BS/1 Enterprise with Manufacturing v2.37 serial key or number

Diagram showing some typical ERP modules

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real time and mediated by software and technology.

ERP is usually referred to as a category of business management software—typically a suite of integrated applications—that an organization can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from many business activities.

ERP provides an integrated and continuously updated view of core business processes using common databases maintained by a database management system. ERP systems track business resources—cash, raw materials, production capacity—and the status of business commitments: orders, purchase orders, and payroll. The applications that make up the system share data across various departments (manufacturing, purchasing, sales, accounting, etc.) that provide the data.^[1] ERP facilitates information flow between all business functions and manages connections to outside stakeholders.^[2]

Enterprise system software is a multibillion-dollar industry that produces components supporting a variety of business functions. IT investments have, as of 2011, become one of the largest categories of capital expenditure in United States-based businesses. Though early ERP systems focused on large enterprises, smaller enterprises increasingly use ERP systems.^[3]

The ERP system integrates varied organizational systems and facilitates error-free transactions and production, thereby enhancing the organization's efficiency. However, developing an ERP system differs from traditional system development.^[4] ERP systems run on a variety of computer hardware and network configurations, typically using a database as an information repository.^[5]

Origin[edit]

The Gartner Group first used the acronym ERP in the 1990s^[6][7] to include the capabilities of material requirements planning (MRP), and the later manufacturing resource planning (MRP II),^[8][9] as well as computer-integrated manufacturing. Without replacing these terms, ERP came to represent a larger whole that reflected the evolution of application integration beyond manufacturing.^[10]

Not all ERP packages are developed from a manufacturing core; ERP vendors variously began assembling their packages with finance-and-accounting, maintenance, and human-resource components. By the mid-1990s ERP systems addressed all core enterprise functions. Governments and non–profit organizations also began to use ERP systems.^[11]

Expansion[edit]

ERP systems experienced rapid growth in the 1990s. Because of the year 2000 problem many companies took the opportunity to replace their old systems with ERP.^[12]

ERP systems initially focused on automating back office functions that did not directly affect customers and the public. Front office functions, such as customer relationship management (CRM), dealt directly with customers, or e-business systems such as e-commerce, e-government, e-telecom, and e-finance—or supplier relationship management (SRM) became integrated later, when the internet simplified communicating with external parties.^[13]

"ERP II" was coined in 2000 in an article by Gartner Publications entitled ERP Is Dead—Long Live ERP II.^[14][15] It describes web–based software that provides real–time access to ERP systems to employees and partners (such as suppliers and customers). The ERP II role expands traditional ERP resource optimization and transaction processing. Rather than just manage buying, selling, etc.—ERP II leverages information in the resources under its management to help the enterprise collaborate with other enterprises.^[16] ERP II is more flexible than the first generation ERP. Rather than confine ERP system capabilities within the organization, it goes beyond the corporate walls to interact with other systems. Enterprise application suite is an alternate name for such systems. ERP II systems are typically used to enable collaborative initiatives such as supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), and business intelligence (BI) among business partner organizations through the use of various e-business technologies.^[17][18]

Developers now make more effort to integrate mobile devices with the ERP system. ERP vendors are extending ERP to these devices, along with other business applications. Technical stakes of modern ERP concern integration—hardware, applications, networking, supply chains. ERP now covers more functions and roles—including decision making, stakeholders' relationships, standardization, transparency, globalization, etc.^[19]

Characteristics[edit]

ERP systems typically include the following characteristics:

• An integrated system
• Operates in (or near) real time
• A common database that supports all the applications
• A consistent look and feel across modules
• Installation of the system with elaborate application/data integration by the Information Technology (IT) department, provided the implementation is not done in small steps^[20]
• Deployment options include: on-premises, cloud hosted, or SaaS

Functional areas[edit]

An ERP system covers the following common functional areas. In many ERP systems, these are called and grouped together as ERP modules:

