Windows 7 Editions

Windows 7 has been released in six different editions, only three of which are available in the retail channel. The three retail versions are Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, and Windows 7 Ultimate. In addition to these, there is also Windows 7 Enterprise, which offers more features than Professional and less than Ultimate but is licensed with a Software Assurance contract and not available in the retail channel; for all intents and purposes, Ultimate and Enterprise are functionally identical. Windows 7 Starter was created for OEMs to install on netbooks. The sixth edition, Windows 7 Home Basic, is not listed on the CompTIA objectives and is marketed only in emerging technology countries.

Table 14-1 lists the five editions of Windows 7 you need to know for the 220-802 exam and key features of each.

Table 14-1: Windows 7 features and editions

Table 14-01

There are 32-bit and 64-bit versions available for each of the editions listed except Starter. Except where indicated, the RAM support in the table is for the 64-bit versions. As a successor to Windows Vista, Windows 7 was released by Microsoft with the key goals of overcoming the sluggishness in Vista as well as the incompatibilities with applications written for previous versions.

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There are some features of the operating system that are available, or not available, only if certain conditions exist. For example, Parental Controls ceases to be available if the workstation is part of a domain.

Table 14-2 lists a number of features associated with the Windows 7 operating system that CompTIA wants you to know for the exam, along with a brief description of each.

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If you don’t know what edition of Windows 7 is running on a particular machine, you can click Start and type winver in the search box. The screen that is returned will identify the edition as well as the service pack installed.
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Table 14-2: Windows 7 features

FeatureSignificance
AeroThe Aero interface offers a glass design that includes translucent windows. It was new with Windows Vista and is available in every edition of Windows 7 except Starter.
GadgetsThese are mini programs, introduced with Windows Vista, that can be placed on the Desktop, allowing them to run quickly and personalize the PC (clock, weather, etc.). Windows 7 renamed these Windows Desktop Gadgets (right-click on the Desktop, click Gadgets in the context menu, then double-click on the one you want to add). In 2011, Microsoft announced it is no longer supporting development or uploading of new gadgets.
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SidebarWindows Vista had an area known as the Sidebar that was designed for gadgets that could be placed on the Desktop. Windows 7 did away with the Sidebar and the gadgets are now placed directly on the Desktop. Interestingly enough, though, SIDEBAR.EXE is the program that runs if any gadgets are running.
User Account ControlThe UAC is intended to prevent unintentional/unauthorized changes to the computer by either prompting for permission to continue or requiring the administrator password before continuing. Changes to this from Windows Vista now allow more granular control over how UAC intercedes.
BitLockerBitLocker allows you to use drive encryption to protect files, including those needed for startup and logon. This is available only with Windows 7 in the Enterprise and Ultimate editions.
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For removable drives, BitLocker To Go provides the same encryption technology to help prevent unauthorized access to the files stored on them.
Shadow CopyThe Volume Shadow Copy Service creates copies that you can recover from should a file be accidentally deleted or overwritten. Windows 7 adds to what Vista included: an interface for configuring storage used by volume shadow copies. The Properties dialog box for a file contains a Previous Versions tab that can be used to return to another version of the file.
ReadyBoostThis feature allows you to use free space on a removable drive to speed up a system by caching content. In Windows 7, it can work with a USB drive, flash memory, SD card, or CompactFlash. Up to eight devices can employ ReadyBoost in Windows 7 (each needing a minimum of 256MB of free space). ReadyBoost is configured from the ReadyBoost tab of the properties for the removable media device.
Compatibility ModeProgram Compatibility is included with Windows 7 to configure programs to believe they are running with an older version of Windows: Choose Start > Control Panel > Programs, and then click Run programs made for previous versions of Windows.
XP ModeIncluded with Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate is the ability to run applications in Windows XP Mode (XPM). This is a virtual client (emulating Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3) and you must download and install Windows Virtual PC to use it. This can be downloaded from the Windows Virtual PC site at: www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/.
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You should have 2GB RAM and 15GB hard drive space for each virtual Windows instance.
Windows DefenderWindows 7 includes Windows Defender antispyware program.
Windows FirewallWindows 7 incorporates Windows Firewall, which can be used to stop incoming and outgoing traffic. There are only three basic settings: On, Off, and Block All Incoming Connections.

While the items in Table 14-2 are specifically listed in the objectives, CompTIA also wants you to know these key features of Windows 7:

Jump lists This is a quick way to access files you’ve been working on through their association with the application that has been using them. Right-click on the application and a list of current files appears.
Pinning to the Taskbar The context menu for each application allows you to choose whether you want to pin (add) it to the Taskbar or remove it if it is already there.
Windows Taskbar This has been redesigned to include thumbnail previews.
Snap This is a quick way to resize windows on the Desktop.
HomeGroup This is a simplified way to set up a home network. It allows you to share files and prevent changes from being made to those files by those sharing them (unless you give them permission to do so).
Windows Search Instantly find anything on your PC as soon as you start typing into the search box.
Windows Touch This feature adds touchscreen functionality to the operating system, allowing you to make selections without using a keyboard or mouse.
Libraries You can logically (as opposed to physically) group files and folders that are not in the same location and make them appear as if they are. For example, suppose you have to rewrite four chapters of a book. There can be one chapter stored in a folder beneath C:BOOK, another beneath C:REWRITES, and images beneath C:USERSPUBLICPICTURES, and all can be grouped into a library so that when you open C:A_PLUS, all the entities appear to be beneath there.
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ReadyBoost or ReadyDrive?
In addition to ReadyBoost, Windows offers another similar technology: ReadyDrive. You are not required to know about ReadyDrive for the exam, but it’s a feature worth knowing about. Included with Windows Vista as well as Windows 7, ReadyDrive is the acceleration technology used with hybrid drives (H-HDD) that combines flash drives and mobile PC hard drives for better performance and battery life.
There have been problems with ReadyDrive. For example, when the first partition is small, the hybrid drive is not recognized. When the technology works, the results are nothing short of impressive. When it does not work, absence is noticeable.
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