Microsoft Windows 7 Professional [Old Version] ~ Microsoft Windows Top

Product Details

Size: One Size
Color: One Color
Brand: Microsoft
Model: FQC-00129
Released on: 2009-10-22
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Number of discs: 1
Platform: Windows 7
Format: DVD-ROM
Original language: English
Number of items: 1
Dimensions: 1.13" h x 5.38" w x 7.50" l, .0 pounds

Features

Recover data easily with automatic backups to your home or business network, connect to company networks effortlessly and more securely
Make the things you do every day easier with improved desktop navigation; This is the Retail version of the software
Start programs faster and more easily, and quickly find the documents you use most often
Easily create a home network and connect your PCs to a printer with HomeGroup

Editorial Reviews

From the Manufacturer
With Windows 7 Professional, fewer walls stand between you and your success. You can run many Windows XP productivity programs in Windows XP Mode and recover data easily with automatic backups to your home or business network. You can also connect to company networks effortlessly and more securely with Domain Join. With all the exciting entertainment features of Windows Home Premium, it's a great choice for home and for business. Need to use multiple languages on your PC or help protect your data with enhanced BitLocker security? Get Windows 7 Ultimate.

Easy to connectWireless 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, Amzn, 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

Resume from sleep
We designed Windows 7 to help PCs sleep and resume from sleep more quickly by improving the way Windows 7 manages drivers, programs, and power.
Faster and more reliable
We reduced the amount of memory your PC needs for open windows and to execute commands to help it be more responsive to commands.
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.

Get connected in three clicks wherever there's a wireless network connection.
Keep documents on your PC and on network servers in sync automatically.
Your PC will automatically use the printer you prefer for whatever network you're on.
Simplify making presentations special settings that keep your PC from sleeping and turn off messages, notifications, and screen savers.
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.

Advanced Backup and Restore makes it easier to keep your work safely backed up to external or network drives and accessible if you need it.
File encryption helps keep proprietary and confidential information on a PC secure if it is lost or stolen.
Preserve your investment in programs designed for Windows XP with Windows XP Mode.
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.
Easily add your PC to a secured, managed, network with domain join capabilities.
Group policy controls help administrators more easily and effectively manage the security and configuration of multiple PCs.

Choose the Windows 7 Edition That Is Best For You

Features	Windows 7 Home Premium	Windows 7 Professional	Windows 7 Ultimate
Make the things you do every day easier with improved desktop navigation.
Start programs faster and more easily, and quickly find the documents you use most often.
Make your web experience faster, easier and safer than ever with Internet Explorer 8.
Watch, pause, rewind, and record TV on your PC.
Easily create a home network and connect your PCs to a printer with HomeGroup.
Run many Windows XP productivity programs in Windows XP Mode.
Connect to company networks easily and more securely with Domain Join.
In addition to full-system Backup and Restore found in all editions, you can back up to a home or business network.
Help protect data on your PC and portable storage devices against loss or theft with BitLocker.
Work in the language of your choice and switch between any of 35 languages.

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
157 of 170 people found the following review helpful.

Here Comes Windows 7
By Ed
Here comes Windows 7, nearly three years after Windows Vista and eight years after Windows XP. By most accounts, Windows 7 is what Vista should have been. Do we finally have a worthy successor to XP?

PROS:
- Fast startup and performance
- Stable
- Nice aesthetic and functional changes to the desktop
- Improved networking, power management & security
- 32-bit & 64-bit versions included
- Windows Media Center
- Windows XP Mode

CONS:
- User Account Control still annoying
- Upgrade can be challenging
- Expensive

There are only two Microsoft operating systems I've personally skipped since DOS 6.x-- Windows ME and Windows Vista. Windows ME was so terrible that PC World coined it the "Mistake Edition." Vista, when initially released, was considered to be bloated, relying on higher hardware requirements than XP, while being outperformed by XP on identical hardware. With Microsoft fast-tracking Windows 7, I decided to skip Vista altogether and upgrade to 7. This review briefly touches upon some of the key features and enhancements of Microsoft's latest OS.

PERFORMANCE & STABILITY
One of the welcome enhancements Microsoft made was start-up time. The shutdown time has been improved as well. Also, in my non-benchmarked experience, Windows 7 has been at least as fast as XP if not faster. The kernel changes and ability to run the 64-bit version probably has a lot to do with that. Most benchmarks from around the Internet seem to support my observations.