• Financial accounting: general ledger, fixed assets, payables including vouchering, matching and payment, receivables and collections, cash management, financial consolidation
• Management accounting: budgeting, costing, cost management, activity based costing
• Human resources: recruiting, training, rostering, payroll, benefits, retirement and pension plans, diversity management, retirement, separation
• Manufacturing: engineering, bill of materials, work orders, scheduling, capacity, workflow management, quality control, manufacturing process, manufacturing projects, manufacturing flow, product life cycle management
• Order processing: order to cash, order entry, credit checking, pricing, available to promise, inventory, shipping, sales analysis and reporting, sales commissioning
• Supply chain management: supply chain planning, supplier scheduling, product configurator, order to cash, purchasing, inventory, claim processing, warehousing (receiving, putaway, picking and packing)
• Project management: project planning, resource planning, project costing, work breakdown structure, billing, time and expense, performance units, activity management
• Customer relationship management (CRM): sales and marketing, commissions, service, customer contact, call center support – CRM systems are not always considered part of ERP systems but rather business support systems (BSS)
• Data services: various "self–service" interfaces for customers, suppliers and/or employees

GRP[edit]

Government resource planning (GRP) is the equivalent of an ERP for the public sector and an integrated office automation system for government bodies.^[21] The software structure, modularization, core algorithms and main interfaces do not differ from other ERPs, and ERP software suppliers manage to adapt their systems to government agencies.^[22][23][24]

Both system implementations, in private and public organizations, are adopted to improve productivity and overall business performance in organizations, but comparisons (private vs. public) of implementations shows that the main factors influencing ERP implementation success in the public sector are cultural.^[25][26][27]

Best practices[edit]

Most ERP systems incorporate best practices. This means the software reflects the vendor's interpretation of the most effective way to perform each business process. Systems vary in how conveniently the customer can modify these practices.^[28] In addition, best practices reduced risk by 71% compared to other software implementations.^[29]

Use of best practices eases compliance with requirements such as IFRS, Sarbanes-Oxley, or Basel II. They can also help comply with de facto industry standards, such as electronic funds transfer. This is because the procedure can be readily codified within the ERP software and replicated with confidence across multiple businesses that share that business requirement.^[30][31]

Connectivity to plant floor information[edit]

ERP systems connect to real–time data and transaction data in a variety of ways. These systems are typically configured by systems integrators, who bring unique knowledge on process, equipment, and vendor solutions.

Direct integration—ERP systems have connectivity (communications to plant floor equipment) as part of their product offering. This requires that the vendors offer specific support for the plant floor equipment their customers operate.

Database integration—ERP systems connect to plant floor data sources through staging tables in a database. Plant floor systems deposit the necessary information into the database. The ERP system reads the information in the table. The benefit of staging is that ERP vendors do not need to master the complexities of equipment integration. Connectivity becomes the responsibility of the systems integrator.

Enterprise appliance transaction modules (EATM)—These devices communicate directly with plant floor equipment and with the ERP system via methods supported by the ERP system. EATM can employ a staging table, web services, or system–specific program interfaces (APIs). An EATM offers the benefit of being an off–the–shelf solution.

Custom–integration solutions—Many system integrators offer custom solutions. These systems tend to have the highest level of initial integration cost, and can have a higher long term maintenance and reliability costs. Long term costs can be minimized through careful system testing and thorough documentation. Custom–integrated solutions typically run on workstation or server-class computers.

