News - Windows 7 feature list hints at multiple editions

[dangel]

Surely MS would be criticized no matter what they do?

Absolutely.

MS do good and bad things - but it's only the bad that attracts any attention. As for versions - i'm sure home premium will continue to be the default choice for us lot.

[Splash]

Its the Driver Protection bit that cracks me up.

Basically they can say a big FU to NVidia and the like who cause so many BSODs with their drivers. Simple disable them.

...which the "power users" who "know what I'm doing" will then disable, just like UAC and there will be endless moaning about the OS taking power away from the users.

I don't agree (I have UAC running on my Vista boxes as I actually think it's a fantastic idea), but you know it'll happen.

[slypie]

I don't think having more than 3 versions is a good idea. People want a simplifed choice of either home edition or professional and maybe a one for enterprise. Vista has too many versions. I have learnt my lesson with Vista and won't be buying an ultimate edition this time around as that was the biggest ripoff that MS have done to people so far.

[shaithis]

Ultimate is only a rip-off if you buy it for the "Extras".....for a lot of people Ultimate was the only way to get MCE and domain access together.....although it still doesn't represent very good VFM.

A 50% mark-up, for essentially 1 extra feature, is a bit of a liberty.

What I'd like to see is just a core OS being sold, any extras are turned on and paid for online. You could then mix and match the features you want and make your own custom windows installation.

[dangel]

But people don't want customisation - not really. It's only us geeks that fiddle around - joe public just wants it to do everything out of the box.

As an aside: Don't forget that the EU forces MS to to the 'N' versions of every edition too. Nobody buys them, so hurrah for that idea.

[Splash]

Obviously the sale of a core OS, with most of the extras such as Remote Desktop, domain support, the Media Centre etc all being available as a paid extra is ideal for most home users but I'm not sure big business would go for it - in a corporate environment you want to be able to roll out your image to hundreds and possibly thousands of machines without having to faff around with activating extras on a per machine basis. That said, I'm sure there would be ways around this for corporate customers...

[RedFlames]

As an aside: Don't forget that the EU forces MS to to the 'N' versions of every edition too. Nobody buys them, so hurrah for that idea.

i've never seen anywhere sell them either...

[kalniel]

As an aside: Don't forget that the EU forces MS to to the 'N' versions of every edition too. Nobody buys them, so hurrah for that idea.

Won't that be unneccessary in Windows 7 if they've already cut out the Live services? (EU will think they did their job )

[dangel]

Won't that be unneccessary in Windows 7 if they've already cut out the Live services? (EU will think they did their job )

Well chiefly it's about media player - is that a download too now then?

Edit: no it's there.

See this for some new info on the UI: http://www.neowin.net/news/live/08/1...e-windows-7-ui

[Tidus]

I can't see any need for more than 4 versions of the OS, Enterprise, Buisiness, Standard for the average user and a Professional version for the users that want all that Microsoft has to offer (providing they actually offer something in the Pro version, my Vista Ultimate only provides a good way to waste money). All these extra versions really do is make things more confusing for the user and allow Microsoft to sell their OS at higher price points.

See this for some new info on the UI: http://www.neowin.net/news/live/08/1...e-windows-7-ui

I like the new enhancements / changes to the taskbar it looks like merging the taskbar and quicklaunch to give microsoft's take on a dock. The Jump lists and window preview look good aswell, good thing they did away with the sidebar as it was rubbish, the see through windows feature makes the gadgets a little more practical to use but I'd probably still not bother with them.

A few good new features but what I'm waiting to find out about W7 is whether it is subscription based or not and how much improvement has been made to system performance.

