Windows 7 Home Premium makes it easy to create a home network and share all of your favorite photos, videos, and music. You can even watch, pause, rewind, and record TV (a broadcast TV tuner may be required). Get the best entertainment experience with Windows 7 Home Premium. Do you use your PC for work, run Windows XP programs, or require enhanced security? Consider Windows 7 Professional.  More work, more play, and more of everything in between. Click to enlarge. |  Manage lots of open programs, documents, and browser windows easily with thumbnail and full-screen previews of open windows. Click to enlarge. |  With Snap you can arrange two windows side-by-side just by dragging them to opposite sides of your screen. Click to enlarge. |  Open files you use regularly in just two clicks with Jump Lists on the improved taskbar and Start menu. | The best entertainment experience on your PC Easiest Windows to use ever
- Simplify your PC with new navigation features like Aero Shake, Jump Lists, and Snap.
- Customize Windows to look and feel the way you like by changing themes and taskbar programs.
- Setting up a home network and connecting to printers and devices is easier than ever.
- Windows 7 Home Premium supports the latest hardware and software.
It's faster
- Designed to make your PC sleep and resume quicker.
- Takes full advantage of 64-bit PC hardware and memory.
- Connecting to wireless networks is fast and easy.
Best PC entertainment experience
- Watch, pause, rewind, and record TV with Windows Media Center.
- Blu-ray read/write support for data files.
- Includes integrated video and Dolby audio codecs.
Simplifies Everyday Tasks Simple to use Preview
Manage lots of open programs, documents, and browser windows easily with thumbnail and full-screen previews of open windows. Pin
Open files and get around your PC faster with the improved taskbar. You can easily pin programs you use often to the taskbar and launch them in just one click.  Windows 7 lets you peek behind open windows to get a quick look at your desktop. Click to enlarge. |  Instantly locate and open virtually any file on your PC right from the Start menu with Windows Search. Click to enlarge. |  Turn your PC into a TV with Windows Media Center, and enjoy your favorite videos and music with Windows Media Player. Click to enlarge. | Jump Lists
Open files you use regularly in just two clicks with Jump Lists on the improved taskbar and Start menu. Snap
Windows 7 has simple new ways to manage open windows. For example, with Snap you can arrange two windows side-by-side just by dragging them to opposite sides of your screen. Peek and Shake
Windows 7 lets you peek behind open windows to get a quick look at your desktop. Windows Search
Instantly locate and open virtually any file on your PC, from documents to emails to songs, right from the Start menu, with Windows Search. Easy to connect  Setting up wireless connections is easier with consistent, one-click connections to available networks. Click to enlarge. |  Enjoy the photos, music, and videos on your home PC when you're away from home with remote media streaming. Click to enlarge. |  Windows Touch makes PCs with touch screens easier and more intuitive to use. Click to enlarge. |  Manage Backup and Restore and other features through Action Center. Click to enlarge. |  Search, organize, and edit files across a network in the same way you would a single folder.Click to enlarge. | Wireless setup
With Windows 7, setting up wireless connections is easier with consistent, one-click connections to available networks, whether those networks are based on Wi-Fi, mobile broadband, dial-up, or corporate VPN. HomeGroup
Connect Windows 7 PCs on a home network in just four clicks and easily get to the photos, music, and files on each one--even share printers--with HomeGroup. Easy to browse the web Internet Explorer 8
Visual search helps you quickly find the information you want by adding visual cues and previews to search results from top search providers including Live Search, Wikipedia, Yahoo, Amazon, and others. Internet Explorer 8
Use Web slices to conveniently keep up with changes on frequently updated websites, like eBay auctions or traffic sites, directly from the IE8 toolbar. Easy to communicate and share Windows Live Photo Gallery
Windows Live Photo Gallery makes share your photos to your favorite photo site easy. Windows Live Mail
Windows Live Mail makes managing multiple email accounts easy. Windows Live Family Safety
Keep your child safe by managing what sites they can visit and who they can send/receive emails and im communications from. Note: Windows Live components need to be downloaded separately. Works The Way You Want Faster and More Reliable Windows 7 will help your PC sleep and resume more quickly. It is designed to respond to commands more quickly and will help your PC to be more reliable. Fewer clicks and less interruptions
Makes New Things Possible Media on your terms Windows Media Center
Turn your PC into a TV with Windows Media Center. Windows Media Center
Watch shows for free when and where you want with Internet TV. DirectX 11
DirectX 11 technology delivers breathtaking game graphics so real, it's unreal. New ways to engage Windows Touch
Windows Touch makes PCs with touch screens easier and more intuitive to use. Media on your terms Windows Media Player
More and more consumer electronics, from TVs to digital photo frames, can be connected to home networks. With Play To in Windows 7, you'll be able to easily send music, photos, videos from your PC to a networked device throughout your home. You can enjoy the photos, music, and videos on your home PC when you're away from home with remote media streaming. Work anywhere Location Aware Printing
Windows 7 will automatically pick the right printer for you when you move from home to work networks. Work anywhere with less effort. - Instantly locate virtually any file, email, or document on your PC just by typing a word or two.