Implementation[edit]

ERP's scope usually implies significant changes to staff work processes and practices.^[32] Generally, three types of services are available to help implement such changes—consulting, customization, and support.^[32] Implementation time depends on business size, number of modules, customization, the scope of process changes, and the readiness of the customer to take ownership for the project. Modular ERP systems can be implemented in stages. The typical project for a large enterprise takes about 14 months and requires around 150 consultants.^[33] Small projects can require months; multinational and other large implementations can take years.^[34][35]Customization can substantially increase implementation times.^[33]

Besides that, information processing influences various business functions e.g. some large corporations like Wal-Mart use a just in time inventory system. This reduces inventory storage and increases delivery efficiency, and requires up-to-date data. Before 2014, Walmart used a system called Inforem developed by IBM to manage replenishment.^[36]

Process preparation[edit]

Implementing ERP typically requires changes in existing business processes.^[37] Poor understanding of needed process changes prior to starting implementation is a main reason for project failure.^[38] The difficulties could be related to the system, business process, infrastructure, training, or lack of motivation.

It is therefore crucial that organizations thoroughly analyze business processes before they implement ERP software. Analysis can identify opportunities for process modernization. It also enables an assessment of the alignment of current processes with those provided by the ERP system. Research indicates that risk of business process mismatch is decreased by:

• Linking current processes to the organization's strategy
• Analyzing the effectiveness of each process
• Understanding existing automated solutions^[39][40]

ERP implementation is considerably more difficult (and politically charged) in decentralized organizations, because they often have different processes, business rules, data semantics, authorization hierarchies, and decision centers.^[41] This may require migrating some business units before others, delaying implementation to work through the necessary changes for each unit, possibly reducing integration (e.g., linking via Master data management) or customizing the system to meet specific needs.^[42]

A potential disadvantage is that adopting "standard" processes can lead to a loss of competitive advantage. While this has happened, losses in one area are often offset by gains in other areas, increasing overall competitive advantage.^[43][44]

Configuration[edit]

Configuring an ERP system is largely a matter of balancing the way the organization wants the system to work with the way it was designed to work. ERP systems typically include many settings that modify system operations. For example, an organization can select the type of inventory accounting—FIFO or LIFO—to use; whether to recognize revenue by geographical unit, product line, or distribution channel; and whether to pay for shipping costs on customer returns.^[42]

Two-tier enterprise resource planning[edit]

Two-tier ERP software and hardware lets companies run the equivalent of two ERP systems at once: one at the corporate level and one at the division or subsidiary level. For example, a manufacturing company could use an ERP system to manage across the organization using independent global or regional distribution, production or sales centers, and service providers to support the main company's customers. Each independent center (or) subsidiary may have its own business models, workflows, and business processes.

Given the realities of globalization, enterprises continuously evaluate how to optimize their regional, divisional, and product or manufacturing strategies to support strategic goals and reduce time-to-market while increasing profitability and delivering value.^[45] With two-tier ERP, the regional distribution, production, or sales centers and service providers continue operating under their own business model—separate from the main company, using their own ERP systems. Since these smaller companies' processes and workflows are not tied to main company's processes and workflows, they can respond to local business requirements in multiple locations.^[46]

Factors that affect enterprises' adoption of two-tier ERP systems include:

• Manufacturing globalization, the economics of sourcing in emerging economies
• Potential for quicker, less costly ERP implementations at subsidiaries, based on selecting software more suited to smaller companies
• Extra effort, (often involving the use of Enterprise application integration) is required where data must pass between two ERP systems^[47] Two-tier ERP strategies give enterprises agility in responding to market demands and in aligning IT systems at a corporate level while inevitably resulting in more systems as compared to one ERP system used throughout the organization.^[48]

Customization[edit]

ERP systems are theoretically based on industry best practices, and their makers intend that organizations deploy them "as is".^[49][50] ERP vendors do offer customers configuration options that let organizations incorporate their own business rules, but gaps in features often remain even after configuration is complete.

