Which version of Win 7 for college student?

BillAllen55

BillAllen55

Posts: 363   +0
I"m currently a student going back to school to be re-trained after my career was outsourced to India.
I'm interested in purchasing Win 7 primarily for basic college projects and home use.
I know that I want the new Microsoft Word, Outlook excel, and power-point. Can someone suggest the appropriate version of Win 7 and if and where I can get the OS on CD?
I'm also unclear as to how one goes about taking advantage of the student discounts. I've gone to Microsoft putting my college .edu extension and am eligible. What more is there to do?
 
Hello,

Ultimately, it's a matter of preference. Here's a good place to compare editions. If you're looking to use it for basic work, Home Premium should be fine. If you're able to secure a college discount, purchasing a more advanced version might be a good idea, if you think you may want to upgrade at a later date, and thus save money.

I hope this helps.
 
A Related Win 7 Question

Ok so here's the scoop:
I'm an old fart, going to college studying to be a Master Automotive Tech.
I have XP Home installed as my OS. I would like to upgrade to Win 7.
It goes without saying I need to upgrade quickly.
Can you tell me if during the upgrade process of Win 7 will the new upgrade save all user files from my XP OS? If not which files will it save?

I've been told that the user is able to load the Win 7 CD start the install and choose the files that I will want to save (from the XP OS) but unsure how reliable that feedback is. I would appreciate feedback from only the most reliable sources.
 
Since you presently have Windows XP installed, an upgrade will requires a clean installation. As such, your current files will not be maintained when moving up to Windows 7. I'd recommend that you back up your most important files first on an external hard drive, which you can then transfer over. If you were moving from Vista to Windows 7 via an Upgrade, you would be able to maintain your files.

Let us know if this helps.
 
I will follow your advice, and thanks!
I'm currently finishing up on finals and do not have available time to go through the transferring of files to make the transistion (translation: won't be doing this till later) but certainlly appreciate your advice.
Thank you.
 
You could upgrade to vista and then to 7. You would only have to borrow a vista upgrade disc. You would not even have to activate vista. I would not do it though. A fresh install is always best.
 
Agree with above advice about XP to Win 7, you can only do a fresh install.
If you had Vista, then it's possible to upgrade to 7, and the user files are not destroyed. It's what I did just over a year ago.
I know that college shops only sell certain selected, versions of Microsoft Software, not every version of every title that exists, so you have only a couple of choices. (But they are the useful ones.)
'7' Home premium 32 bit is fine, and Office 2010 'Home and student' includes, Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Onenote.
If you can use the student discount, the savings over shop price are tremendous.
 
I have Windows 7 Ultimate x64. Its the only edition of 7 ive used so its really the only one i can recommend.

Also, you cannot upgrade XP to 7. You have to do a clean install, so make sure to back up your files that you need first.
 
Libre office is free and it does anything Microsoft office does and more ...PS stick with XP 7 is just extra eye candy and a slower comp.
 
7 is far more then just extra eye candy. It is far more secure, supports newer programs and is roughly the same speed as windows xp in alot of things. Maybe it can be a little slower in certain things, but thats hardly a reason to stay with xp. your not confusing it with windows vista are you?

I dont recommend staying with windows xp as more and more new programs being released these days no longer support it and like i said, windows 7 is more secure and has more security features.
 
nissanman said:
7 is far more then just extra eye candy. It is far more secure, supports newer programs and is roughly the same speed as windows xp in alot of things. Maybe it can be a little slower in certain things, but thats hardly a reason to stay with xp. your not confusing it with windows vista are you?

I dont recommend staying with windows xp as more and more new programs being released these days no longer support it and like i said, windows 7 is more secure and has more security features.
Click to expand...
7 is no more secure then an XP system properly setup and it is far more hardware intensive not to mention far more expensive,also there are no programs yet released that will run on 7 and not on XP thats because the install base of XP is so huge and that of 7 is so small,there is a reason that corporations are staying away from 7 in droves and even looking at the various nix installs rather then going to 7
 
wizardB said:
7 is no more secure then an XP system properly setup and it is far more hardware intensive not to mention far more expensive,also there are no programs yet released that will run on 7 and not on XP thats because the install base of XP is so huge and that of 7 is so small,there is a reason that corporations are staying away from 7 in droves and even looking at the various nix installs rather then going to 7
Click to expand...

Windows XP is not going to be supported by Microsoft for much longer. Meaning security updates and every other update for XP will stop being released. Windows 7 is regarded by many reviewers to be the best OS ever made. 7's hardware requirements may be a little higher, but BillAllens's PC is more then capable of running it flawlessly. I still recommend he upgrades to Windows 7. Theres no reason at all to stay with an outdated operating system. Also, to my knowledge, it was Windows Vista companies were staying away from.
 
nissanman said:
. Also, to my knowledge, it was Windows Vista companies were staying away from.
Click to expand...

Well I'm still doing a lot of setup and upgrades and to tell you the truth the companies I'm dealing with are going 'nix more often the 7 when they are upgrading
 
Planning on taking the plunge

Windows XP is not going to be supported by Microsoft for much longer. Meaning security updates and every other update for XP will stop being released. Windows 7 is regarded by many reviewers to be the best OS ever made. 7's hardware requirements may be a little higher, but BillAllens's PC is more then capable of running it flawlessly. I still recommend he upgrades to Windows 7. Theres no reason at all to stay with an outdated operating system. Also, to my knowledge, it was Windows Vista companies were staying away from.
Click to expand...

NissanMan,
"Thank you" for your feedback. I've had XP for what I believe to be nearly as long as it has been out. I believe I upgraded to XP in roughly January of 2000. I've enjoyed the OS and from all reviews I've read I'm getting the same type of feedback that you have provided. I'm studying to become a ASE certified Mechanic and spring break, will be soon upon me. I believe I will purchase Win 7 at that time, after saving all of my docs, jpg's ect ect. I will take the plunge and upgrade to Win 7,. The price to a student is certainly affordable so what do I have to lose?
Thanks again for your feedback.
 
I would recommend either Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate. I cant recommend the Starter as it is a more restricted version of Windows.
 
I also don't recommend Starter. I have it on a netbook and its fine for that, but in a desktop or more functional laptop environment its too restricted.

With the discount students get Windows 7 Professional should be the same price as Home.
 
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