- Get around your PC faster with the improved taskbar.
- Open programs you use regularly in one click and files you use regularly in just two.
- Manage lots of open programs, documents, and browser windows easily with thumbnail and full-screen previews of open windows.
- Manage multiple email accounts, including Hotmail, Gmail, AOL, and Yahoo! Mail Plus, all in one place with one simple program.
- Get to the files, photos, and music on any PC with Windows 7 in the house from any other.
- Print to any printer in the house from any PC with Windows 7 in the house.
Safeguard your hard work. - Windows Internet Explorer 8 helps keep your PC safer from malware and you safer from fraudulent websites designed to fool you into divulging private information.
Choose the Windows 7 Edition That Is Best For You
|
 Worth the Wait |
| Review Date: October 22, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Just Anonymous, Georgia, USA |
I'll admit, I've been running Windows 7 for six months now: the preproduction version of it and have just upgraded to the gold code. So I have quite a bit of experience with the operating system. Let's get to the nitty gritty:
Should you upgrade from Windows Vista? YES! I mean it - upgrade today.
Windows 7 is quite simply faster, more stable, boots faster, goes to sleep faster, comes back from sleep faster, manages your files better and on top of that it's beautiful to look at and easy to use. Even the preproduction version of Windows 7 was better than my Vista with SP2.
Should you upgrade from Windows XP? Maybe, but for different reasons.
XP is a good operating system and if you don't need to add new hardware or software, XP is good. However, XP is old as an operating system. Also chances are that if you're running XP, you might not meet the minimum requirements for Windows 7 - check the compatibility site at Microsoft to see if your system will support Windows 7. That said, Windows 7 is light years ahead of Windows XP in terms of functionality, ease of use, etc - to me it's worth buying a new system.
64 bit or 32 bit?
If you don't know what I'm talking about, that's ok skip this section. If you have a core2 duo or core 2 quad or a multi cpu machine, go with the 64 bit OS, it handles memory and the CPUs much better. If you have a single core CPU, one CPU or run special programs that require 32bit, then stick with 32 bit for now.
BEFORE INSTALLATION:
I recommend you have:
-a core 2 duo or core 2 quad machine
-4gig of RAM (That's about $50 in today's market)
-good hard drive with (200 gig - it doesn't need that much but that's another $50)
-back up your files to a USB drive like Western Digital My Passport Essential 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDME5000TN (Midnight Black)
-check to make sure your computer is compatible with Windows 7
INSTALLATION:
Installation was very straight forward. You put in the CD and reboot your machine. You might have to enter your bios and enable the "boot from CD" option. Once the machine reboots a nice screen comes up to guide you through the installation. You have the option to upgrade your PC or do a clean installation. I did an upgrade and it brought in all of my files and settings from my windows Vista system. It worked great.
The upgrade did take about 2 hours for me so definitely consider.
I noticed that early on in the installation the operating system went out to Microsoft's site to look for the latest and greatest updates, so I think this should help Microsoft respond quickly to any hiccups with compatibility.
WHAT DOESN'T WORK:
The driver from my old HP Inkjet printer for 2001 doesn't work on Windows 7 so there are some things that will not transition. I had to use a generic HP driver which doesn't give me the quality that I got from an injet - so overall, I'm up and running with that printer but I'm degraded on the inkjet front. That said, I recently upgraded to a HP CP2025DN Color LaserJet Printer that I love so no real loss there. I'll likely pick up a cheap inkjet for the occasional photo that I might need to print. Everything else upgraded.