ERP customers have several options to reconcile feature gaps, each with their own pros/cons. Technical solutions include rewriting part of the delivered software, writing a homegrown module to work within the ERP system, or interfacing to an external system. These three options constitute varying degrees of system customization—with the first being the most invasive and costly to maintain.^[51] Alternatively, there are non-technical options such as changing business practices or organizational policies to better match the delivered ERP feature set. Key differences between customization and configuration include:

• Customization is always optional, whereas the software must always be configured before use (e.g., setting up cost/profit center structures, organizational trees, purchase approval rules, etc.).
• The software is designed to handle various configurations and behaves predictably in any allowed configuration.
• The effect of configuration changes on system behavior and performance is predictable and is the responsibility of the ERP vendor. The effect of customization is less predictable. It is the customer's responsibility, and increases testing activities.
• Configuration changes survive upgrades to new software versions. Some customizations (e.g., code that uses pre–defined "hooks" that are called before/after displaying data screens) survive upgrades, though they require retesting. Other customizations (e.g., those involving changes to fundamental data structures) are overwritten during upgrades and must be re-implemented.^[52]

Customization advantages include that it:

• Improves user acceptance^[53]
• Offers the potential to obtain competitive advantage vis-à-vis companies using only standard features

Customization disadvantages include that it may:

• Increase time and resources required to implement and maintain^[51][54]
• Hinder seamless interfacing/integration between suppliers and customers due to the differences between systems^[54]
• Limit the company's ability to upgrade the ERP software in the future^[54]
• Create overreliance on customization, undermining the principles of ERP as a standardizing software platform

Extensions[edit]

ERP systems can be extended with third–party software, often via vendor-supplied interfaces.^[55][56] Extensions offer features such as:^[56]

• product data management
• product life cycle management
• customer relations management
• data mining
• e-procurement

Data migration[edit]

Data migration is the process of moving, copying, and restructuring data from an existing system to the ERP system. Migration is critical to implementation success and requires significant planning. Unfortunately, since migration is one of the final activities before the production phase, it often receives insufficient attention. The following steps can structure migration planning:^[57]

• Identify the data to be migrated.
• Determine the migration timing.
• Generate data migration templates for key data components
• Freeze the toolset.
• Decide on the migration-related setup of key business accounts.
• Define data archiving policies and procedures.

Often, data migration is incomplete because some of the data in the existing system is either incompatible or not needed in the new system. As such, the existing system may need to be kept as an archived database to refer back to once the new ERP system is in place.^[57]

Advantages[edit]

The most fundamental advantage of ERP is that the integration of a myriad of business processes saves time and expense. Management can make decisions faster and with fewer errors. Data becomes visible across the organization. Tasks that benefit from this integration include:^[58]

• Sales forecasting, which allows inventory optimization.
• Chronological history of every transaction through relevant data compilation in every area of operation.
• Order tracking, from acceptance through fulfillment
• Revenue tracking, from invoice through cash receipt
• Matching purchase orders (what was ordered), inventory receipts (what arrived), and costing (what the vendor invoiced)

ERP systems centralize business data, which:

• Eliminates the need to synchronize changes between multiple systems—consolidation of finance, marketing, sales, human resource, and manufacturing applications^{[citation needed]}
• Brings legitimacy and transparency to each bit of statistical data
• Facilitates standard product naming/coding
• Provides a comprehensive enterprise view (no "islands of information"), making real–time information available to management anywhere, anytime to make proper decisions
• Protects sensitive data by consolidating multiple security systems into a single structure^[59]

Benefits[edit]

• ERP creates a more agile company that adapts better to change. It also makes a company more flexible and less rigidly structured so organization components operate more cohesively, enhancing the business—internally and externally.^[60]
• ERP can improve data security in a closed environment. A common control system, such as the kind offered by ERP systems, allows organizations the ability to more easily ensure key company data is not compromised. This changes, however, with a more open environment, requiring further scrutiny of ERP security features and internal company policies regarding security.^[61]
• ERP provides increased opportunities for collaboration. Data takes many forms in the modern enterprise, including documents, files, forms, audio and video, and emails. Often, each data medium has its own mechanism for allowing collaboration. ERP provides a collaborative platform that lets employees spend more time collaborating on content rather than mastering the learning curve of communicating in various formats across distributed systems.^[56]
• ERP offers many benefits such as standardization of common processes, one integrated system, standardized reporting, improved key performance indicators (KPI), and access to common data. One of the key benefits of ERP; the concept of integrated system, is often misinterpreted by the business. ERP is a centralized system that provides tight integration with all major enterprise functions be it HR, planning, procurement, sales, customer relations, finance or analytics, as well to other connected application functions. In that sense ERP could be described as "Centralized Integrated Enterprise System (CIES)"^[62]