[lodore]

i hate having so many different versions.
couldnt you just have home and pro?
pro would have everything that home has plus the business features.

tbh i want it be very modular. core OS and most stuff as optional. so a business would just deply and image with only the componants they needed. having media centre and windows media player as option componants would be great. i do like the fact there will be no mail program as default. so you have a choice to use a mail program from ms,another company or simply use webmail.

plus you could go further most people dont print over the internet but its installed in vista as default.
not everyone has a tablet pc but tablet pc stuff is installed as default in vista.
not everyone has a laptop so do people who use a desktop need mobility centre?

maybe when windows installs if it detects tablet functions then install the tablet stuff.
if there isnt any plug and play drivers when you install the third party drivers it could ask you to stick in windows 7 dvd and install tablet stuff?

same for mobility centre,bluetooth etc.

it would be nice if once windows installed it could remove unneeded drivers,lanuage packs etc.

a different but useful example : my HP printer/scanner has a screen on the device showing ink levels, change ink scan etc without using the pc so why do i need 5 hp processes running all the time?

why cant all major companies send microsoft basic drivers for printers,scanners,graphics cards, sound network etc once a month? that would mean you would need to hunt around the internet for drivers. plus surely microsoft could make sure the drivers are as stable as possible. plus you wouldnt need to install the bloated driver software packages.

[Stringent]

They should take the Linux route. 1 version, install what you want (packages), but have presets for 'home' and 'business' environments, so the common items will be installed. Like Domain support for business, Media Center for Home.

[lodore]

They should take the Linux route. 1 version, install what you want (packages), but have presets for 'home' and 'business' environments, so the common items will be installed. Like Domain support for business, Media Center for Home.

very good idea.

[jackvdbuk]

They should take the Linux route. 1 version, install what you want (packages), but have presets for 'home' and 'business' environments, so the common items will be installed. Like Domain support for business, Media Center for Home.

but that way makes less money?

[dangel]

I like the new enhancements / changes to the taskbar it looks like merging the taskbar and quicklaunch to give microsoft's take on a dock. The Jump lists and window preview look good aswell, good thing they did away with the sidebar as it was rubbish, the see through windows feature makes the gadgets a little more practical to use but I'd probably still not bother with them.

I like the sidebar - it sits on a second monitor and helpfully organises my gadgets. Take gadgets off it and they get (in general) larger too.

A few good new features but what I'm waiting to find out about W7 is whether it is subscription based or not and how much improvement has been made to system performance.

Reports are that performance is good (i.e. better). I haven't heard anything about sub. based stuff (and i'm not really interested in that anyway tbh).

why cant all major companies send microsoft basic drivers for printers,scanners,graphics cards, sound network etc once a month? that would mean you would need to hunt around the internet for drivers. plus surely microsoft could make sure the drivers are as stable as possible. plus you wouldnt need to install the bloated driver software packages.

That's kinda what the WHQL program is supposed to do - but that costs money (to get your drivers certified). MS run an open platform (compared to apple's limited hardware set) and so there's never going to be a 'right' solution.

They should take the Linux route. 1 version, install what you want (packages), but have presets for 'home' and 'business' environments, so the common items will be installed. Like Domain support for business, Media Center for Home.

That's really what they do already - hence a single install DVD for Vista: you pick your version and the 'preset' package (basic/ult/premium etc) is deployed. MS have been pushing for more modularity for a long time and they're getting there.

[cordas]

They should take the Linux route. 1 version, install what you want (packages), but have presets for 'home' and 'business' environments, so the common items will be installed. Like Domain support for business, Media Center for Home.

My god could it really be so simple

Why on earth are MS wanting to repeat the mistakes made when launching vista.... (by the way there are a lot more than 6 versions, when you take the whole 32/64bit drama into the equation). The marketing people at MS need beating around the head until they relaise such stunts just breed confusion, contempt and despair in their customers.

I would suggest no more than a couple of versions, afterall they want an ultimate to cream money, and business will want to pay the least it can for the best product that is roughly tailored to their needs. So that realisticly leaves us with 3 versions... Home, Business and Ultimate (personally I think thats at least 1 too many variations).

Now with all 3 versions you put different defaults in the setup... Full install, minimum install, HTPC, custom for example.... Hey go hog wild and 15 different install flavours if you want MS, just make it when we walk into the shop (onto the net) its a simple choice to find the obvious version for our needs!!!