Windows® 7 Upgrade

Microsoft newest operating system, Windows 7, has made computing simple and easy by incorporating better ways to find and manage files. The Snap, Peek and Shake features give the operating system a new approach to juggle all the open programs. Microsoft has a more focused approach in designing Windows 7, an incremental upgrade to the Windows line.

Windows 7 has been comprehensively redesigned for its users to have a smarter look, easy to understand applications and friendly user interface. It includes a slew of new desktop backgrounds, wallpapers, and slide show applications that display rotating pictures on your desktop. Windows 7 is designed to run speed-sapping background services and gives you the freedom to use them whenever you want. It takes less memory and can boost your computer’s overall performance. It is also designed to search external hard drives, networked PCs and libraries. You can also narrow down your search by date, file type and other useful categories.

You can connect two or more computers running on Windows 7. HomeGroup application makes it easier for you to automatically start sharing your pictures, videos and documents with other people in the same network. Windows 7 is equally concerned about your privacy as you are. It gives you an option to protect your HomeGroup by password and keeps your computer under your control. It has a feature of “read only,” wherein others can look at your document but cannot moderate it.

This article talks about the following points of a Windows 7 upgrade:

• Why upgrade to Windows 7 from your Windows XP or Vista OS?
• What are the system requirements to upgrade from Windows XP/Vista to Windows 7?
• How can we upgrade from Windows XP/Vista to Windows 7?
• Different versions of Windows 7 and their benefits.

Why upgrade to Windows 7 from your XP or Vista OS?
Microsoft Windows Vista/Windows XP Operating System doesn’t facilitate backup to files and folders. On these systems, it also becomes complicated while synching multiple devices and individual folders to Vista or Windows XP PCs on your network. Vista lacks in Windows Meeting space, and it has no common whiteboard and built-in VoIP features. It has a huge User Account Control problem. Windows 7 has cruised through all the menaces of Vista/WindowsXP and tried to overcome them. Microsoft has made Windows 7 UAC easier and quicker to use and make system changes.

What are the system requirements to upgrade from Windows XP/  Windows Vista to Windows 7?
Both 32-bit and 64-bit installation discs are included in the Windows 7 package. 64-bit operating systems can handle large amounts of memory more efficient than 32-bit operating systems. However, not all computers are 64-bit capable.

The basic requirements include :
• Processor should be 1GB or faster 32-bit or 64-bit
• RAM should be 1GB (32-bit) or 2GB (64-bit)
• Hard disk should have 16GB space for 32-bit or 20GB space for 64-bit.

How can we upgrade from Windows XP/Vista to Windows 7?
To upgrade to Windows 7, you have the following options :

• Get the upgrade option of the OS from the official Microsoft website
• Buy it in a CD or DVD from a computer shop and upgrade it manually
• Take help from a third party to upgrade it for you.

There is no direct upgrade option available from Windows XP to Windows 7. You need to perform a clean installation of Windows 7 by formatting your Windows XP or install it on a different hard drive partition keeping Windows XP and Windows 7 in dual boot mode. You need to upgrade Windows XP to Vista, then upgrade Windows Vista to Windows 7.
Upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7 is usually easy, however, if you face any problem with the upgrade process, you need to install Windows 7 by custom installation option.

Different versions of Windows 7 and their benefits
Windows 7 is available in different versions: Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate. You can choose one of these versions matching with your taste and preference.

• Windows 7 Home Premium version is for basic home usage and most suitable for students and people who work on a home network.
• Windows 7 Professional gives an additional backup, and restores all files and folders. It is well suited for all professional requirements, business and large organizations.
• Windows 7 Ultimate works in 35 languages and opens up big options for various types of groups. It gives an enhanced feature to protect data on your PC and for portable storage devices.

With the help of certified technicians at iYogi, you can replace your older operating system and upgrade it to Windows 7, with all its new and improvised features, and boost your computer’s performance and productivity.