Disadvantages[edit]

• Customization can be problematic. Compared to the best-of-breed approach, ERP can be seen as meeting an organization's lowest common denominator needs, forcing the organization to find workarounds to meet unique demands.^[63]
• Re-engineering business processes to fit the ERP system may damage competitiveness or divert focus from other critical activities.
• ERP can cost more than less integrated or less comprehensive solutions.
• High ERP switching costs can increase the ERP vendor's negotiating power, which can increase support, maintenance, and upgrade expenses.
• Overcoming resistance to sharing sensitive information between departments can divert management attention.
• Integration of truly independent businesses can create unnecessary dependencies.
• Extensive training requirements take resources from daily operations.
• Harmonization of ERP systems can be a mammoth task (especially for big companies) and requires a lot of time, planning, and money.^[64]
• Critical challenges include disbanding the project team very quickly after implementation, interface issues, lack of proper testing, time zone limitations, stress, offshoring, people's resistance to change, a short hyper-care period, and data cleansing.^[65]

Postmodern ERP[edit]

The term "postmodern ERP" was coined by Gartner in 2013, when it first appeared in the paper series "Predicts 2014".^[66] According to Gartner's definition of the postmodern ERP strategy, legacy, monolithic and highly customized ERP suites, in which all parts are heavily reliant on each other, should sooner or later be replaced by a mixture of both cloud-based and on-premises applications, which are more loosely coupled and can be easily exchanged if needed.

The basic idea is that there should still be a core ERP solution that would cover most important business functions, while other functions will be covered by specialist software solutions that merely extend the core ERP. This concept is similar to the so-called best-of-breed approach^[67] to software execution, but it shouldn't be confused with it. While in both cases, applications that make up the whole are relatively loosely connected and quite easily interchangeable, in the case of the latter there is no ERP solution whatsoever. Instead, every business function is covered by a separate software solution.^[68]

There is, however, no golden rule as to what business functions should be part of the core ERP, and what should be covered by supplementary solutions. According to Gartner, every company must define their own postmodern ERP strategy, based on company's internal and external needs, operations and processes. For example, a company may define that the core ERP solution should cover those business processes that must stay behind the firewall, and therefore, choose to leave their core ERP on-premises. At the same time, another company may decide to host the core ERP solution in the cloud and move only a few ERP modules as supplementary solutions to on-premises.^[68]

The main benefits that companies will gain from implementing postmodern ERP strategy are speed and flexibility when reacting to unexpected changes in business processes or on the organizational level.^[69] With the majority of applications having a relatively loose connection, it is fairly easy to replace or upgrade them whenever necessary. In addition to that, following the examples above, companies can select and combine cloud-based and on-premises solutions that are most suited for their ERP needs. The downside of postmodern ERP is that it will most likely lead to an increased number of software vendors that companies will have to manage, as well as pose additional integration challenges for the central IT.^[68][70]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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Windows 7, a major release of the Microsoft Windowsoperating system, was available in six different editions: Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate. Only Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate were widely available at retailers.^[1] The other editions focus on other markets, such as the software development world or enterprise use. All editions support 32-bit IA-32CPUs and all editions except Starter support 64-bit x64 CPUs. 64-bit installation media are not included in Home-Basic edition packages, but can be obtained separately from Microsoft.

