Comments on: Why is Microsoft even offering Windows 7 Ultimate?

Before the company upsets even more people, should Microsoft ditch Windows 7 Ultimate?

[libertyforall1776]

Greed?!

[viper396]

You're probable just as greedy as the rest of us. You're just not as successful at it.

[The_happy_switcher]

At my office we'll wait until 2020--by then they should have figured out--or not-- how to make an OS that doesn't get infected the minute you launch the browser because someone forgot to update their antivirus/spyware one minute ago. XP is here for another 11 years---Woo Hoo!

[drbyte]

Nobody really wants to be competitive, so Microsoft can charge what they want to and ship out broken software as long as people accept endless updates and service packs and 2 to 3 virus / malware/ evilware/ hivware as the norm.

I 'm surprise they don't have more versions Windows. Windows 7 Secret Ultimate? Windows 7 Ambassador supreme? Windows 7 Low Income Apartment Premium.

They can do what they want.

[VKNY]

Microsoft is a dying Company.
It has nothing special to offer to consumers but all the headaches of updates, security patches and computer crashes

[drbyte]

The new OS's since xp have been suspect, but I love Office 2007. That's one thing they got right.

[wieser100]

don't you apple fanatics ever get tired of crowing about how good apple is?? they will prove they are as good as Microsoft only when they have as many users as windows!!When you use any apple product you have to use only apple products (at least as far as operating systems go).with windows iI have a very wide choice of what i can use it with. Look at how many manufactures make computers that use windows and how many make computers that use apples os!!

[viper396]

What's ironic is when people don't have choices they will still complain. Is this really any different then people buying cars with multiple options they'll rarely if ever use? How many people have purchased 4x4 vehicles yet never take them off-roading or even in snow? (Those of you driving those huge SUV's know who you are ;)

Microsoft offered options in their product but you were the one's who bought it. Nobody held a gun to your head.
You're the consumer, it's your responsibility to fIgure out what you need. Whether it's Operating Systems, Cars, or Televisions, if you blindly buy more features then you need that's your fault.

[Renegade Knight]

Did you have a point? I couldn't find it.

However I take everthing off road. I don't always have my gas guzzeling SUV handy when I need to go off road. It puts a real crimp in your style when your Corolla is getting hung up on rock and the incline it too steep for it to move forward.

[huddie klein]

@catchcall

Don't know why we're suddenly talking Apple again, but ok, if you have to raise the subject: SnowLeopard will be available in one version only, selling at $29, - for Leopard users.

And as mulptiple versions go: take a look at Apple's music software: every mac comes with Garagband for free. A nice program used by amateurs and proffesionals ont the road as well.

Logic Express is a serious piece of software, offering a great bunch of features for amteurs at $199 and it reads Garageband projects. Logic Studio is an all out production suite for pro's at 499, - Functionality and price-wise it compares very favorably with other DAW's around.

[randy7628]

I really have to get in on this one. First the author of this article - for which the subject has strayed- did make a slight mistake in his article, but it wasn't his fault. Win7 Ultimate does have many more features than professional, but most casual users will never use them. To clear a few things up, Domain Join and licensed XP mode is available with professional and ultimate. Fax and scan is available in all releases. The missing features in Ultimate that generally aren't advertised on Microsoft's website are the following: App Locker, Boot from VHD, BranchCache, DirectAccess, Federated Search, Multi-Lingual (you can switch languages), and the Unix Subsystem. Yeah I just wrote UNIX about Windows. Truth is certain versions of Windows have been able to run Unix programs natively since before XP, just most people would never need or use it.

About Win7 being a "service pack" for Vista: well it's not. Actually, Vista had many flaws and most of them revolved around an outdated kernel. Windows 7 is based on an entirely rewritten (and new) kernel based off of MinWin ( or minimalist windows). The new kernel is fast, even on outdated PCs. If you used Win7 RC or Beta, and it was slow, that was probably because of mismatched memory or a "home built" pc with mismatched components or just a slow, out-dated PC. As a comparison, putting Win7 on an outdated pc, is like hooking up huge speakers straight to a stock Ford car stereo. The big speakers won't put out much noise without an amplifyer.

I am no "Monopoly" fan, I really hate spending hundreds every so often to run the "newest" OS, and I wait anxiously for ReactOS to complete their work. I will agree with a previous post talking about charging a base price and adding features as needed, and that's actually the thinking on the several different versions. Linux distributions have a similar feature of adding packages. So, why do I stick with Windows? It's convenient. Every decent piece of software I have and own (for the past 23 years) all works with Windows. Yeah there are open source alternatives for both OS and software, but everytime I install a Linux Distro, the next version gets released before I find out how to mount an external drive, and I'm having to reinstall or update. Same with BSD. And to those Mac Fans (get ready for the flames) you're running the same core operating system since 2001. Every 10.X version is the same core and you've been paying to upgrade the same thing over and over. That's what Windows users call a "Service Pack." That's what I call a rip off especially since you can get FreeBSD and PCBSD (almost identical in function to MacOS) for free! So I'm getting screwed my Microsoft, Mac Fans are getting screwed by Apple, and the only sane people are the ones using open source.

Back to the article at hand...I think ultimate has it's place for enthusiasts, but who in their right mind? Ok maybe I need to use some unix programs on a windows based server network natively without network translation. Why set up a unix/linux system when Win7 Ultimate will do just that. It's not easy and only and enthusiast or expert would tackle it, but I do know that several companies do just that. I would pay the $20 extra to be able to run unix and windows programs simultaneously, if I was into that sort of thing, but why make a separate version. As mentioned earlier, just make it a downloadable "extra". Home Basic - rip off, Home Premium - for most users, Professional - that's the one for me, Enterprise/Ultimate - waste of my time. That's the only versions that will be available in the US. There are other versions being produced for other countries, such as the Starter Edition, E series and so on, but I'm not interested in those foreign versions.

Okay, now that I've typed all of this, I am contemplating that I will just erase it all, but I kinda want to see all the flaming that will come from this post.

[madhi19]

The way of the future for Microsoft would be to just sell a bare bone OS and sell or give everything else in modules that you can download from a repo if you want them. That would keep the bloat and the footprint down and their profit will soar provided that they offer modules that peoples would really want to buy!

[teksoljiers]

I have Windows Ultimate and I am very satisfied with the performance of this OS.

[Bedroom_Bullie]

ive just had a new pc with vista home premium.. if id have known about this new micrapsoft fek up i woudnt have botherd,, its call WINSXS folder which is 14gb in total plus u cant delete the contents... yeah another big fek up .. grrrrrr