Windows General Manager Mike Ybarra described the various editions of Windows 7 in an interview posted on the Microsoft PressPass Web site. While they don't appear as bewildering as the Vista SKU mess, they're not as simple as they could be.
The good news: Windows 7 won't have anything like the Vista Home Premium/Business mess, where each SKU has features that the other lacks. The various Windows 7 editions will be "a superset of one another. That is to say, as customers upgrade from one version to the next, they keep all features and functionality from the previous edition." In Vista, by contrast, the Home Premium SKU has Media Center, and the Business edition has image backup, but you have to buy the Ultimate edition to get both.
For most customers, according to Ybarra, "the choice is really simple: Windows 7 Home Premium or Windows 7 Professional."
Of course, the very name "Home Premium" tells us there will also be a Home Basic SKU. The basic SKU is "only in emerging markets, for customers looking for an entry-point Windows experience on a full-size value PC." And that's not to be confused with the Windows Starter edition, "which will only be offered pre-installed by an OEM."
There will also be an Enterprise edition for "our biggest enterprise customers" and Windows 7 Ultimate "for PC enthusiasts who 'want it all'."
Since the unnamed interviewer was working for Microsoft, no difficult questions were asked.
Image: Microsoft
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