Overview
Microsoft released Windows 7 to general distribution on October 22, 2009. The new operating system offers reduced boot time, better overall performance, and increased and security.
Windows 7 is available in four versions:
- Home Premium
- Professional
- Enterprise
- Ultimate
The versions are differentiated by the features they provide. Home Premium marketed to the home user, Professional and Enterprise are marketed to the business user, and the Ultimate version includes every available feature in Windows 7.
Due to security concerns and incompatibility with our campus computing infrastructure, University IT will support Windows 7 Enterprise and Ultimate (without supporting Windows Media Center for home use), since they meet the University requirement for support of BitLocker whole disk encryption.
Note on 64-bit versions of Windows 7: Most applications and services commonly used at Stanford will run under 64-bit versions of Windows 7.
System requirements
The minimum computer hardware requirements for running Windows 7, as recommended by Microsoft, are:
- 1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
- 1 GB RAM (32-bit) or 2GB RAM (64-bit)
- 16 GB available disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
- DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
There may be additional requirements to use certain features. See Microsoft's Windows 7 System Requirements page for the official list of system requirements.
To help you determine whether your computer can run Windows 7, Microsoft has created the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. This utility analyzes your system and identifies possible compatibility problems with your hardware and software.
Note: You cannot do an in-place upgrade directly from Windows XP to Windows 7. Contact your local IT support person for assistance.
Obtaining Windows 7
Windows 7 Enterprise is available for Stanford-owned computers through Stanford's campus agreement with Microsoft. Check with your desktop support staff for more information.
Those who wish to purchase a copy for personal use only can do so at the Stanford Bookstore.
Software compatibility
Essential Stanford Software
Most Essential Stanford Software (ESS) applications work with Windows 7. The following list provides additional information about some of the ESS applications.
- SecureCRT/SecureFX: The vendor had released a Windows 7–compatible version, which can be downloaded from Essential Stanford Software.
- Sophos: Sophos 9, which is compatible with Windows 7, has been released and can be downloaded from Essential Stanford Software.
Administrative Systems applications (e.g., Oracle Financials, PeopleSoft/Axess)
Internet Explorer 8 and later will run on Windows 7. Please see Administrative Systems' Browser Recommendations to verify the Administrative Applications you need are compatible with IE 8 before moving to Windows 7.
Other applications
- Cisco VPN Client: Cisco released version 5.0.06.0110 of their VPN client to offer official Windows 7 compatibility. It is available at vpn.stanford.edu.
- SSL VPN Client: An update is expected soon from Juniper Networks that will provide support for both Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6. University IT hopes to have the update tested and deployed during the Winter of 2010.
- OpenAFS for Windows: OpenAFS for Windows is compatible with Windows 7.
- SWDE: Compatible with Windows 7. See the Stanford Whole Disk Encryption web site.
- Microsoft Office 2007: Compatible with Windows 7; a new version of Microsoft Office is expected to be released next year.
