question about Windows 7 (deciding on version to get)

timeless · 05 Apr 2010

basically l have a simple question about which version to go for.. however l was a little confused about the comparison page on the MS site.

regardless, tho it might be a silly question l feel its worth asking just to be entirely sure as l dont want to get Pro and find out it only works in Ultimate.
currently l am running WinXP Pro and have unicode settings set to Japanese, lm wondering if the same ability exists within Windows7 pro as thats the version l intend to go for within my current price range, basically lm assuming what was meant by the language features on the MS comparison page was that you could change the whole systems language to that of the region you wished to have it set as, for example if l was Japanese l could view all menus etc in Japanese.. lm assuming with Pro that the unicode settings are present as l only wish to run programs using Japanese fonts rather than change the whole systems language, and tho l feel this might be a silly question l wish to verify that l can change the system to run non-unicode programs along side my usual programs that are in english like l can with XP, given that information l shall be able to decide which version l shall go for and if l have to save up a lil more if its something thats an extra feature on the Ultimate version as l wouldnt put it past MS to expect someone to get a higher version for such an extra feature.

CarlTR6 · 05 Apr 2010

It looks like you will need the pro version for the language packs and they are purchased separately.

See this comparison:

Compare Windows 7 Editions

CommonTater · 05 Apr 2010

CarlTR6 said:

It looks like you will need the pro version for the language packs and they are purchased separately.

See this comparison:

Compare Windows 7 Editions

Interesting... I have ultimate and it came with nearly a gigabyte of language files.

timeless · 05 Apr 2010

what lm trying to distinguish is being able to use non-unicode programs on pro, lm assuming MUI means Multi User Interface and under the same assumption l assume this means l can "change the interface" to whatever language l wish however l want to view the user interface as english, l only really want to know if l can install fonts to run non-unicode programs (basically Japanese) so l can both view said language on web pages and run some of the programs l have that require non-unicode support, so basically lm assuming MUI means it changes the language l can see for context menus and folders etc where l just require the ability to see the language l wish to install when running programs that contain Japanese characters and programming.

please see the attachment to this post, all menus are in english, the non-unicode setting is set to Japanese but my keyboard and region settings are set to english UK this is the option l wish to verify exists, tho l have a vague idea its off the administrative tab on regional settings on windows 7 but havent been able to verify that tab exists with the unicode setting on lower than ultimate as l dont know anyone running less than ultimate.

CarlTR6 · 05 Apr 2010

CommonTater said:

CarlTR6 said:

It looks like you will need the pro version for the language packs and they are purchased separately.

See this comparison:

Compare Windows 7 Editions

Interesting... I have ultimate and it came with nearly a gigabyte of language files.

As did mine. I was surprised, also, when looking at the comparison.

CarlTR6 · 05 Apr 2010

Timeless, I'm sorry that I cannot answer your question as I have no experience with anything other than Ultimate. I hope someone more knowledgeable than I will come along.

timeless · 05 Apr 2010

hope someone can answer

as this would mean l could buy it sooner, however l dont want to buy something if l cant run certain things l want to run on it... as long as it works like XP but better (from what l have seen and heard) then lm happy.

mvnsnd · 05 Apr 2010

Does this help? I have Win7 pro and it looks like I can do what you are asking for. In the Region and Language dialogue box, if I select the Administrative tab, I get the screen on the left. After clicking the 'Change system locale...' button, I get the window on the right, which has a drop down menu and allows to choose Japan.

housry23 · 05 Apr 2010

With Pro you get XP Mode for free which is a Virtual copy of Windows XP and I would assume if what you want to do doesn't work in Windows 7, it will work in XP mode.
Check out this link for more info on XP Mode. Windows Virtual PC: Get Started

CommonTater · 05 Apr 2010

timeless said:

what lm trying to distinguish is being able to use non-unicode programs on pro,

I think you're confusing the meaning of "non-unicode" ...

Unicode is a contraction for Universal Code. In Unicode every character is 2 bytes long, giving you the ability to see extended character sets up to 65535 characters, in non-Arabic fonts such as Cerillic or Japanese.

A Non-Unicode program would use ANSI or ASCII codes (which are the same thing for all intents and purposes) but are limited to 128 displayable characters, generally North American English.

And yes all versions of windows since Win98 can do either.

please see the attachment to this post, all menus are in english, the non-unicode setting is set to Japanese but my keyboard and region settings are set to english UK this is the option l wish to verify exists,

Yes, both are customizable.

tho l have a vague idea its off the administrative tab on regional settings on windows 7 but havent been able to verify that tab exists with the unicode setting on lower than ultimate as l dont know anyone running less than ultimate.