Windows 7 Home Basic
In all fairness, Windows 7 Home Basic comes closest to the Starter SKU, but it also features a tad of Home Premium flavor. Still, don’t expect a full Windows 7 experience, as this is not the case. Just like Starter, Home Basic is also stripped of features and capabilities, and is designed to offer only a basic UX. However, users will find that this edition of the operating system indeed has more to offer than Starter. This because, while Starter is Windows 7 stripped bare, Home Basic does offer a few extra features.
First off, users of Windows 7 Home Basic will find that they are able to change the desktop background. Starter lacks this feature entirely, no matter the workaround users might try to deploy. Home Basic users will be able, for example, to leverage the “Set as desktop background†option in Windows Photo Viewer in order to change the default wallpaper.
In addition, Home Basic also features Windows Aero, albeit only partially. There aren’t any glassy, translucency effects for Home Basic, not to mention transparency. Users will not be able to enjoy Aero Peek or Show Desktop, but they can use Aero Snap, Jump Lists and a limited version of Live Thumbnail Previews. All in all, Home Basic does bring more eye-candy compared to starter, but does not deliver the full experience of Windows Aero.
As far as Windows Home Premium features go, Windows 7 Home Basic comes with Desktop Windows Manages, and contains Windows Mobility Center, which Starter did not, but that are included in the superseding editions of the latest Windows client. Microsoft even allows Windows 7 Home Basic to be used with virtualization technologies, unlike Starter.
“Use with Virtualization Technologies. Instead of using the software directly on the licensed computer, you may install and use the software within only one virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system on the licensed computer. When used in a virtualized environment, content protected by digital rights management technology, BitLocker or any full volume disk drive encryption technology may not be as secure as protected content not in a virtualized environment. You should comply with all domestic and international laws that apply to such protected content,†reads an excerpt from the Windows 7 Home Basic EULA.
*Product Picture is for illustration purposes only, real product maybe vary
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