Windows 7 Tutorial

While a later tutorial will delve in depth at each of the Windows 7 editions (not "versions", since Windows 7 itself is a version of Windows) - unless otherwise indicated, our tutorials apply to all versions of Windows 7. The versions are the following, and our free Windows 7 tutorials for beginners and advanced users alike will cover the features of each edition of Microsoft's latest operating system:

• Windows 7 Starter Edition — This entry-level edition of Windows 7 is not so common, but will be found in lower-power computers like netbooks. It essentially a stripped down version of other editions, especially when it comes to visual experience (Aero, fancy graphics and hardware acceleration).
• Windows 7 Home Basic Edition — This edition of Windows 7 is only available in some countries, at a price below the "standard" editions available, for example, in the US.
• Windows 7 Home Premium Edition — The "Home Premium" edition will likely be the most popular with consumer: it is the logical upgrade path for Windows Vista Home Premium users, and those using Windows XP Home Edition - most likely the version / edition used by beginners in Windows 7 (with "Windows Anytime Upgrades", you can even upgrade through the web your edition of Windows 7 from Home Premium (for example) to Windows 7 Professional or even Windows 7 Ultimate Edition, as you'll learn in a later tutorial - Windows Help documents the process thoroughly, and so will we).
• Windows 7 Professional Edition — Users of Windows XP Pro and Windows Vista Business or Ultimate will find this the closest edition of Windows 7 to which to upgrade. Briefly, the only compelling feature (in our opinion) offered in Windows 7 Ultimate, but not in Windows 7 Professional, is the disk encryption, which can be achieved with third-party software (free in many cases).
• Windows 7 Enterprise Edition — Without going into licensing details, Windows 7 Enterprise is Windows 7 Ultimate for large volume purchasers. Our free Windows 7 tutorials will mostly skip focusing on Windows 7 Enterprise, since its features are also included in Windows 7 Ultimate, a product sold to both end users and businesses - if you are reading Windows Help or our tutorials, and are using Windows 7 Enterprise, just keep in mind that you can assume for practical purposes that you are using Windows 7 Ultimate, and have all the bells and whistles Microsoft offers.
• Windows 7 Ultimate Edition — The version of Windows 7 including everything Windows 7 has to offer in a single package - unlike Enterprise, the Ultimate edition is designed to be sold to consumers. And unlike Windows Vista Ultimate and Windows Vista Business (now Windows 7 Professional), the differences between Ultimate and Professional are nearly negligible.

Our Windows 7 tutorial for beginners and more advanced tutorials are mostly unaffected by the (slight) differences in editions of Windows 7, especially when it comes to basic, beginner-level tutorials.

Note: this is not a "Windows 2007 Tutorial": Windows 2007 actually doesn't exist - you have either our Word 2007 Tutorial, or this Windows 7 Tutorial: the final version of Windows 7 was actually released in all editions to the public in late 2009, not in 2007. There was some information out in 2007 about the next Windows, which was Windows 7. (At the time, the current version of Windows was Windows Vista, not Windows 2007.)

Full listing of our free Windows 7 tutorials