I've got a T520 coming with Home Premium 64 loaded, and I was curious--do you think I'll miss anything in day-to-day use from W7 Ultimate (a license I used on my since-departed T60p)? All I really do is basic office tasks in Office '07, internet, media playback, and coding--as far as I can tell, there aren't really any features to justify upgrading (I could use my ultimate license for an "anytime upgrade" on the new box if it would do me any good.). Any good behind-the-scenes reasons to do it?
On the other hand, it seems like a waste to burn two licenses for one machine...


Thanks for the input!

Depends on what you use that Ultimate offers...

You will "lose" when using HP over Ult: Support for joining domains, Location-aware printing, Remote Desktop Connection, Windows XP Mode, Language packs, Advanced Backup and Restore (Network Backup and Group Policy), BitLocker, Group Policy controls, Encrypting File System, Offline Folders, AppLocker, BranchCache, Direct Boot from VHD, DirectAccess, Enterprise Search Scopes, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) enhancements

A lot of this can be replaced with 3rd party apps...

Remote Desktop == UltraVNC/RealVNC/TightVNC
XP Mode == Virtual PC/VirtualBOX/VMWARE
DirectAccess == VPN
BitLocker == TrueCrypt/Axcrypt
Encrypting File System == Paragon Encrypted Disk
Offline Folders == Second Copy

So for "day-to-day", most people wont need Pro or Ultimate... really just depends on your needs, google for stuff you need to do in HP, or just try it and see before upgrading.

Looking at this comparison, I don't think you'll miss anything worth the extra money for home use.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... ts/compare

Yep, that's what I was looking at, the Feature Comparison tab

My main 2 things on XP home vs Pro were group policies and VirtualPC won't run on home, all else were replaceable. Looks like for me Ultimate would be too much, but would need Pro for Group Policies, but most people use neither of those or any of the other stuff in my replaceable list.

Thanks for the input. I guess I'll hold off on the upgrade unless I need it, then...

Pro might be a better bet anyway. On the x220 people have reported problems and power usage anomalies with Ultimate.

S

Doesn't really look like you need Ultimate, so stick with Home Premium unless you're wanting to connect to domains in which case get Professional. Of course, if you have the money, and you want to, then nothing is stopping you, but you may as well just stick with what you've got.

On a side note, honestly, why do Microsoft bring out 101 different editions of Windows? Why can't there just be Windows 7 and that's IT, no 'Home' or 'Pro' or 'Ultimate'. I understand it's to make sure you aren't buying things you don't need, but why not have one version that has everything you need and save customers the huge frustration of choosing which edition to buy.