2. Upgrade or Buy New? How old is your computer? Windows 7 requirements Upgrading from Vista vs. XP Skip the headache and buy new
3. Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor http://windows.microsoft.com/upgradeadvisor
4. 32-bit vs 64-bit Match to what you already have A warning about 64-bit
5. Which one is right for you? Home Premium will work for most people Professional adds XP Mode, Domain Join, Backup & Restore Ultimate adds BitLocker http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/compare Windows Anytime Upgrade
6. What’s really new? Performance improvements Application tabs in taskbar System tray icons
7. Cool new things you can do Pinning Thumbnail preview Snap Aero Shake Aero Peek
8. What’s missing? No more Outlook Express or Windows Mail Windows Live Essentialshttp://www.windowslive.com/Desktop
Requirements:1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)DirectX 9 graphics device with Windows Display Driver Module (WDDM) 1.0 or higher driverUpgrading in general:Make sure you have a reliable backup first!Windows Easy Transfer, www.microsoft.com/windows-easy-transferUpgrading from Vista:Easier than XP. Shouldn’t have to re-install any softwareUpgrading from XP:May have to re-install software such as Microsoft Office, etc.
I had to re-install iTunes per the upgrade advisor’s adviceAlso allows you to run vendor-specific advisor (ex: HP)
To find out whether you have 32-bit or 64-bit:1. Click the Start button.2. Right-click Computer or My Computer.3. Click Properties. You’ll see the version listed next to System type.Certain software of mine no longer ran under 64-bit Windows 7:QuickbooksAdobe Creative Suite 2
Domain Join = Designed to join a domain quickly and more securely.Bit Locker = BitLocker helps keep everything from documents to passwords safer by encrypting the entire drive that Windows and your data reside on. Once BitLocker is turned on, any file you save on that drive is encrypted automatically.Windows Anytime Upgrade = buy an upgrade key from Microsoft and unlock new features
Performance improvements:Designed to sleep and resume quicker, be less memory hungry, and spot USB devices faster.