Heck, if you’re a student who already has Windows 7, you could make a few bucks by selling the $29.99 license at a slight markup and…well, I’ve said too much.

Finally, there's the question of what older Windows versions qualify for an upgrade to Windows 7. The answer is on the retail upgrade box: "All editions of Windows XP and Windows Vista qualify you ...

Thursday is a big day for Windows users. Microsoft is finally making Windows 7 publicly available, and the number of pre-orders for the operating system on Amazon.com has already surpassed orders ...

Heck, commercial PCs with Windows 7 Professional will even continue to be sold for the foreseeable future. You can read Microsoft’s Support Lifecycle for Windows if you’re still curious about ...

No pricing details were revealed (I suspect it’s a lot) and Spataro confirmed these would only be offered to customers running Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Enterprise in Volume Licensing ...

As of October 31, 2014, Microsoft stopped providing its PC partners and systems builders with copies of Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium and/or Ultimate (not Professional) to preinstall on new PCs.

For instance, Windows 8.1 Pro users can't downgrade to a higher edition OS, such as Windows 7 Enterprise, or to a lower edition. They can only downgrade to the Pro version.

Still, versions of Windows 7 will include: Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate. Unlike with Vista, however, the Home Basic version will be sold only in emerging markets.

Windows XP Mode is available to anyone running Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate or Enterprise. It utilizes Windows Virtual PC and does require the hardware to support virtualization.