Microsoft Windows 7 Professional review
in Software
Verdict
The most disappointing of the new versions, Windows 7 Professional omits what we consider to be key encryption features - most businesses should choose Windows 7 Ultimate or Enterprise if they can. Extra features such as Windows XP Mode do lift it above Home Premium, however
Review Date: 22 Oct 2009
Reviewed By: PC Pro
Price when reviewed: £139 (£160 inc VAT)
Features & Design
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Value for Money
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Ease of Use
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As its name suggests, the Professional edition of Windows 7 is primarily targeted at businesses, but it also contains some features that will appeal to home enthusiasts thanks to a range of new features that can be fully exploited by those looking for more power than Home Premium.
The full version of Backup and Restore Center allows you to back up both personal and system files, and schedule backups (Home Premium only allows for manual backup of personal files). Meanwhile, the Encrypting File System, which adds another layer of protection for sensitive files, now offers more complex algorithms that are almost impossible to hack.
Perhaps the most interesting feature, however, is Windows XP Mode. This is an ingenious virtual machine that goes one step beyond running a copy of Windows XP alongside Windows 7 on your desktop. You’re able to do that if you so wish, but it's able to share Windows 7's Start menu and share file types, too. Just bear in mind that, if you're running Windows 7 Professional, you'll have to download Microsoft Virtual PC separately to use Windows XP Mode.
Also note that the key advantage Windows XP Mode holds over software such as VirtualBox and Vmware is that it includes a licence for Windows XP.
Corporate users will be pleased with other features, too, including Presentation Mode, which can reset your desktop wallpaper to a default image, specify a pre-set volume level and prevent your screensaver from appearing – a one-stop shop to set up your PC for use in the boardroom.
Unlike Windows 7 Starter and Home Premium systems, a Windows 7 Professional PC can also join a domain (a necessary feature if your computer is centrally managed by an IT department using a domain).
Every feature that was introduced in Windows 7 Home Premium is included here, including Aero, multi-touch functionality for those with touchscreen displays, Media Player 12 and (in a departure compared to Vista Business) Windows Media Center. Couple this with Windows XP Mode and a raft of technical, security and networking enhancements and it's clear that, if work is on your mind, the Professional edition is the way to go.
Windows 7: The Full Review
Read our comprehensive overall review of the whole Windows 7 familyExcept that it isn’t. Because we’re actually disappointed by Windows 7 Professional, as we don’t believe it offers enough to small businesses – especially those that deploy laptops to their users.
The first omission is BitLocker; the second BitLocker To Go. BitLocker is the full-disk encryption technology first introduced with Windows Vista Ultimate and Enterprise, with the idea being to encrypt the whole hard disk in hardware: this means you can’t access data on the hard disk unless it’s plugged into the laptop, and you enter the password (which you set up).
BitLocker To Go offers encryption for external USB drives. Once encrypted, the drive can only be accessed by entering a lengthy password or (if your company supports them) swiping a smart card. You can set your encrypted drive to work on your regular work PC without entering the password each time, and the drives can also be read on Windows XP and Vista systems (they can only be written to by Windows 7 systems).
Less crucially, perhaps, you also miss out on features such as DirectAccess: this allows users to access the company network remotely, similar to a virtual private network (VPN). Similarly, the application-control tools offered by AppLocker are only available in Windows 7 Ultimate.
From around the web
Win 7RC
I have been running Win7RC for some while now. All comment is for upgrading from XP. Which is the best way to preserve both XP and new stuff on RC? I am planning a complete clean installation by reformatting but I also have alll my original XP system on a hidden partition (Sony VAIO)
Colin@richardson1396.plus.com
By colin19 on 22 Oct 2009 ![]()
have a look at this Windows XP to Windows 7 Migration process
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ee15043
0.aspx
By robert1969 on 23 Oct 2009 ![]()
Please improve your reviews!
So, because it lacks, what three or four features of Ultimate, it is disappointing? Pehaps you could quantify your opinion with what Ultimate should have as a key differentiator?
This is odd for me, defending MS, but I think they have done the right thing. Unlike yourselves, I actually support small businesses. From 1 man bands to small companies with a couple of dozen employees. None of them actually /need/ bitlock. For for plumber and gasfitter out on a job, its not necessary. For office staff, it is not necessary. Sure, it is an /additional/ layer of protection /if/ you get broken in, or lose a device. But it wont stop you losing them and is no replacement for a backup copy. And how do you protect the backup. Or what happens if you lose the laptop, but still have the encrypted device...
The saving is small, £10-£20 quid, but as Asda note, every penny counts.
Access to the company network.. what, no one has yet done this in a company that needs it? So VPNs and remote working havent existed for the last decade? Presumably these are the same small business that run SBS server, which comes with a remote access client already.
Adn XP Mode comes with a licence. Right, and thats a key advantage over VMWare? How??? If one needs XP mode to run existing software, one already has XP and a licence. Its only an advantage if your Win7 has been purchased as an uprgade from XP, othewise your existing licence is fine. And if Win7Pro was supplied on a laptop... your previous PC has a licence...
Please, I get the feeling 7 Pro is a sacrificial lamb here.
By alan_lj on 23 Oct 2009 ![]()
The problem with Professional
@alan_lj
You make many good points, but I'm afraid that we stick with our conclusion. I can't cover everything here, but this should clarify a couple of things:
1. Most new business laptops will come with Professional. That means they won't support full-disk encryption out of the box, and that adds one more unnecessary barrier between businesses and secure data. With hundreds of laptops lost/stolen each week, that should - in our opinion - be a standard feature in a business-targeted OS.
2. You're right that it's no replacement for a backed up copy, but the growing problem for businesses (including the micro businesses you mention) is data protection. Every company has a duty to their customers not to make their details public.
3. "If one needs XP Mode to run existing software, one already has XP and a licence." Unless you happened to buy a full retail version of Windows XP to run on an existing computer, you probably have an OEM copy of Windows XP, which is tied to a specific machine. You can't, by the terms of that licence, use the version of Windows XP on another machine.
I do take your point about VPNs, but the difference in price won't really be £10/£20. If you buy a Windows 7 Professional laptop, it will cost you £85 to upgrade it to Ultimate via Anytime Upgrade, and that's the real problem with this OS: it will come as standard with business laptops, when really they should be benefiting from the features that come as standard with Ultimate/Enterprise.
By TimDanton on 23 Oct 2009 ![]()
Lack of offline files in Windows 7 Home
Whilst "offline files" has been in "professional" editions of both XP and Vista I'm surprised that with the proliferation of NAS devices that this feature hasn't rolled down to the "home" edition of Windows 7. Oh well, looks like I'll be forking out for "professional" again!
By StoneLion on 25 Oct 2009 ![]()
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