Solved Windows 7 Home Premium or Ultimate?

[Mani]

I am about to install Windows 7 but I am stuck because I don't know which version to install!

Home Premium:

This doesn't have the Bitlocker and Bitlocker to go which I need.

Ultimate:

This has the bloat (business tools etc...) that I don't want! But I would love the Bitlocker and Bitlocker to go.

How much bigger is the install size of the Ultimate compared to Home Premium?

Is Ultimate worth installing considering I only need two tools from it?

Thanks,

Mani

 

[Mani]

I am about to throw a coin! Please help!

 

[C0NN3R]

Windows 7 Ultimate. It really doesn't bulk up as much as you think. I have a 140 gb hdd, and I have Windows 7 Ultimate, MS Office, and some other programs installed and I have 91gb free. Its really not as bad as you think. Much smaller than vista.

 

[Dinesh]

i guess ultimate is 3 gb and home pre is 2.55 gb approx. ultimate is always good. go for it.

 

[Hedrush]

Well you install the one your going to buy, its common sense.

 

[Klaw117]

What about Windows 7 Professional? Does that have BitLocker or not? If not, go for Windows 7 Ultimate. Windows 7 is much less bloated when compared to Vista.

 

[stormy13]

No,

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/14422-compare-windows-7-editions.html

 

[DataMan47]

Why use BitLocker when you can use TrueCrypt? It's free and a lot more flexible than BitLocker (in addition to the full-disk encryption that BitLocker can do, TC has the ability to create encrypted mountable disk images that you can shuttle around as a regular file, even over the Internet). I have MSDN, so I can get Ultimate (I need it for the MUI packs, since they are necessary for testing software on different locales), but even with Ultimate, I'm still not going to use BitLocker because it's simply inferior to TrueCrypt (with the exception perhaps of TPM support, but, um, how many non-corporate computers even have TPM?!).

 

[pparks1]

I'm going to second the use of TrueCrypt instead. I've been using it for a couple of years and it has been a solid product. And it's 100% free to use and download.

 

[DataMan47]

BitLocker really is an Enterprise feature: designed to make sure that if a company laptop gets stolen, company data isn't compromised. That's why it has TPM support (TPMs are found almost exclusively on "business" machines) and that's why it supports letting an IT department recover and manage keys.

TrueCrypt, OTOH, is the sort of encryption that a CIA spy might use, with broader, more flexible features, the ability to hide the fact that there even is encrypted data (along with deniability), etc. It offers true hardcore encryption and is more powerful.

 

[harpua]

Yep. I'm getting Ultimate through Technet but I'll be continuing to use Truecrypt as I have for several years. Amazing app and even more amazing that it's free.

 

[poin2]

You'd be paying an awful lot just to get the BitLocker feature in Ultimate if Home Premium is fine otherwise.

You might want to consider if there are things in Professional you might have use for (Group Policy Editor, XP Mode add-on, etc.). Otherwise it's likely better to save your funds and find an alternative to BitLocker, even if you have to pay for it.

 

[Mani]

Thanks foir the suggestions. I went to the TrueCrypt website and they don't currently have support for Windows 7! I guess this means I will have to go for Ultimate?

Mani

 

[busydog]

Runs Fine

Runs fine on my Windows 7.....

 

[DataMan47]

Thanks foir the suggestions. I went to the TrueCrypt website and they don't currently have support for Windows 7!

Almost anything that works on Vista works on 7. If a piece of software doesn't say if it supports 7 or not, you should assume that it does. Yes, TC should work on 7. The TC website just hasn't been updated yet.

 

[John Henry]

I'm undecided if buying HP or Ultimate. What if i buy HP and one day i'll need Ultimate stuff? I mean, are the Ultimate features really needed anytime or it's a waste of money? Also how much CPUs does HP support? Wiki says 1, other comparisons 2.

Are the Enterprise features the only difference between HP and Ultimate so the base is = on both OS?

 

[Dinesh]

Hello John, see this tutorial to get the difference between different editions of Windows 7: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/14422-compare-windows-7-editions.html
Also, i'd recommend you to go with Ultimate as it contains all the features. Its a bit costly but again its a 2 time investment and you wont regret.

 

[Barman58]

The one thing with going for ultimate at this stage is that it is quite easy once installed to add remove components you do not use.
The Add and remove windows features option covers most of what you could call bloat.

Personally I went for the Pro as I didn't need multiple language support and bitlocker.

When running Vista HP I did miss the extra control that things like Group policy editor gives you

 

[logicearth]

It doesn't matter which version you install it will take up the same amount of space because everything, and I do mean everything from the DVD (install.wim) is stored on the HDD. In other words the exclusive items for Ultimate are on the HDD when installing Home Premium. There only difference is those items are not activated.

This is why you can do the upgrade anytime without popping in the DVD.

 

[3r1c]

Truecrypt works fine on windows 7, but you must install windows 7 without the recovery partition.