Microsoft on Thursday elaborated on plans for the six versions of Windows 7 and said it fixed vulnerabilities in the User Account Control security feature. The software giant said the UAC problem has been fixed in post-beta builds not yet released.
Of the six versions, Microsoft said Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional will meet most customers’ needs. Home Premium provides basic functionality, while Professional is meant for people who work from home, but neither will have some security features found in an IT or business environment.
Those security features include Applocker, BranchCache, BitLocker and DirectAccess. Applocker lets IT professionals decide what is allowed to run on a user’s desktop, and BranchCache caches HTTP and Server Message Block content. BitLocker helps prevent data loss, and DirectAccess secures remote connections.
“Some of these features are really enterprise features,” said Michael Silver, a Gartner analyst. “Really, the one that’s most debatable is BitLocker,” a drive-encryption technology introduced in Windows Vista.
“At a conference once, [Microsoft CEO] Steve Ballmer even mentioned BitLocker as something that could be beneficial for everyone,” Silver said. “These features are available to consumers in Ultimate, but that SKU is likely to be even less common under Windows 7 than it is today.”
Microsoft, however, said only a small set of customers want everything Windows 7 has to offer, which are all available in the Windows 7 Ultimate edition. Ultimate comes with BitLocker, which is also found in the Windows 7 Enterprise edition.
“If they want full volume security, they would have two choices — upgrade to Ultimate or buy a third-party encryption product,” Silver said. “Buying a third-party product may make more sense, may be cheaper, and more consumer-oriented in terms of key recovery.”
Microsoft hasn’t announced pricing and isn’t ready to offer any guidance on which PCs are best…