Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, ...

, a major release of the

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

, has been released in several editions since its original release in 2009. Only Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate were widely available at retailers (including Enterprise for big businesses, companies etc.). The other editions focus on other markets such as the software development world. All editions support 32-bit

IA-32 IA-32 (short for "Intel Architecture, 32-bit", commonly called ''i386'') is the 32-bit version of the x86 instruction set architecture, designed by Intel and first implemented in the i386, 80386 microprocessor in 1985. IA-32 is the first incarn ...

CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor, or just processor, is the primary processor in a given computer. Its electronic circuitry executes instructions of a computer program, such as arithmetic, log ...

s and all editions except Starter support 64-bit

x64 x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit extension of the x86 instruction set. It was announced in 1999 and first available in the AMD Opteron family in 2003. It introduces two new operating modes: 64-bit mode an ...

CPUs. 64-bit installation media are not included in Home-Basic edition packages, but can be obtained separately from Microsoft. According to Microsoft, the features for all editions of Windows 7 are stored on the machine, regardless of which edition is in use. Users who wish to upgrade to an edition of Windows 7 with more features were able to use

Windows Anytime Upgrade Windows Anytime Upgrade (Add Features to Windows) was a service by Microsoft introduced in Windows Vista that facilitated upgrades across successive editions of Windows Vista. Prices for upgrades purchased through Windows Anytime Upgrade were low ...

to purchase the upgrade and to unlock the features of those editions, until it was discontinued in 2015. Microsoft announced Windows 7 pricing information for some editions on June 25, 2009, and Windows Anytime Upgrade and Family Pack pricing on July 31, 2009. Mainstream support for all Windows 7 editions ended on January 13, 2015, and extended support ended on January 14, 2020. After that, the operating system ceased receiving further support. Professional and Enterprise volume licensed editions had paid Extended Security Updates (ESU) available until at most January 10, 2023. Since October 31, 2013, Windows 7 is no longer available in retail, except for remaining stocks of the preinstalled Professional edition, which was officially discontinued on October 31, 2016.

Main editions

; : Windows 7 Starter is the edition of Windows 7 that contains the fewest features. It was only available in a

32-bit In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in a maximum of 32- bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform la ...

version, does not include the

Windows Aero Windows Aero (a backronym for ''Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, and Open'') is the design language introduced in the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system in 2006. The changes introduced by Windows Aero encompassed many elements of the Windo ...

theme, and the desktop wallpaper cannot be changed. It was initially intended to be restricted to running up to three simultaneous programs like previous Starter releases of Windows, however this was dropped in the final release. It only supports up to 2 GB of

RAM Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

. : This edition was available pre-installed on computers, especially

netbook A netbook is a small-sized laptop computer; they were primarily sold from 2007 until around 2013, designed mostly as a means of accessing the Internet and being significantly less expensive than regular-sized laptops. At their inception in l ...

s or Windows Tablets, through system integrators or computer manufacturers using OEM licenses. ; : Windows 7 Home Basic was available in "

emerging markets An emerging market (or an emerging country or an emerging economy) is a market that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future or we ...

", in 141 countries. Some Windows Aero options are excluded along with several new features. This edition was available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions and supports up to 8 GB of RAM. Home Basic, along with other editions sold in emerging markets, includes geographical activation restriction, which requires users to activate Windows within a certain region or country. ; : This edition contains features aimed at the home

market segment In marketing, market segmentation or customer segmentation is the process of dividing a consumer or business market into meaningful sub-groups of current or potential customers (or consumers) known as ''segments''. Its purpose is to identify pr ...

, such as

Windows Media Center Windows Media Center (WMC) is a discontinued digital video recorder and media player created by Microsoft. Media Center was first introduced to Windows in 2002 on Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE). It was included in Home Premium and U ...

, Windows Aero and multi-touch support. It supports up to 16 GB of RAM and was available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. ; : This edition is targeted towards enthusiasts, small-business users, and schools. It includes all the features of Windows 7 Home Premium, and adds the ability to participate in a

Windows Server domain A Windows domain is a form of a computer network in which all user accounts, computers, printers and other security principals, are registered with a central database located on one or more clusters of central computers known as domain controlle ...

. Additional features include support for up to 192 GB of RAM (increased from 16 GB), up to two physical CPUs, operating as a

Remote Desktop In computing, the term remote desktop refers to a software- or operating system feature that allows a personal computer's desktop environment to be run remotely from one system (usually a PC, but the concept applies equally to a server or a sma ...

server, location aware printing, backup to a network location,

Encrypting File System The Encrypting File System (EFS) on Microsoft Windows is a feature introduced in version 3.0 of NTFS that provides filesystem-level encryption. The technology enables files to be transparently encrypted to protect confidential data from attackers ...

