Difference Between Windows 7 Starter and Windows 7 Home Premium

Windows 7 Starter vs Windows 7 Home Premium

Just like the other operating systems that preceded Windows 7, it also comes in multiple versions that are priced according to the features that they have. On the low end of the range, we have Starter and Home Premium. The main difference between the two is availability as you can’t easily get the Starter program. Home Premium is available in the retail market or can come preinstalled in new computes. By comparison, you only get the Starter program preinstalled in low-end netbooks and not in retail.

Windows 7 Starter is full of limitations not the least of which is the availability of a 64-bit version. The main reasoning behind this is that Starter was never meant to work on computers with higher specs. The same is also true when it comes to the amount of memory it can support. All other 32-bit versions of Windows 7 can support a maximum of 4GB of RAM, but Starter is limited to 2GB. There is no point in tackling the capacities of 64-bit versions as there would be no comparison.

Once you start Windows 7 Starter, the lack of Aero, or the glass-like interface, is very stark. This makes Starter look more like Windows 95 than Windows 7. Home Premium can utilize Aero fully. Traditional eye candy like desktop backgrounds, screensavers, and custom colors are also not available in Starter.

When it comes to networking, you can use Starter to join networks, connect to the Internet and such. What you cannot do is create home networks or share an Internet connection to other computers in the network; both of which you can do in Home Premium. So Starter is pretty much limited to functioning as a client and not as a host.

The ability to connect multiple monitors is also absent in the Starter program but not in Home Premium. Users of Windows 7 Starter still have the ability to plug an external monitor to their netbook which is very useful as netbooks have very small screens. What they cannot do is use extended or duplicate a desktop. So the Starter program is limited to using a single screen at a time either the main screen or the external monitor.

Summary:

1. The Home Premium program is available in retail while the Starter program isn’t.
2. Home Premium is available in 32/64-bit versions while Starter is only 32 bits.
3. Home Premium can accommodate more memory than the Starter program.
4. Home Premium can use Aero while Starter cannot.
5. Home Premium has better networking features than Starter.
6. Home Premium can utilize multiple monitors while the Starter program cannot.

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