The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Worth upgrading

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by dustin_broke, Dec 26, 2010.

  1. dustin_broke

    dustin_broke Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    268
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I currently own Windows 7 Home 64bit but I was wondering that will it be worth upgrading to professional or Windows 7 Ulitmate x64? I hear some people say that Pro or Ulitmate runs older XP programs better but I don't know. Also if there better features than Home?
     
    dustin_broke, Dec 26, 2010
    #1
  2. Joel

    Joel coffeecoffeecoffeecoffee

    Reputations:
    1,059
    Messages:
    1,663
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Well as you can see here, Professional and Ultimate have XP Mode, which runs a virtual XP system, so then you can install games in there. If you would never need to install games that won't run in 7, you don't really need it.

    Also, if you are the end user who does not need the extra bits and pieces Professional and Ultimate offer, like BitLocker in Ultimate, then there is not much of a point upgrading.
     
    Joel, Dec 26, 2010
    #2
  3. gerryf19

    gerryf19 I am the walrus

    Reputations:
    2,275
    Messages:
    3,990
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    running games in xp mode is likely to yield very poor performance so that is not a reason to go for pro or ultimate.

    Other than the additional features that are installed, there is no difference in performance between home, pro and ultimate. People who think there is are just infatuated with words like pro and ultimate.

    The OS is the same in all versions.
     
    gerryf19, Dec 27, 2010
    #3
  4. davepermen

    davepermen Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    2,972
    Messages:
    7,788
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    if you need to run a virtual xp, there are free options, like virtualbox.

    there's no gain for a typical home user (and a gamer is just another kind of typical home user) from anything > home premium.
     
    davepermen, Dec 27, 2010
    #4
  5. Hiker

    Hiker Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    448
    Messages:
    1,715
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    56
    I'm not a gamer, have W7 Pro, although I have used compatibility mode, I haven't install/used XP mode.

    So far I've only found one program not to work (Easy Splitter) which was last updated in 2003. Too bad it was a decent program and I can't find another free one.
     
    Hiker, Dec 28, 2010
    #5
  6. davepermen

    davepermen Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    2,972
    Messages:
    7,788
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    easy video splitter? i use windows live movie maker for this. but yeah, it cries for some dll after a quick test. but no detailed test, just install and try.
     
    davepermen, Dec 28, 2010
    #6
  7. Orlbuckeye

    Orlbuckeye Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    39
    Messages:
    572
    Likes Received:
    5
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Virtual XP is free. The great thing about Virtual XP is that the XP programs run seemlessly. What that means is you can put your XP application shortcut on the desktop and click on it and it runs. It does take some time to load the virtual environment. Also another issue i had was I HP support told me to reset bios and I had to reinstall Virtual XP.
     
    Orlbuckeye, Dec 28, 2010
    #7
  8. Orlbuckeye

    Orlbuckeye Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    39
    Messages:
    572
    Likes Received:
    5
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Virtual XP is free. The great thing about Virtual XP is that the XP programs run seemlessly. What that means is you can put your XP application shortcut on the desktop and click on it and it runs. It does take some time to load the virtual environment. Also another issue i had was I HP support told me to reset bios and I had to reinstall Virtual XP.
     
    Orlbuckeye, Dec 28, 2010
    #8
  9. chimpanzee

    chimpanzee Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    683
    Messages:
    2,561
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    one thing that is lacking in Home Premium is RDP server(there are patch to enable it). It is a very convenient tool if you have multiple machines and want to remote access them. That said, you can achieve this using Windows Live Sync.
     
    chimpanzee, Dec 28, 2010
    #9
  10. michael_recycled

    michael_recycled Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    329
    Messages:
    989
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    No. You paid for it when you bought Win7 Pro or Ultimate.

    Michael
     
    michael_recycled, Dec 28, 2010
    #10
  11. chimpanzee

    chimpanzee Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    683
    Messages:
    2,561
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I think he mixed up virtual PC with virtual XP. Virtual PC the VM is free(where there are alternatives like VMPlayer or Virtualbox etc.). The actual XP running under the VM still needs license which comes with Pro/Ultimate/Business etc.

    Though one should be able to transfer a legitimate XP license from some other machines.
     
    chimpanzee, Dec 28, 2010
    #11
  12. michael_recycled

    michael_recycled Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    329
    Messages:
    989
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Possible, but I was not sure.
    Indeed. Unfortunately, MS did a good job to hide the Virtual PC "without XP Mode" version - which works on he Home versions of Windows 7 also - on their servers :rolleyes:

    Michael
     
    michael_recycled, Dec 28, 2010
    #12
  13. Hiker

    Hiker Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    448
    Messages:
    1,715
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Really? If I had a 30 minute video and I wanted to split the middle 10 minutes from it, how would I set the start and end point?

    LOL... never mind, I think I've found it. Thanks.
     
    Hiker, Dec 28, 2010
    #13
  14. davepermen

    davepermen Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    2,972
    Messages:
    7,788
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    :) glad to help. I use it to cut out ads from tv recordings mainly (and cut some crappy youtube videos of my stuff together with some nice informational text and stuff)
     
    davepermen, Dec 29, 2010
    #14