BENEFITS
-faster boot time
-faster go to sleep
-faster wakeup
-faster about 20% to 30% faster at running applications than my Vista - seriously (but those are my results without any benchmarks or anything like that, just seeing how fast Adobe Illustrator loads, and how fast all the applications respond)
-joining wireless networks is much easier
-the interface is just plain beautiful
-my wallpapers are now a slideshow that can be set to change every few minutes (I'm not stuck with the same picture)
-Gadgets - these are wonderful little small applications that you can drag onto your desktop. I have a weather gadget and a calendar gadget on my desktop that tell me
-Better taskbar management - hovering over the taskbar icons shows me mini windows of what's running
-Better file management - I can organize my files into Libraries that are sortable not only by type but by folder or other data. It's great! I can browse through my presentations or illustrator files!
-Windows Media appears to be smoother which I love.
-You get some virus protection and firewall with Windows 7 but consider something more comprehensive like McAfee Total Protection 3User 2010. Yes, it'll make your computer run a bit slower but
CONS:
- Some older programs might not work and some drivers might not be available like my inkjet driver.
- Other than that, there aren't too many drawbacks to Windows 7 - it's a great OS.
WHICH VERSION SHOULD I GET?
I got the ultimate version because I have clients who ask, "is your hard drive encrypted?" -- I wanted to be able to say yes and have sensitive data encrypted one of my computer volumes - Bitlocker is only available in the Ultimate version. Ultimate also includes Multilanguage support.
If you're a home user that doesn't do a lot of networking, you might consider just the home premium edition. If you're using a laptop and connect to networks at work, you might want the Professional version of the operating system to help you with domain joining. Also Windows Professional gives you the option to run applications in XP mode so if you have old applications you can use that nifty feature. I already have 1 application running in XP mode - it's nifty to run an old application.
NOTE:
The box contains both the 32 bit and 64 bit OS.
OVERALL:
It's very hard to write a comprehensive review on an entire operating system so I didn't even try - I'm sure magazines will devote entire articles to the operating system and several books will come out. My goal here is just to give everyone a glimpse of what I've found to date with this new OS. I do hope this has helped you in making a decision.
Hats off to Microsoft on Windows 7. It's more of a refined Windows Vista than an entirely new operating system but it was needed. Thank you.
|
Windows 7 is Windows Vista done right
|
| Review Date: October 22, 2009 |
| Reviewer: William W. Davis, |
I've been using Windows 7 since its beta release, but my laptop's been running the final version for weeks now. I really disliked Vista and preferred XP still, but Windows 7 has tipped the scales...finally. Windows 7 has been reliable and it's snappier than Vista. Windows 7 sips laptop battery power so my 1-year-old Dell XPS M1530 runs longer under Win7 than it did under Vista. But what I really like about Windows 7 are the new and improved features it offers. Here's a list of my favorites:
#1 VIRTUAL LIBRARIES
With virtual libraries, the special folders like Documents, Pictures, Music and Videos have all become libraries. Instead of being a physical storage location, they're indexes that point to one or many locations on the computer you're using, as well as other computers you're networked with. In a home setting, where you're running Windows Home Server, you can now easily direct file stores to your server. Also in the home, housemates can easily see each others' data by including their respective folders in one another's libraries. When you search a library, you're searching your computer and any other computer that has folders you've added to your library. You determine which physical location will be the default location for saving new files to your library. This is, for me, the single best feature of Windows 7, and is an excellent reason to upgrade.
#2 START SEARCH
The Start Search has been improved in Windows 7 so results appear instantly as soon as you click the Start button, and then either type the name of a program on your computer, or a task you'd like to perform (like, "change my display settings"). No more hunting folder hierarchies to find that elusive program, or spend time figuring out where Microsoft has placed something in the Control Panel. This is a tremendous time-saver.
