Windows 7: Differences between basic and ultimate

Teerex, I am in that same situation. I may use the XP mode down the road; but I haven't needed it yet.

Thanks for this...

Pro is the best way to go I'll tell you why... pro cost >>>155 Ultimate cost >>> 255 (approx)
PRO has everything except games , bitlocker , and 35 language packs
1. games can be downloaded from ms or anywhere
2. bitlocker will only run on certain newer systems that have some bios thing for it
it can be bypassed but then almost defeats the purpose and you risk youre whole system being
dependent on a password or key on thumbdrive forget pass/lose key and your reinstalling
3. Truecrypt is free shareware that is more powerful than bitlocker and way easier to use
4. Language packs you can obtain specific language packs individually too be honest I dont know
what theyre for and 99% of us would never need them
5. NO one needs to boot from virtual hard drives ... turn on your machine and then boot yer vhd
so you spend a few more minutes ....look why on earth would you pay an extra hundred bucks so
you can boot to another operating system which aside from mac is virtually free anyway

for these reasons the extra hundred bucks for ultimate is a complete waste i have both and ultimate is actually way more bare-bones than pro save your money dont waste time Ultimate is a marketing scheme at best ... seriously probably more than 75% of machines out there cant run bitlocker and all can run true crypt
which has better algorithms is not proprietary and is free and has added features bit locker doesnt have

can anyone dispute this ???

First, I agree with you, for most people Pro is more than sufficient.

However, Firstly, ALL machines can run bitlocker with the TPM module deactivated (its a quick option change in group policy) it certainly does not defeat the object if you have TPM disabled. It actually saved me alot of hassle, I had a kid break into my house and he actually left the computer because it was secured with Bitlocker. (He switched it on first for some reason, don't know why)

Third, if you lose your thumb drive, then Bitlocker encourages you to save a recovery key to another thumb drive (which you will put somewhere safe right?)

and what about Bitlocker to Go? ever lost your USB thumbdrive? Anyone who found that can access your files.... with BL2G its secure.

whether its worth the extra £100 is a moot point though, I didn't pay that much for mine, so can't really comment (God Bless Technet)

you speak sense, in vista ultimate had extra value because if I am not mistaken the business version of vista was missing some features in home premium so one would use ultimate to get best of both feature sets. In windows 7 however pro is a direct upgrade from home premium and has the features 99% of people will need. I only use ultimate because I can easily with my technet license, if I was buying a retail copy from the shop it would likely be pro for my main pc and home premium for any others.

The OP is missing this, but it may have been mentioned in the replies:
for me the biggest plus point of Pro/Ultimate is Software Restriction Policies in Pro, and AppLocker in Ultimate (the next gen of Softrware Restriction Policies).

I consider SRP (combined with a limited user account) to be a super strong line of defense against malware.
I gather Applocker offers more functionality.

That is EXACTLY what i came here to say.. amen to that.. Ultimate is a "waste" of 100$ approximately.. with Professional 98% of the users have more than enough...

I would not disagree that Ultimate is not worth $100. In fact, if I hadn't gotten my copy of Windows 7 Ultimate from the Microsoft Windows 7 launch party event...then I wouldn't have paid for Ultimate and instead would have gone with Professional.

Applocker is the next gen of software restriction policies...I havent used Applocket yet; so I cant say whether its worth $100, but it may well be...

Personally, I haven't found a true use for professional and wish I would have bought the cheaper home version. Really, what does professional give extra to home users that is really useful and worth the extra money? I can't find anything