64-BIT
I am elated to finally upgrade to a 64-bit operating system in order to take advantage of more memory support and modern processors. I have Intel Core 2 Duo processors in both my systems with 4GB of physical RAM but XP only allowed 3.25GB for system use.

DESKTOP
At first login, you'll notice the changes to the taskbar. The taskbar is no longer just a place to store quick launch icons and view open windows. It now provides functionality in the form of Jump Lists, which allow you to select your most frequently opened files or links from the apps you have "pinned" on the taskbar. The clock and calendar are improved and the Show Desktop icon is now integrated in the far right corner. Other desktop enhancements include Aero Peek, Aero Shake, Snap, new themes and wallpapers. You also get gadget support. All of these features combine to create a much improved and enjoyable desktop experience.

LIBRARIES
Windows 7 introduces a new feature called libraries. Previously, your system had shortcuts to My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, etc. which had files residing in only those specific folders. Files can now reside anywhere on your system and be organized inside libraries. It's similar to how many music and photo applications organize files.

NETWORKING
Even as good as XP was, networking was cumbersome. Windows 7 makes connecting two or more Windows 7 systems together easy, using HomeGroup. This enables easy sharing of files and devices. One downside is that HomeGroup is only supported between Windows 7 systems. File transfer performance between computers has been vastly improved and connecting to a wireless network has never been easier on a Windows machine.

SECURITY
Security in Windows 7 is good and comes with Windows Firewall and Defender. Still, you'll probably want to invest in a more comprehensive Internet security suite, like Norton Internet Security 2010. User Account Control (UAC) has been tweaked in order to give user accounts more flexibility in controlling their own security as well as providing more detailed information so the user can make better decisions about whether to allow certain actions. Coming from XP however, it is still annoying and I choose to turn it off. Also, in Windows 7 Ultimate, you can encrypt entire hard drives as well as external portable storage devices, like USB thumb drives. Though this is a welcome integrated feature, much of the functionality can be found in a popular open-source program called TrueCrypt. If you want encryption but not multi-language support, you could just get Windows 7 Professional and use TrueCrypt.

POWER MANAGEMENT
Power management has been improved overall and you should be able to squeeze more battery life out of your laptop, even when using your DVD drive. Sleep and resume has also been improved. XP wasn't always consistent when entering or resuming from sleep mode, but Windows 7 has been perfect.

WINDOWS MEDIA CENTER
I've only briefly played around with WMC but it looks promising. It has some fun options for media, especially when you're connected to the Internet. It may even be an adequate replacement for component DVR's should you choose to use it as the centerpiece to your entertainment center. The biggest advantage for me is that Windows 7 now includes a DVD decoder. This means that I can now watch DVD's natively. WMC is available in all Windows 7 editions except Starter.

WINDOWS XP MODE
For applications that ran in XP, but won't on 7, there is now XP Mode. It isn't perfect and your system has to have virtualization support and turned on. Go to your system BIOS to check. If supported, then install Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode. Check your hardware if you intend to use XP Mode.

RECOMMENDATIONS
If you're an XP holdout, like I was, I recommend upgrading. Vista SP2 users may have less reason to upgrade but might want to just for the changes to the taskbar and the UAC improvements. For users who don't need to use their computers in a corporate environment, then Windows 7 Home Premium edition is a good choice. I'm guessing most power users will choose Professional, which adds XP Mode and Domain Join. Ultimate also adds drive encryption and multi-language support. I suggest a clean install for best results. If you're a Mac OS X user, there is probably nothing in Windows 7 compelling enough for you to consider switching.

SUMMARY
Windows 7 is the premium Microsoft OS that Windows users have been waiting for. It's fast, secure, stable, visually appealing and fun to use. Windows 7 will make your old system feel fresh and new again. New system owners with Windows 7 pre-loaded can feel confident that they're getting the best Windows OS ever produced.
48 of 51 people found the following review helpful.

