we have, there are 6 machines on a small network, hence why looking at the Pro at least. I know with XP I have Pro which makes life so much easier with the way we work.
The only thing you'll gain with Pro from a work pov is domain connectivity. If you're not running a server, Home Premium will be fine. I certainly wouldn't waste my money on Ultimate.
Unlike some people are saying, Pro is an excellent choice. Remote Desktop is an excellent way to fix computer problem from distance, or even if you are not in a business environment, you can easily connect to your home computer from any other system. So many time I forget stuff at home, and I use it to get it from distance. Also it allows me to use MY software configured the way I want, under the OS I like the most. If any of my family members have computer problems, family business computer, home 1 computer, home 2 computer, I can access to them without doing some crazy traveling to get on to the other for some stupidity. XP Mode, is a great way to have a test environment if you are programming or testing fishy software and don't want to screw up your main OS, or use it for compatibility purposes of course as it was intended, or even have, as a developer a system to try your software under XP. No XP license needed, unlike the other virtual environment software. Advance backup features, makes it breeze to create system backups and have everything into one location. Great for any small business, and the possibility to create a system image just makes it easier for any moment where a re-install is required but don't have the time to do it. Despite having older drivers and possibility older software versions especially if the image was done a long time ago, it still makes the system re-install so much faster, and where then after on your free time you can have fun updating the software and everything. Encrypting File System, is also great. What is really the point to have a password on a computer that you can just pull out the HDD, put onto another system, and access it's important files. Encrypting, allows you to encrypt data so it's not accessible without the encryption key which Windows will prompt you to create and save the moment you encrypt the first file. Put is a USB key, which you put in a safe location. Location Aware Printing is great for any laptop users. For teh different location I am (work, family business, home1 and home2) all have different printers. Using this feature I can have my default printer change based on where I am, to make printing so much easier. Group policy is a great way to manage user accounts onto a system properly, with over 1000 options to choose from. Offline Files, allows you to have files in sync between systems or supported devices. Great for having 2 computers in sync. And of course, for a business environment you can use domain joining. Pro is an excellent buy.
Might be worth reading up on Homegroups to see if that can provide the functionality you're after in terms of networking and sharing files and folders without requiring a domain. With regards to protecting your data, Truecrypt (free) is a must-have. Full disk encryption, easy to use and works great. It can also encrypt USB storage devices.