Note: Windows 7 Home Basic and Windows 7 Starter are only available to OEM's and more developing countries(India, Iraq, etc).
edit: these editions are also available to MSDN subscribers.
more info can be found here: www.microsoft.com/windows/windows7
Windows 7 Home Premium:
Don't go for 7 Ultimate if all you are interest in are media features. The only thing that it doesn't include is Windows XP mode, and you need certain hardware to achieve it (although you can easily use Windows XP in VMWARE, or even Virtual PC). It also does not include Bitlocker and AppLocker, with no enhanced backup features. You can't switch between languages even if your OS has been installed.
Windows 7 Professional:
As it says, mostly for businesses or for people who don't want the features of Home Premium, but want the features for Professional (or for those who cant get an Enterprise copy of it). It includes Windows XP mode and Bitlocker support, with "company connect" or whatever its called.
Windows 7 Ultimate:
As it says, it is the "ultimate" version of Windows 7 (well, not really. read the details for the "Enterprise" edition). It includes everything that Home Premium and Professional has. THERE IS ALSO NO DREAMSCENE, OR WINDOWS ULTIMATE EXTRAS. DO NOT GET THIS UNLESS YOU ACTUALLY NEED THE FEATURES OF HOME PREMIUM AND PROFESSIONAL!! GET HOME PREMIUM IF YOU ARE THE AVERAGE HOME USER OR GAMER!
Windows 7 Enterprise:
Basically the "Ultimate" verision of Windows because it includes unlimited licensing and a few enterprise goodies (like enhanced remote connections, etc.) Attached is a photograph of the desktop and a few other pictures of the OS (Opens in PowerPoint; you need PowerPoint or the PowerPoint viewer). Enterprise is only available to OEM's and
My thoughts:
Install:
I did a clean install of Windows Vista Home Premium to 7 Enterprise. I did not actually do it from a DVD, I experimented and tryed installing the OS from MagicDisc (a free virtual DVD-ROM Drive Creator). The install took about half an hour (compared to Vista's, which was about an hour). The Install went a lot like Vista's (meaning how it looked, not Blue Screen of Death P: ).
First Impression:
It starts up with a Windows 7 logo, and then takes about 5-10 minutes to detect the hardware. All of mine was detected and installed automictacally (excluding the Belkin F5D7050 Wireless USB stick, which is to be expected because it didn't have great Vista support in the first place). Unlike Vista which hogged a lot of my CPU resources, I couldn't even hear my CPU and graphics card spin, because on Vista I could hear them for about 10 minutes going on and off even in another room.
You'll notice there is no sidebar gadget (thankfully). The desktop always stays beutiful because applications never switch back from Aero to Vista Basic. Turning off the annoyning UAC control can be easily done by going to getting started- uac settings
there is also no welcome center
Pre-Installed Applications:
Paint has improved a lot. Instead of the old, ugly theme, it now looks identical to Office 2010's UI.
It also has easier navigation.
New Text Document App: Again, it looks a lot like Office 2010's UI.
edit: open up your pics in the default picture editor that your computer uses (should be in .png).
i may add more for requests of what each OS looks like.
