Don't waste your money on Ultimate

If you just speak English and want to use Ultimate then buy or build a new computer because Ultimate office multi languages but most of us just won't ever use it and then there is BitLocker which secures your Hard Drive but you better have a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 chip in your computer in order to use it. I have a 16 month old Computer and I went in my BOIS and I didn't find the chip and the BOIS will show it if it's there. You can still use BitLocker without the chip but what a pain in the butt.

I agree because I too have a computer ego as big as a mountain and I'll just buy Ultimate and I don't care if I need it or not. I just wanted to put some info out there.

golden039 said:

I agree because I too have a computer ego as big as a mountain and I'll just buy Ultimate and I don't care if I need it or not. I just wanted to put some info out there.

burtie said:

Maybe not becasue I want to buy the Family Pack for Windows 7 and I don't know if Ultimate comes in the Family Pack, but if it does let me know and I will be the first one in line to get "Ultimate"

You don't need the TPM chip to use BitLocker. The chip is only necessary for the system integrity verification that can be run at startup.

For people who might be able to get the upgrade version of Ultimate and who would potentially have use for the couple extra features like Bitlocker, it's still potentially worth it.

But otherwise Ultimate this round indeed appears primarily a way for consumers to get all the features of Enterprise if they really truly want/need them, or if they just like the ego boost of running it. There aren't a lot of "extras" most people will need or want, and Professional should be the max needed by most, especially if they can use things like TrueCrypt instead of Bitlocker.

I'd expect those evaluating via things like Technet and MSDN likely to stick with Ultimate (or Enterprise) however. Stuff like BitLocker can come more into play in professional environments, and it's good to be able to see exactly how it works and if one's workplace might have use in particular.

golden039 said:

I agree because I too have a computer ego as big as a mountain and I'll just buy Ultimate and I don't care if I need it or not. I just wanted to put some info out there.

I'm just totally baffled as to why you guys would buy something that you don't need. Honestly, are you ever going to use or need these features?

How many will ever run a domain at home and need to join it? Just IT guys mostly

Who cares about BitLocker, when you can do the same thing for free and with more features with TrueCrypt?

Remote desktop support is nice.... but there are free alternatives (VNC) and hacks to enable remote desktop in home premium versions.

Virtual XP Mode....it's just a virtual machine. You can run this stuff for free with VMWare Server, Sun VirtualBox or Microsoft Virtual PC.


And no. Ultimate is not the included version with the Family Pack. It's Home Premium. So, instead of paying $150 for 3 computers, looks like you will need to spend about $600 for 3 OEM copies of Ultimate.

Ultimate is not the included version with the Family Pack. It's Home Premium. So, instead of paying $150 for 3 computers, looks like you will need to spend about $600 for 3 OEM copies of Ultimate.

Thanks for the reply and since I'm retired from the computer field and no longer need to use a Domain I think I'll just take the Family Pack of Home Premium. Thanks