Upgrade new computer from Windows 7 home -> Ultimate?

Hi!

So I'm buying a new Alienware laptop now, and will be headed off to school in the summer.

Through the education deals, etc., I can buy a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate for $10.

Should I do this and reinstall my computer? Or just leave it?

Thanks!

 

It's up to you. Would you use the extra features in Ultimate?

(I was beat!)

 

You were beat?

Oh, actually, is it an easy upgrade, without the need to completely reinstall?

 

Yes, it's an easy upgrade. Whether it is nessecary though is the question. Do you need the few extra features Ultimate edition offers? If so, then go for it. If not, there isn't really a point.

 

No, save your 10 dollars for ..ahem..."fun" money for uni. If your asking, chances are you don't need the extra features Ultimate offers. It's mainly intended for PC makers anyway for "ultimate bundles" and super high end gaming machines and such.

 

the definitive word:

Compare Windows - Microsoft Windows

 

You only get 34 new languages for the windows (how many students need them? ) and the bit-locker protection which frankly I couldn't turn on the one computer I tried it on because the computer manufacturer didn't support it. Filevault on MBP was much smoother.


EDIT: I forgot the run as xp mode as I was comparing professional vs. ultimate mentally but how many people actually need it? All the main programs have Win 7 counterparts now or will have it soon; this one program for school that was made in 2000 which I tried to run in XP mode didn't work for me anyway so I could only run it on my netbook at that time.

 

The upgrade from Home Premium to Ultimate is quite painless. There is a wizard in Home Premium that lets you plug in an Ulitmate key and in like 15 minutes + a reboot will automatically let you get all the Ultimate features. Every Windows 7 installation that is not Starter has the full copy of Windows Ultimate, but Windows then lock down the features that your version lacks, and if you add in a key that upgrades your existing version to a higher version, Windows will then unlock the features you are now entitled to and so-forth.

That being said, I only use Ultimate for the languages really. Unless you aren't going to read some foreign language websites or such, there is really no need for Ultimate. If you are going to be doing some networking and virtualization stuff, go to Professional.

 

I did it. I wouldn't bother going from professional to ultimate but home premium is gimped in a few ways that I couldn't make do with.

 

Well going from Home Premium to Ultimate allows you to install XP mode which you can run programs that run in XP but not in Winodws 7 natively. They run seemlessly and can be lauched from the windows 7 desktop.