Small Business and Windows 7 Recommendations

In this post I’ll cover my recommendations for upgrading and/or purchasing Windows 7. But first, let me confess that I don’t use Vista – never have. Our hardware is fine running XP and we haven’t needed to upgrade, so there was no reason to run out and upgrade hardware just to use a lousy operating system.

Vista is bloated, slow and a pain in the neck to use. Windows 7 is cleaner, faster and uses less power.

So the first recommendation is – which version? There are basically two choices… Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional. The Starter (for tiny netbooks), Home Basic (not available in the U.S. or Europe) and Ultimate (more money for not much gain) are essentially irrelevant.

Here are the extras you get with Windows 7 Professional:

  • Only the Pro version can act as a workstation on an internal domain (server)
  • Can add a network file/folder as Always Available Offline – Win7 Pro will cache it on your computer, synchronize it and make it available even if the network is down
  • If you use Windows Backup you can store a system image to a network drive
  • Includes a Windows XP mode to make it compatible with older apps or hardware
  • It has a Connect to Network Projector option, which allows you to to mirror your portable PC’s display on a projector connected to a network
  • It also has a Presentation mode that automatically kicks in when you connect to a projector and shuts down your instant messaging program, disables your screen saver, and suppresses system messages
  • Remote Desktop host service – allows you to connect to the computer remotely without 3rd party software (pcanywhere, GoToMyPC)

So, for small businesses I recommend Windows 7 Professional on all new computers, even laptops. If you need a new computer now I recommend waiting til October 22 when Windows 7 makes its official debut.

If you don’t have a central server now, you may need to upgrade to one in the future. That would mean upgrading all of your computers that have Home Premium.

Now, that’s much easier to do with Windows 7, which has all of the versions on one disk. You would only have to buy a new license to do the upgrade, but it’s still a pain. (Windows Anywhere Upgrade instructions)

So, I’ll be a little wishy-washy here and say that for a home office using one or two computers, or if you want to buy the 3-license “Family Pack” you can get by with Windows 7 Home Premium. You can go with the lower priced Home Premium if money is tight or that’s all they have on the shelf at Best Buy and upgrade later if you have to, but it becomes hard to keep track of which computer has which version of Windows.

Say one of your employees is giving a presentation and his laptop is broken or stolen. He/she grabs another laptop, adds the presentation and takes off. When they go to give the presentation, they find out it has Home Premium and there’s no Presentation Mode on it. Oops.

WHETHER OR NOT TO UPGRADE

Here’s the real question… Is it worthwhile upgrading from Vista to Windows 7 or is it better to just wait until you replace older computers?

I guess the answer depends on how much productivity you are losing due to Vista. Are you having network problems? Connectivity problems? Software problems? Hair-pulling aggravation? If not, then it makes sense to wait for Windows 7 when you replace the computer.

Right now, pre-release, an upgrade from Windows XP or Vista to Windows 7 is $120 for Home Premium and $200 for Pro at Amazon.

Considering the fact that you can probably buy a new computer for $500, if your office computers are starting to show their age it may be advantageous to replace them over a period of six months or so with Windows 7 Professional as the operating system on the new computers.

If you have newer, higher end office computers and are totally dissatisfied with Windows Vista, it may be worth it to upgrade. Only you and your budget can decide that.

If you decide to upgrade, here are some tips from ZDNet.

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