Overview of microsoft windows 7

Windows 7 Starter. Multi-core processor and multiprocessor limits. Physical memory limits for Windows 7 versions. Windows 7 Editions. Windows 7 is available in six different editions, but only Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate are widely available at retail. The other editions are focused at other markets, such as the developing world or enterprise use. All editions support the bit IA processor architecture and all editions except Starter support the bit x processor architecture bit installation media is not included in Home Basic edition, but can be obtained from Microsoft.

You can find reviews about Windows 7 here. According to Microsoft, the features for all editions of Windows 7 are stored on the machine, regardless of what edition is in use. Users who wish to upgrade to an edition of Windows 7 with more features can then use Windows Anytime Upgrade to purchase the upgrade, and unlock the features of those editions. Microsoft announced Windows 7 pricing information for some editions on June 25, , and Windows Anytime Upgradeand Family Pack pricing on July 31, Windows 7 Starter is the edition of Windows 7 that contains the fewest features.

The Windows Aero theme is not included in this version. Windows 7 Starter is only available in a bit version. The desktop wallpaper, and Visual Styles Windows 7 Basic are also not user-changeable. Its functions are very limited.

This edition is available pre-installed on computers, especially netbooks, through system integrators or computer manufacturers usingOEM licences. Some Aero options are excluded along with several new features. Home Basic, along with other editions sold in emerging markets, include geographical activation restriction, which requires users to activate Windows within a certain region or country.

This edition contains features aimed at the home market segment, such as Windows Media Center, Windows Aeroand multi-touch support. This edition is targeted towards enthusiasts and small-business users. It includes all the features of Windows 7 Home Premium, and adds the ability to participate in a Windows Server domain. Like Enterprise, Microsoft will support this edition until This edition targets the enterprise segment of the market and is sold through volume licensing to companies which have a Software Assurance contract with Microsoft.

Whether you provide a driver or not, you must support selective suspend in your INF file. A vendor-supplied driver should limit the processing that it does to avoid slower system performance and shorter battery life in mobile scenarios.

Touch devices should process as much as they can in firmware to provide an optimal user experience. If you provide a driver, we recommend that you write a KMDF-based lower filter driver. Your driver should provide the same functionality as a HID minidriver, but register as a filter driver under a minimal WDM driver also known as a shim driver.

A shim driver is necessary because KMDF 1. In Windows 7 and later versions of Windows, you can use the system-supplied Mshidkmdf. If you are supporting versions of Windows earlier than Windows 7, you can build the shim driver yourself. WDM is not recommended for any natural input driver, including drivers that support Windows Touch. Both samples use Mshidkmdf. The EloMT sample includes all the functionality that is required for a multi-touch driver to run on Windows 7.

The Elotouch driver can work as both a multi-touch and a mouse driver. Skip to main content.