#3 AERO SNAP
The Aero user interface has three new tricks -- Shake, Peek, and Snap -- but only Aero Snap is a major leap forward. Have you ever tried comparing the contents of two windows together, side-by-side? It's painful to do because you have to fiddle with resizing the two windows. With Aero Snap, now all you do is grab the title bar of one window, sling it to the left, and Windows 7 will automatically resize the window to fill-up one-half of your screen display. Do the same with a 2nd window by slinging it to the right, and it'll fill-up the right-side of your display. You can start comparing two windows in...an Aero Snap. Aero Shake and Peek are cute, but not nearly so helpful.
#4 TASKBAR
Gone is the Quick Launch bar that too many people didn't know existed. Now, the whole Taskbar is a quick launch bar -- drag and drop any program icon onto the bar, and you're one click away from starting the program. Also, it's so easy to move the taskbar around now. I keep it on the left vertical on my computer. Gone is the system tray, too -- Notification Area takes its place. The Action Center alerts you to anything you need to do to keep your computer working smoothly.
#5 PROGRAM COMPATIBILITY
Any program can be run in one of many compatibility modes now. Windows 7 has a wizard that will help you pick the right, earlier version of Windows under which to run an older program -- just right-click on the program icon and choose "Troubleshoot Compatibility". Or, You can do the same thing more quickly by right-clicking on a program icon, click the Compatibility tab, enable Compatibility mode, and select the earlier version of Windows you want to run with your program.
#6 STICKY NOTES
Less functional that the Vista Sticky Notes -- which nobody used -- but now I actually use Sticky Notes to put reminders on my Desktop. They're quick, easy, and work just like a regular Post-It note only you don't get fingerprints on your screen!
#7 JUMP LISTS
There are two kinds -- Jump lists that let you quickly pick a task to perform, and Jump lists to quickly select a document to open and edit in the associated program. Jump lists include most recently used files, or you can pin your own files, too. These are nice time-savers.
#8 SAVED SEARCHES
In Windows Explorer, you can create filtered searches and then save them in your Favorites for later use. This is handy to find filtered data in the future. When you re-execute the search, it creates a dynamic results set (so your search is never stale).
#9 CONTENT VIEW & ARRANGING
Also in Windows Explorer, two new features. Now you can arrange a folder into subdivisions by date (great for your pictures folders!). You can use the Content view to combine thumbnails of files along with details that usually are found only in the Details view.
#10 USER ACCOUNT CONTROL
Most everyone hated UAC in Vista (even though it helped to keep your computer safe). In Windows 7, Microsoft tamped down the annoyance factor of UAC. You can change your date and time without setting off UAC, for example. You can also decide whether UAC should go into secured Desktop mode whenever it does get triggered (secured Desktop is when your screen darkens and you're forced to respond to UAC's dialog box asking permission to run a program or make a change to your system). You can easily turn-off UAC, too.
#11 PAINT, WORDPAD, CALCULATOR
All three of these utilities got updated. Wordpad and Paint have the Office-like "ribbon" now, and Calculator has a few new memory keys, touch sensitivity, and a Programmer view for those dealing with hexidecimals and binaries.
#12 HOMEGROUP SHARING
This is the easiest way to share data with others in your (home) network. HomeGroup creates a password that is shared among computers, and that takes care of all the issues with user accounts, file permissions and "access denied" problems. This is great for unsophisticated home networks. I made this feature last because I'm not using it -- I just think it's a great idea for inexperienced users. Note: all the networked computers need to be running Windows 7 to make HomeGroup sharing work.
In short, think of Windows 7 as Windows Vista done right. |
Glad I bought full version!
|
| Review Date: March 16, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Adrienne Austin, Rutherfordton, NC United States |
| This purchase was for my HP notebook PC, purchased in 2008 with Vista pre-installed. I hated Vista for several reasons which Win7 completely rectified. The biggest problem was the minimal help HP offers with laptops older than 2009, so getting all the drivers and programs that were part of the proginal HP package was a pain but we have recoverd 95% of what was lost in the transition. I'm very pleased with the speed and general performance of this OS. |
Windows 7: The Next-Generation XP
|
| Review Date: November 11, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Jordan C. Brice, Eugene, OR |
I have used every Microsoft OS since DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.1. Until now my favorite was Windows 2000. XP was pretty solid (after service pack 2) except for all of the security holes. Every time I would need to fix an XP machine it wasn't because of something wrong with the OS itself, but because the machine had virus/spyware/trojans etc. Enter Vista. MS fixed most of the security problems but did so at the expense of performance and stability. Now with Windows 7 you get the best of both worlds. XP was released in 2001 and hardware has come a long way since then, but the OS itself remained relatively static and could only take advantage of newer hardware at a basic level. Vista was an improvement and Windows 7 handles it better still.