A home run by Microsoft -- Finally!
By Roger J. Buffington
Microsoft clearly understood that it was "betting the bank" on Windows 7. This is evident from the fact that installation of Windows 7 Professional is trouble-free, and the OS is attractive, easy to figure out, and easy to configure. It has quickly become a cliche' that Windows 7 is what Vista should have been, but it is also true. In my installation all of my hardware peripherals (3 printers, a fax, a scanner, and numerous external hard disk drives) installed instantly and easily. Only one of my printers required me to log onto Hewlett-Packard's website, and right there was a Windows 7 64 bit driver waiting for me. This is one day after Windows 7 was released to the public -- Microsoft clearly worked closely with hardware developers to ensure that everything was ready to go. Installation of all hardware went without a hiccup. In fact, most times when you plug a device into a USB port, Win 7 automatically finds the necessary drivers and simply installs the device.

One caveat -- XP users must do a "clean install" from XP to Win 7. This essentially means that if you skipped Vista (as many did) you will have to install Windows 7 and then reinstall your programs. I did this, and it was about a two hour exercise getting everything set up the way I wanted again after installing Windows 7 64 bit.

LOOK AND FEEL.

The "look and feel" of Windows 7 is better than either Vista or Windows XP. Unlike Vista, users of XP will have no difficulty finding the screens and menus they are looking for. The new taskbar in Windows 7 is very sharp. The user can "pin" any program to the taskbar for easy access. When a program is running, the user can hover the mouse cursor over the program icon, and a mini snapshot of the actual program appears, to show what is going on with the program. Right click on an icon on the taskbar and it will show you what files have been recently used or are open. The new so-called "aero" styling of Windows 7 is very pleasant to work with. One nice little feature is a little box at the right bottom screen--hover the mouse over it and the desktop appears without having to minimize all the open programs.

Performance wise, it is not clear that Windows 7 is wildly faster than Vista or XP. Most users will probably think it is simply because computers are in the midst of an upgrade cycle, with more and more users using more DRAM and faster processors. And, of course, the issue of 64 bit is emerging.

64 BIT

Windows 7 will likely lead the charge to 64 Bit software. Windows 7 gives the option of either 32 bit or 64 bit installation, and most users are expected to opt for 64 bit. They should. This will not immediately impact most users, but it opens the door for much better performance in the times to come. 64 bit software running on a 64 Bit OS can access far more memory than 32 bit, which was limited to 4 GB of DRAM. Those of us who manipulate large digital photographs, or use other processes that involve handling large amounts of data, will notice extreme performance improvements once true 64 bit programs are available. Now that a 64 bit OS is in place, and the accompanying hardware support (fast CPUs, cheap DRAM) is available, 64 bit computing will become common; very likely within a very short time. As always, once the capability exists, we will find new uses for them. Digital photographers such as myself have been looking forward to 64 bit applications for a long time.

In the meantime, I have found that every single one of my 32 bit programs runs just fine in Windows 7 64 bit. Supposedly some legacy programs have difficulties, but none of mine did.

CONCLUSION

After running Windows 7/64 for a couple of weeks, I have found essentially nothing negative about it. It is snappier than XP, which was starting to get long in the tooth, and seems to have eliminated some of the irritants of Vista. Most importantly, I am certain that almost all users will find that their hardware works fine on Windows 7, which was not the case with Vista. Overall, Windows 7 is clearly a major upgrade from Vista and XP and is what Vista was supposed to be.
41 of 45 people found the following review helpful.

For the Technically Inclined
By Winter
This is the full version of Windows 7 Professional, so chances are you're looking at it because you are building a new computer and plan on putting this on it. If you're wanting to upgrade your old XP or Vista computer and start from scratch, it's not like the old days where you could only format by using a full version. Save yourself some money and purchase the upgrade version: it will still offer you the ability to do a "clean" install and jettison the old Windows baggage.

I HIGHLY recommend you stop by Microsoft's website and look the different versions over to confirm you have the right one. If you're running a computer old enough that you're upgrading from Windows 98 or Windows 2000, I don't recommend it: your performance will drop and you'll see compatibility problems, some of which may be major. If this is the case, stop by Microsoft.com, grab their "Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor", and run it first.

That said, Windows 7 Home Premium is probably the best bet for the average home user. Unlike XP Home, which made basic things like networking a pain, or Vista Home, which really seemed to only be missing some eye candy, 7 Home Premium truly is aimed at the everyday consumer. Professional is going to be more suited to a corporate environment, or if you are an individual, you will probably want Professional for a personal machine that you regularly use to interact with a workplace.

