Windows 7 - All else equal, any reason to not get Win7 Pro?

I qualify for the 30$ student upgrade of Vista to 7. I noticed that it's 30$ regardless of whether or not I get the Home Premium version or the Professional version.

I wanted to know if there's any downside to getting Professional? Does it take up more HD space? Will it take up more resources? Does it idle at a heavier load?

I have heard that installing Professional requires a clean install? Is this true? Does absolutely nothing carry over with Professional? And would it carry over with Home Premium?

I have a version of Microsoft Office that's been marked that illegal. I'm not sure why because we paid for it. My dad said he'd take a look at it when I go home. But the question I have is this: will upgrading remove my MS Office because it's been marked as illegal?

Lastly, does upgrading to 64 bit mean that every single application I download needs to be a certified and signed 64 bit program? Even a 2 Mb download from Cnet to check my battery status or something like that? I have a 64 bit able computer but I don't want 64 bit Windows if that means I can't install any program that is not specifically 64 bit.

Thanks.

• The only downside (if you don't what a Clean install) is that you have to do a clean install if you get Professional..otherwise I would just get Professional since they are the same price.. All versions of Windows 7 take the same space (at least Home,Pro, and Ultimate) and the same resources.. If you wanted to get just the Home Premium than you would be able to upgrade and not have to do a clean install. But I highly as do others on this forum recommend a clean install. The reason I like clean installs is that it gets rid of all the junk that piled into your machine over the years, It makes an old machine seem brand new..and It is easier to troubleshoot than an upgrade is.

But if you don't want a clean install it is possible to do it. Only if you Buy the Home Premium version, or if you go Ultimate.

• If you computer can handle 64bit I would go for it. If you install a program that is 32bit on a 64bit machine it will most likely work...
• And about your Microsoft Office if you upgrade I don't think it will take it off..(same if you did a clean install) it just won't download any updates to it. and the software will not be genuine..

Hope this Helps..and Happy Holidays.
EDIT: If you go 64bit..YOU NEED 64bit drivers.

The driver enforcement is for drivers, not apps. Personally I would go for Ultimate, but each version of 7 is a superset of the previous version, so Professional has all the features of Premium and more, and Ultimate has everything. As for x64, your cpu needs to support 64-bit extensions and 4GB is a good starting point for RAM. Download HWInfo32 and see if your current cpu has support, or fill in your hardware specs.

Very good answers, Ryan and Frostmourne, but I would like to add the answer to the question that was not asked. Glue, you seem to be intent on doing an upgrade, almost everyone here would agree that is not the best way to go. If you do an upgrade, all the problems (hidden or otherwise) will carryforward; virus, malware, all the bloat if your computer came equiped with the present OS. A clean install is always the best way to go. I know that was my way of getting 7 and everything runs like a top. It really is not difficult. Just make sure that you have the DVD's for all your programs. Save everything else on Windows Easy Transfer and make another back up of everthing else except programs. If you make a back up on Acronis or Macrirum Reflex, you will be able to replace your entire HD, in the event of a major problem, which should not occur.
As far as MS Office is concerned. If that is not a legit copy it will be lost, but that will be a very small problem. There are several free versions, by other vendors, that can replace MS and you will never know that it is gone. I do not have the names of these free programs, but you can ask here before you make your decision about the new OS.

Whatever you decide, I am sure that you will be very happy with Windows 7, it is truly one of the best OS available. Just enjoy and have a happy holiday.

According to the official upgrade matrix:

Deciphering Windows 7 Upgrades: The Official Chart | Walt Mossberg | Mossblog | AllThingsD

you can only upgrade-in-place Vista Business to Windows 7 Pro. All other versions require a clean install. (That can be done with an upgrade license, though.) There supposed to be ways to hack the installer to permit an upgrade-in-place, but I've not tried them.

I don't know about a copy of Office that has been flagged by WGA. I doubt that would affect any upgrade, not that you can easily upgrade-in-place anyway.

Your applications won't be 64 bit, for the most part. (Very few 64 bit applications exist.) Most 32 bit applications will run normally on Windows 7 X64. All of your drivers must be 64 bit, though. All of the drivers must also be signed. (That doesn't mean that they have to be WHQL certified. I play with beta drivers frequently.) Also, you won't be able to install any old 16 bit programs, and some 32 bit applications use 16 bit installers, so there could be a problem there. Windows 7 Pro supports running XP in a virtual machine, via a free download, so that's a fallback position.

I wouldn't bother with 64 bit unless you want to install more than 4GB of RAM, though.

Huh, actually, I gotta admit that I understood "signed drivers" to mean certified. What's the main difference. I'm on a laptop so my video card, an 8600M GT, gets an official new driver about once every 2 years so I pretty much exclusively use forceware. How's that work?

Another thing I didn't consider was that a clean install might be a good thing. But you're right, it would be like getting a new machine. I've never used Easy Transfer before. Does it save programs as though they're already installed? Or should I just make a list of everything I need to reinstall?

And is there a reason to use Easy Transfer over just burning everything onto a DVD as a data disc?

Also, there seems to be conflicting opinions about x64. Admittedly, I only have 2GB of RAM. But I specifically put 2 GBs on 1 module stick so that I could upgrade in the future when my setup got out of date.

Lastly, I looked into it some more, and the upgrade paths for Windows 7 is really limiting. The only way you can upgrade to Professional if if you had Vista Business. I had Vista Home Premium so I can either move horizontally to Windows 7 HP or up to Ultimate. At least, that's how I understood this to work:

Windows 7 Upgrade Paths

Btw, Windows 7 Ultimate is excluded from the 30$ student upgrade. Not too bummed out, it's still a good deal.

My specs are as follows:

Motherboard: No idea. I have a Sager NP2090 that I bought online from xoticpc.com. I didn't assemble it. However, HWinfo32 tells me that the CPU is installed on a P socket.

CPU: Core 2 Dueo T7300 2.0 GHz. It's been a while but I think it's either a 2MB or 4MB L2 cache.

Videocard: nVidia 8600M GT 512MB

RAM: Transcend 2MB DDR2-SDRAM 333MHz

Do I qualify for 64 bit?

Oh man, wouldn't it suck that after I decide that I want 64 bit, I learn that I can't even run 64 bit. Blissful ignorance. Because now, I can't say "w/e I didn't even want x64"

Easy transfer does not save programs, you must use your original DVD's for them. Just about everything else can be transferred with Windows Easy Transfer; desktop, email, documents, settings (even for the programs), favorites, cookies, just about everything. Trust me its really easy and furthermore, if you make a make a copy of your Hard Drive, no matter what goes wrong it can be corrected quickly and easily.

if its a core 2 duo processor you can get a 64 bit os.

Just to be certain,

Clean Install Windows 7

That's the upgrade guide I should be following correct? To recap, I am getting the 30$ student upgrade and I have a NON oem version of Vista HP. I want Windows 7 HP x64

Before you do anything, make a system image of your current OS. Put it on an external hard drive and put it in a safe place.

Next use microsoft upgrade advisor. Download from MS site. It will tell you everything about your computer and problems if you try to install Windows 7