I think Vista, although I had few problems with it, will go down as ME 2.0. At the same time Windows 7 will be XP 2.0. People will cling to it and MS will have to kill it off before people will move on to it's next offering, whatever that may be.
With that said I would highly recommend that both XP and Vista users upgrade. Unlike previous upgrades you will actually get better performance and use less resources post-upgrade. A first for MS. Security is rock solid. If XP is swiss cheese, then Win 7 is the wall of China. You no longer have to download the "patch of the day" from Windows Update. I haven't played around with Media Player, but Media Center is great for watching DVDs and remains pretty much unchanged from Vista. My favorite features are Jump Lists, AERO Snap (for working in two windows side by side). Networking is a bit easier (especially compared to XP). Performance is much improved from Vista and is comparable to or even faster than XP. Calculator, Paint, and Wordpad have been updated. If you are upgrading from Vista you do lose a couple of progams, namely Windows Mail and Photo Gallery. Updated versions can be downloaded from Windows Update for free. The only downside is that upgrading from XP requires a clean install.
As far as the upgrade process itself goes, it's painless. Just be sure to run the upgrade advisor before you do. All that's required of you is a product key (at the end of the installation) and activation. So all you have to do is pop the disc in, grab a good book, and before you know it you're in computing heaven.
|
Best windows by far
|
| Review Date: March 8, 2010 |
| Reviewer: J. Farmer, Richmond, VA |
| I upgraded from my long lived Windows XP, running on a machine a couple of years old... definitely the best Windows by far. |
Microsoft finally did it!
|
| Review Date: March 13, 2010 |
| Reviewer: R. F. Maurer, California |
| Windows 7 Home Premium is a great operating system. Microsoft has created a wonderful operating system that is fast, uses the resources properly and is easy to use. I upgraded my laptop with a new install of Windows 7 with 4 GB of memory and 64 bit operating system. What a dream, it's fast and finds everything easily. Would recommend it to everybody. Even software that is XP compliant, works and loads great. Get it and get on the fast-track with Windows 7. |
Amazon delivers
|
| Review Date: June 25, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Maurice Steiner, |
| The product is equal from all retailers. What sets this purchase apart is the retailer. Competitive pricing, quick delivery, free shipping, no sales tax. What more can on ask for? |
A much needed improvment.
|
| Review Date: November 9, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Jimmy Morelli, South Boston, MA |
I will keep it short and sweet. If you want to get technical their are better reviews to read. I have been plagued with problems from Vista OS. When I switched to Windows 7 98% of the problems went away. My laptop ran nice and smoothly with close to NO error or issues. Yes I still have minor issues here and there, very minor, all OS do. But compared to Vista, Windows 7 is a walk in the park. It looks pretty much the same to me as Vista does, but there are some minor differences, it will definitely take a week to learn it all so it becomes second nature. My big thing is not being able to find my open windows at the bottom of the desk-top which is a pain. There are more icons down there that I need to familiarize myself with, not much other than that.
If you currently run Vista, make the switch! It will make a big difference. If you run XP and it is working for you I wouldn't bother wait till you buy a new computer, XP was a good OS. I have two laptops with Windows 7 and a PC with XP, there pretty compatible so I will run XP till the PC dies.
My only issue, which has nothing to do with Windows 7 in itself. Microsoft should of offered the upgrade free to consumers who purchased a computer with Vista OS up to a year out from the Windows 7 release, instead of the month out they honored. That was pretty cheap as they new the issues Vista was having well before than and pushed the product regardless. When you buy a PC you don't have much choice of your OS, so many people got screwed and had to pay the $100+ to upgrade. If I had an option to have XP or Vista, I would of chose XP and saved myself the hassle. |
Good, but be sure to tweak it.
|
| Review Date: February 3, 2010 |
| Reviewer: DAG, |
I bought a powerful laptop in 2009 that handled Vista nicely... it was fast and stable. Last week I formatted the laptop and put Windows 7 Home Premium on (btw, I have a hard time believing Microsoft didn't intend on Vista being trash from the beginning of its sale, for that I'm not happy at all).