Pro gives you:
1) complex networking made simpler (for example, connecting to AD domains and/or interacting with your workplace/corporate networks)
2) "XP Mode" - which runs a program within a virtual version of XP. You still have the ability to use "XP Compatibility Mode", which fools your programs into thinking they're running in XP, but the XP Mode is an honest-to-god XP shell that runs within Windows 7. Your hardware will need to support "Virtualization Technology" in order to take advantage of this.
3) Automated backup (which can be done using free tools such as Macrium Reflect if you'd rather save the money)

Ultimate also adds:
4) Hardware-level encryption (and your hardware will need to support this)
5) Native multi-language support: which means you switch from one language to another on the fly and need to make things easier on yourself than they were when you used the Language Bar in XP or Vista

If you're a typical home user, chances are you'll be perfectly happy with Windows 7 Home Premium. If you're an avid gamer who often has to rig that favorite game *just so* in order to get it to run, you might consider Windows 7 Pro to ease your headaches. Ditto if for some reason you have a lot of older "barely XP compatible" programs that you think might be completely unable to function in just "XP Compatibility Mode" (check user forums first). And of course, if you have a desktop or laptop that you often use to connect to work with, check with your support guru, and he'll tell you whether you need to go with the Pro.

Probably one of the biggest advantages with Windows 7 over earlier versions of Windows is that it makes sorting out your networks easier: specifying whether a network is a Home, Work, or Public network means Windows will be more open about sharing across your machines at Home, easier to access your files at Work, but much more cautious about information when you're on a Public network (which means, free Wi-Fi hotspots and the like). This will help you a lot if you're jumping from a home environment to a work environment on a regular basis. It also helps Windows decide how often to nag you about security: more when you're connected to a Public network, less if you're at Home or securely connected to Work. If you dealt with that in Vista, you'll be relieved at the fewer security nags in 7.

Another huge improvement is "Windows XP Mode". If you have a program that is picky, XP Mode will run it in a native XP virtual environment. This doesn't have to mean the user has to know how to manage Virtual Machines; it can be configured to be localized to the program: stop by CNET TV, and look at the video "Windows 7 video: Windows XP Mode" for an excellent explanation and demo).

If you're putting this on a new computer that you want to use to replace an older computer, you will be happy to know that you can migrate all your old stuff from one machine to another. Search Microsoft.com for "Windows Easy Transfer": this program will let you migrate your old user accounts and settings to the new machine very simply. If you want to take it a step further--for example, you have a lot of programs on the old machine you don't want to have to sit down and reinstall one by one on the new machine--you can migrate all of them for $19.95 using Laplink PC Mover: their website is currently offering a special version that is just designed to migrate one computer to Windows 7 one time. Read the documentation very carefully and keep a copy of it handy as I've no room to go into detail on that here.

So what are some of the things Microsoft doesn't tell you in the description above?

Windows 7 isn't just "fixed Vista": it's a full overhaul of Windows based on a ton of feedback collected directly from Beta and RC 1 users (of which I was one--I let 'em have an earful and I think they actually listened)

Windows 7 does things drastically different from XP in that, like Vista, it does a lot of the eye candy in a smoother way. XP and earlier used to send graphics work through your processor before it'd get to your video card...now, it bypasses the processor and goes straight to the video, clearing up what was a pretty substantial bottleneck. This system was imperfect (to say the least!) in Vista, but it's been improved here, particularly in the area of being compatible with older games

Windows 7 is trying to slowly "trim the fat" we normally have to put up with by making itself more compatible with other devices. Where you typically have to install a new device by running the manufacturer's setup disc, installing a bunch of junk and tray icons, and etc., Microsoft is making native support more common. My sound card, for example, used to need about 5 or 6 "helper" programs that would drain my performance and occasionally annoy me. Now it's just using the drivers that came with the installation of 7.

New Operating Systems are always a bumpy road: your journey might not be as easy as others. However, compared to previous Windows releases, Windows 7 is a substantial improvement, and I'm pleased to say that I haven't been burned by 7 like I was with Vista (and Windows Me--agh, the horror, the horror). If you just want to get yourself onto the 7 platform and don't need a lot of customization, Windows 7 Home is a great place to start. If you need more for your work environment (or you are building a workplace environment), then 7 Pro is the way to go.