, Presentation Mode, Software Restriction Policies (but not the extra management features of AppLocker) and

Windows XP Mode Virtual PC is a discontinued x86 emulator software for Microsoft Windows hosts and PowerPC-based Mac (computer), Mac hosts. It was created by Connectix in 1997 and acquired by Microsoft in 2003, after which the program was renamed Microsoft V ...

. It was available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. ; : This edition targeted the

enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

segment of the market and was sold through volume licensing to companies which have a Software Assurance (SA) contract with Microsoft. Additional features include support for

Multilingual User Interface Multilingual User Interface (MUI) enables the localization of the user interface of an application. MUI is provided by Microsoft as an integrated feature of its operating system Windows 11 down to Windows 2000 with some limitations in older ve ...

(MUI) packages,

BitLocker Drive Encryption BitLocker is a full volume encryption feature included with Microsoft Windows versions starting with Windows Vista. It is designed to protect data by providing encryption for entire volumes. By default, it uses the Advanced Encryption Standard ...

, and

UNIX Unix (, ; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multi-user computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, a ...

application support Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a ...

. Not available through retail or OEM channels, this edition is distributed through SA. As a result, it includes several SA-only benefits, including a license allowing the operating of

diskless node A diskless node (or diskless workstation) is a workstation or personal computer without disk drives, which employs network booting to load its operating system from a server. (A computer may also be said to ''act as a diskless node'', if its d ...

s (diskless PCs) and activation via

Volume License Key In software licensing, volume licensing is the practice of using one license to authorize software on a large number of computers and/or for a large number of users. Customers of such licensing schemes are typically business, governmental or e ...

(VLK). ; : Windows 7 Ultimate is the edition of Windows 7 that contains the most features. It includes all the features of Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional while also adding some additional enterprise-oriented features that were available on the SA-exclusive Windows 7 Enterprise, making it feature-complete with the latter; this edition was also available to home users on an individual license basis. If a Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional user wished to upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate, they would be able to do so by using Windows Anytime Upgrade, for an additional fee. This service was still available for any users who wish to upgrade. Like Windows 7 Professional, it supports up to 192 GB of RAM and up to two physical CPUs, and was available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Unlike Windows Vista Ultimate, it does not include the

Windows Ultimate Extras Windows Ultimate Extras were optional features offered by Microsoft to users of the Ultimate edition of Windows Vista and are accessible via Windows Update. Ultimate Extras replaced the market role of Microsoft Plus!, a product sold for prior con ...

feature or any other exclusive features that Microsoft has stated.

Special-purpose editions

The main editions also can take the form of one of the following special editions: ; : The features in the N and KN Editions are the same as their equivalent full versions, but do not include

Windows Media Player Windows Media Player (WMP, officially referred to as Windows Media Player Legacy to retronym, distinguish it from Windows Media Player (2022), the new Windows Media Player introduced with Windows 11) is the first media player (application soft ...

or other Windows Media-related technologies, such as

and

Windows DVD Maker Windows DVD Maker is a discontinued DVD authoring application developed by Microsoft introduced in Windows Vista, available in the Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista for users to create slideshows and videos for playback on media ...

due to limitations set by the European Union and South Korea, respectively. The cost of the N and KN Editions are the same as the full versions, as the Media Feature Pack for Windows 7 N or Windows 7 KN can be downloaded without charge from Microsoft. ;E edition : The features in the E edition are the same as their equivalent full versions, but does not include Internet Explorer due to limitations set by the European Union. The cost of the E edition was cheaper than the full version. ;Signature Edition : The Signature Edition of Windows 7 is a commemorative edition of Windows 7 Ultimate for those throwing a Windows 7 launch party. It is functionally the same as Windows 7 Ultimate.

Upgrade editions

In-place upgrade from Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 to Windows 7 is supported if the processor architecture and the language are the same and their editions match (see below). In-place upgrade is not supported for earlier versions of Windows; moving to Windows 7 on these machines requires a clean installation, i.e. removal of the old operating system, installing Windows 7 and reinstalling all previously installed programs.

Windows Easy Transfer Windows Easy Transfer was a specialized file-transfer program developed by Microsoft that allowed users of the Windows operating system to transfer personal files and settings from a computer running an earlier version of Windows to a computer ...

can assist in this process. Microsoft made upgrade SKUs of Windows 7 for selected editions of Windows XP and Windows Vista. The difference between these SKUs and full SKUs of Windows 7 is their lower price and proof of license ownership of a qualifying previous version of Windows. Same restrictions on in-place upgrading applies to these SKUs as well. In addition, Windows 7 is available as a Family Pack upgrade edition in certain markets, to upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium only. It gives licenses to upgrade three machines from Vista or Windows XP to the Windows 7 Home Premium edition. These are not full versions, so each machine to be upgraded must have one of these qualifying previous versions of Windows for them to work. In the United States, this offer expired in early December 2009. In October 2010, to commemorate the anniversary of Windows 7, Microsoft once again made Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack available for a limited time, while supplies lasted.

