Woody asked a question in comments on Win 7 Upgrade, so I thought posting PC World’s chart showing the feature sets of different versions might help folks out:
CLICK on pic to enbiggen. 😉
Do note: to upgrade Windows XP or 32-bit Windows Vista to Win7, at the present time, the only way is to install a fresh copy of Windows 7, requiring a backup and restore of your current data. Fortunately, the Win7 install routine will do a “files and settings” type “transfer” of your current data to a folder in your new Win7 installation, from which you may later “import” your data. Applications will require reinstallation in almost all cases. Vista 64-bit users are in luck, though, since Win7 64-bit will simply upgrade your computer w/o needing to do a “transfer” of files and settings. Backing up before ANY Windows upgrade is just the right thing to do in any case.
And again, for those who want to sniff the flowers from across the divide, here are links to PC-BSD and Ubuntu. (PC-BSD still holds the record in my personal use for easiest and fastest installation of an OS–even easier and faster than a hard disk install of Puppy Linux, which nevertheless is still my fav OS for older, under-powered machines.)