Difference Between Windows 7 Home Basic and Home Premium
Windows 7 Home Basic vs Home Premium
The most recent operating system from Microsoft, Windows 7, comes in a wide variety to suit the needs and budgets of the consumers. Even the Home edition of Windows 7 comes in basic and premium. Home Basic is understandably cheaper, and limited in capabilities when compared to Home Premium, but that is not the only difference. The Home Basic is not being sold worldwide like the Home Premium. It is only available in emerging markets, where budgets might be a little bit tight, and the lower price point could be the clincher. Home Basic is not available in most developed nations, like the US, UK, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Germany, and Italy, among some other countries. Restrictions have been put in place so that you cannot activate your copy of Windows 7 Home Basic if you are located in the countries where it is not being sold.
There are a number of limitations that apply to Home Basic. It’s support for Aero, the glasslike user interface that was introduced with Windows Vista, is only partial, while Home Premium users can take advantage of full Aero support. Limited Aero support is only a problem for computers lacking in hardware, as it is still possible to scale back with Windows 7 Home Premium, but with Windows 7 Home Basic, you are limited regardless of how capable your computer is.
Aside from visual limitations, there are also limitations in terms of it’s functionality. The Home Basic does not come pre-installed with the Windows Media Center. This software centralizes the media needs of the user, and adds TV functionalities. It lets you watch TV online, and even acts as your DVR by recording the TV shows that you like via a hardware TV tuner. You can also use the media center to watch movies or videos, and to browse through your photo albums. All of this is still possible with Home Basic, but you would need to access individual applications, like the media player and photo viewer.
Summary:
1. Home Basic is cheaper than Home Premium.
2. Home Premium is being sold worldwide, while Home Basic is sold only in certain areas.
3. Home Premium has full Aero support, while Home basic only has partial support.
4. Home Premium is able to create and join a home network, while Home Basic is only capable of joining.
5. Home Premium is already equipped with the Windows Media Center, while the Home Basic is not.
(18 votes, average: 3.33 out of 5)
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I bought a Sony Vaio this week with pre installed Windows 7 Home, But i already have Media centre installed. can u please describe the difference no. 5 in more detail
@Vikash
I guess the Vaio you bought has Windows 7 Home Premium and not Home Basic.
I am planning to buy a Sony Vaio but the model i am looking for is with WIN 7 Home basic. Can this be upgraded to Win 7 premium. If this is possible how can this be done. I tried to make the upgrade from Sony showroom whereas other shops , they told me that this upgrade is not possible.
Please suggest me.
hey! khushi this can be done with the sacrifice of original window you can also go for windows 7 ultimate & if you want the genuine window then it would cost you around 10000 bugs.
@Chirag
10000 “BUGS”.. have we started off again with barter system, trading the natural way??
10000 BUGS = 1 Genuine Window
Maybe if I catch a few more bugs from the forest, I’ll get a laptop.. and with a few more BUGS who knows I might just get a Ferrari…
I bought a new laptop pre-installed with Windows7 Home Basic. I want to upgrade to Windows7 Professional. Can I upgrade to Pro straight from Home Basic or do I have to upgrade to Home Premium first before upgrading to Professional?
No, Tanya! Unfortunately, Home Basic can not be upgraded to premium of professional because home basic has only been introduced to ‘poor nations’. Read more here – http://www.pcworld.com/article/167444/windows_7_upgrade_faq.html
iam planning to buy a new loptop of rang from 25000 to 30000 which laptop should i bought.
This difference in ‘Aero’ makes men think before I buy a Sony Vaio VPCEB24EN which is only available with Home Basic. In my office I work on a Windows 7 Professional machine and now I can figure out the difference between the appearance of cheaper and premium editions. These billion dollar giants are really so mean! I don’t want to buy a cheaper Dell with Premium as I love Sony a lot. I guess I’ll have to be satisfied with poor ‘Aero’ stupid thing. Media center won’t be a problem as Sony Vaio is already comes with loads of bloatware, some of them are really good to use.
Vaio VPCEB24EN is a good choice very recently the model VPCEB14EN was renamed as 24EN and price was increased by 2K
the other problem with this lappy besides being a HB model is that it provides a battery backup of 1hr 50 mins as mentioned on specs(look carefully) though with a multimedia usage it comes out around 1hr 30-30 mins
Its a good buy for those who appreciate looks…the matte finish is the icing on the cake the comparable dell inspiron models do come with a H-Premium win 7 and a better graphic card with a lower price and a better guarantee but then if you can wait for a 2-3 weeks max then dell would be relaunching inspiron n4020 with a similar price range but CLASSIC BLACK matte finish.Its already out in US and indians have to wait a while
i am already buy one laptop with win 7 home basic,,i need to upgrade to win 7 home premium…..how can i do ?? please help…………..Can this be upgraded to Win 7 premium.
it is possibal to upgrade as windows 7 home basic comes with a upgrade feature go to start , in search dialog box type upgrade u”ll get windows anytime updrade click there however ull require a product key , buy a product key online only if ur willing to pay for it
i want 2 buy a laptop del inspiron 15r but problum is that shopkeeper window7 basic and y online window 7 primium
cost r also low y online but they require 20 day
Most interesting.
I didn’t know that Windows 7 Home Basic was a “restricted market” version until I read this post. In Malaysia where I’m from, we have the OEM variant of Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate. They are sold in very simple sealed cardboard and plastic DVD packaging (compared to the green boxed retail version) and are priced cheaper compared to developed nations, after taking into account currency conversions.
Microsoft labeled these versions “SE Asian market only” and they cannot be activated outside the region. This prevents the selling of these cheaper Windows versions to users living in developed nations, or tourists buying them and installing them back home in their respective countries.
The OEM versions are also priced competitively in order to entice users to buy genuine Windows 7 OSes than resorting to pirated copies. In addition, many people prefer to buy barebones PC systems therefore they’ll need to buy Windows separately. Some laptop models from Asus for example, are priced cheaply as they don’t come with pre-installed Windows. The customer can then choose to install Windows himself (whether genuine or not) or opt for other free operating systems like Linux.
There’s a catch though with the Win 7 OEM Home Premium as you have to choose either the 32-bit or 64-bit version, unlike the retail variant which contains two DVDs, one for 32-bit and the other for 64-bit systems.
The bad news is that if you have a processor lacking in 64-bit capability (e.g. some Intel Core Duo processors like the T2130) you’re stuck with the 32-bit version of Home Premium. You’ll have to buy a completely new license (and DVD package) for the 64-bit version if you upgrade your CPU to a 64-bit model and want 64-bit Home Premium.
Windows Anytime Upgrade is sadly not made available to SE Asia at this time of writing.
Hi
I recently bought a sony vaio E series with pre-instakked windows 7 Home Premium (Deutsch version only ) from Media Markt in Germany before returing back to my Country-Egypt. When I bought it the seller advised me tp buy the upgrading version to be able to use the English & Arabic languages in my PC. Do you have any further details or advice regarding this issue. Moreover, soon i’ll need to buy Office 2010 as my pre-installed trial version will expire, then in such a case do I have to buy both or buying the office only will enable me to read & write in english & arabic, while still having my windows version in german language. Sorry to bother but actually I”m not so much experienced in computer technical details. thx