Upgrade compatibility

There are two possible ways to upgrade to Windows 7 from an earlier version of Windows: * An in-place install (labelled "Upgrade" in the installer), where settings and programs are preserved from an older version of Windows. This option is only sometimes available, depending on the editions of Windows being used, and is not available at all unless upgrading from Windows Vista. * A clean install (labelled "Custom" in the installer), where all settings including but not limited to user accounts, applications, user settings, music, photos, and programs are erased entirely and the current operating system is erased and replaced with Windows 7. This option is always available and is required for all versions of Windows XP. The table below lists which upgrade paths allow for an in-place install. Note that in-place upgrades can only be performed when the previous version of Windows is of the same architecture. If upgrading from a 32-bit installation to a 64-bit installation or downgrading from 64-bit installation to 32-bit installation, a clean install is mandatory regardless of the editions being used.

Anytime Upgrade editions

Microsoft supports in-place upgrades from a lower edition of Windows 7 to a higher one, using the

tool. There are currently three retail options available (though it is currently unclear whether they can be used with previous installations of the N versions), however there are no family pack versions of the Anytime Upgrade editions. It was possible to use the Product Key from a Standard upgrade edition to accomplish an in-place upgrade (e.g. Home Premium to Ultimate). * Starter to Home Premium * Starter to Professional¹ * Starter to Ultimate¹ * Home Premium to Professional * Home Premium to Ultimate * Professional to Ultimate¹ ¹ Available in retail, and at the

Microsoft Store The Microsoft Store (formerly known as the Windows Store) is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It was created as an app store for Windows 8 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform apps. With ...

Derivatives

; : On February 9, 2011, Microsoft announced Windows Thin PC, a branded derivative of Windows Embedded Standard 7 with Service Pack 1, designed as a lightweight version of Windows 7 for installation on low performance PCs as an alternative to using a dedicated

thin client In computer networking, a thin client, sometimes called slim client or lean client, is a simple (low-Computer performance, performance) computer that has been Program optimization, optimized for Remote desktop, establishing a remote connectio ...

device. It succeeded

Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs ("WinFLP") is a thin client release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft and optimized for older, less powerful hardware. It was released on July 8, 2006, nearly two years after its Wind ...

, which was based on

Windows XP Embedded Windows XP, which is the next version of Windows NT after Windows 2000 and the successor to the consumer-oriented Windows Me, has been released in several editions since its original release in 2001. Windows XP is available in many languages. In ...

. Windows Thin PC was

released Released may refer to: * Released (Jade Warrior album), ''Released'' (Jade Warrior album), 1971 * Released (Patti LaBelle album), ''Released'' (Patti LaBelle album), 1980 * ''Released: 1985–1995'', an album by Kronos Quartet, 1995 * ''Released'' ...

on June 6, 2011. : Mainstream support for Windows Thin PC ended on October 11, 2016, and extended support ended on October 12, 2021. ;: Windows 7 is also available in two distinct forms of

Windows Embedded Windows IoT, short for Windows Internet of Things and formerly known as Windows Embedded, is a family of operating systems from Microsoft designed for use in embedded systems. Microsoft has three different subfamilies of operating systems for em ...

, named as Windows Embedded Standard 7 (known as Windows Embedded Standard 2011 prior to release, the newest being Windows Embedded Standard 7 with Service Pack 1) and

Windows Embedded POSReady 7 Windows Embedded Industry, formerly Windows Embedded POSReady and Windows Embedded for Point of Service (WEPOS), is an operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows Embedded family of products. Based on Windows NT, Windows Embe ...

. Both versions are eligible for Extended Security Updates (ESU) for up to 3 years after their end of extended support dates. In addition, binary identical for Embedded Systems (FES) variants of Professional and Ultimate editions are also available, differing only in licensing, and with their support periods also matching their non FES variants. : Mainstream support for Windows Embedded 7 Standard ended on October 13, 2015, and extended support ended on October 13, 2020. Mainstream support for Windows Embedded POSReady 7 ended on October 11, 2016, and extended support ended on October 12, 2021. Extended Security Updates (ESU) ended for Windows Embedded 7 Standard on October 10, 2023 and for Windows Embedded POSReady 7 on October 8, 2024.

Main editions

Special-purpose editions

Upgrade editions

Upgrade compatibility

Anytime Upgrade editions

Derivatives

Comparison chart

See also

Notes

References

Further reading