I was surprised to find there was a mild performance boost, when things were already fast before. It doesn't seem like a whole lot is different than Vista except for some cosmetic changes (most of which I don't care about since I don't use Aero - I use opaque window style and the plain old boring xp-style taskbar). The new Library concept seems pointless to me because that's what the Documents folder is for. I think Win7 is running a lot less in the background than Vista, so that's much appreciated.
One thing that needs to be tweaked in the fresh Windows 7 installation... the TON of scheduled tasks. If you're finding as I did that your computer will not stay asleep, you might want to check the scheduled tasks. It's *completely unacceptable* to find your computer on when you've turned it off. Also if you're having hardware issues, be sure to get the new Windows 7 drivers yourself. I found that my bluetooth mouse worked as soon as Windows 7 started the first time... but the scroll wheel did not work... downloaded the Win7 Bluetooth driver from Dell and voila, fixed.
Little sidenote: the logon screen is obnoxious and as far as I can tell it takes 3rd party software to change it. Even then Win7 periodically sees your tweak and undoes it. Oh well.
Overall I'm happy with it. Hopefully it'll stick, the fiasco that was Vista has left a bad taste in my mouth. To MS: your customers have viable options these days, don't make us switch. |
An Extraordinary Improvement - and about time
|
| Review Date: November 3, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Mark Brittingham, Califon, NJ United States |
I am a long-time Windows developer, having written software for the DOS and Windows platforms since the mid-1980s. I have literally hundreds of thousands of lines invested in a suite of Windows and (Windows server) web products on which my business depends. When Windows Vista came out, however, I was just disgusted with the OS: it was slow, gratingly annoying with all of the UAC pop-ups, unable to run on MOST of our computers (even relatively new ones), and incompatible not only with much third-party software but with a fair number of MS's own products (especially development tools). Did I mention slow?
I say "disgusted" and people might think that that is hyperbole. It isn't: I spent over $20K outfitting myself and my office with new Macs and decreed that Windows was only welcome if you run Win XP in a VMWare virtual machine. In short, my money went where my mouth was. I couldn't abandon Windows; I have too much invested in Windows source code. But I was getting as far away from Microsoft and Windows as I could given the circumstances.
I mention all of this just because it sets the stage for just how unwilling I was to even give Windows 7 much consideration. I had to get at least one copy of Windows 7, though, so that our testing team could evaluate our products on the OS.
What I found was that Windows 7 is a revelation. I almost can't believe that the same team that developed Vista went and created Windows 7. It is fast - really fast - and very easy to use and navigate in every regard. The incessant UAC prompts are gone and the Control Panel has been reorganized and streamlined. Did I mention that it is fast? And, like the Mac, things just work. When I plugged in a new printer in Vista I could almost be guaranteed of a long struggle to get it to actually work. In an admittedly small sample, the two printers I've hooked up so far have both just worked.
Much has been (rightly) made of the Mac's advantages. Mac OS X is a truly great operating system and things really do "just work." But I can honestly say - having used both at considerable length now - that Windows 7 has completely closed the gap and, in some ways, is easier to use (especially the taskbar pop up Windows showing you your running programs). Despite having both right at hand on a KVM switch, my days are spent primarily in Windows 7 with the Mac mostly being used for iTunes and some graphics work. I feel foolish having to admit that I like Windows 7 so much after making a huge investment in Apple but I am hopeful that my experience will help others.
As an aside, I used to really enjoy the "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" commercials (when I was a newly minted Mac fan). But, truly, if you are used to Windows on your PC, Windows 7 is a much smoother upgrade than OS X. You won't have to learn all new key combinations (e.g. "End" doesn't go to the end of the line on a Mac), your software investment will go with you, etc. etc. Indeed, when I see the Apple commercial where the woman decides that she might as well go with a Mac since she is upgrading anyhow, I cringe. |
|
No video reviews found for this product.
Amazon.com $50 Gift Card