According to Microsoft, the features for all editions of Windows 7 are stored on the machine, regardless of which edition is in use.^[2] Users who wish to upgrade to an edition of Windows 7 with more features could use until 2015 Windows Anytime Upgrade to purchase the upgrade and to unlock the features of those editions.^[1][2][3] Microsoft announced Windows 7 pricing information for some editions on June 25, 2009, and Windows Anytime Upgrade and Family Pack pricing on July 31, 2009.^[1][4][5]

Main editions[edit]

Mainstream support for all Windows 7 editions ended on January 13, 2015, and extended support ended on January 14, 2020.^[6] Professional and Enterprise volume licensed editions have paid Extended Security Updates (ESU) available until at most January 10, 2023.^[7] Since October 31, 2013, Windows 7 is no longer available in retail, except for remaining stocks of the preinstalled Professional edition, which was officially discontinued on October 31, 2016.^[8]

Windows 7 Starter

Windows 7 Starter is the edition of Windows 7 that contains the fewest features. It is only available in a 32-bit version and does not include the Windows Aero theme. The desktop wallpaper and visual styles (Windows 7 Basic) are not user-changeable. In the release candidate versions of Windows 7, Microsoft intended to restrict users of this edition to running three simultaneous programs, but this limitation was dropped in the final release.^[9] This edition does not support more than 2 GB of RAM.

This edition was available pre-installed on computers, especially netbooks or Windows Tablets, through system integrators or computer manufacturers using OEM licenses.^[1][10][11]

Windows 7 Home Basic

Windows 7 Home Basic was available in "emerging markets", in 141 different countries.^[12] Some Windows Aero options are excluded along with several new features.^[1] This edition is available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions and supports up to 8 GB of RAM. Home Basic, along with other editions sold in emerging markets, include geographical activation restriction, which requires users to activate Windows within a certain region or country.^[13]

Windows 7 Home Premium

This edition contains features aimed at the home market segment, such as Windows Media Center, Windows Aero and multi-touch support. It was available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.^[14]

Windows 7 Professional

This edition is targeted towards enthusiasts, small-business users, and schools.^[1] It includes all the features of Windows 7 Home Premium, and adds the ability to participate in a Windows Server domain.^[1] Additional features include support for up to 192 GB of RAM (increased from 16 GB),^[15] operating as a Remote Desktop server, location aware printing, backup to a network location, Encrypting File System, Presentation Mode, Software Restriction Policies (but not the extra management features of AppLocker) and Windows XP Mode.^[1] It was available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.^[14]

Windows 7 Enterprise

This edition targeted the enterprise segment of the market and was sold through volume licensing to companies which have a Software Assurance (SA) contract with Microsoft.^[1] Additional features include support for Multilingual User Interface (MUI) packages, BitLocker Drive Encryption, and UNIXapplication support.^[1] Not available through retail or OEM channels, this edition is distributed through SA.^[1] As a result it includes several SA-only benefits, including a license allowing the operating of diskless nodes (diskless PCs) and activation via Volume License Key (VLK).^[16]

Windows 7 Ultimate

Windows 7 Ultimate contains the same features as Windows 7 Enterprise, but this edition was available to home users on an individual license basis.^[1] For a while, Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional users were able to upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate for a fee using Windows Anytime Upgrade if they wished to do so, but this service was stopped in 2015.^[1] Unlike Windows Vista Ultimate, the Windows 7 Ultimate does not include the Windows Ultimate Extras feature or any exclusive features as Microsoft had stated.^[1]

Special-purpose editions[edit]

The main editions also can take the form of one of the following special editions:

N and KN editions

The features in the N and KN Editions are the same as their equivalent full versions, but do not include Windows Media Player or other Windows Media-related technologies, such as Windows Media Center and Windows DVD Maker due to limitations set by the European Union and South Korea, respectively.^[17] The cost of the N and KN Editions are the same as the full versions, as the Media Feature Pack for Windows 7 N or Windows 7 KN can be downloaded without charge from Microsoft.^[18]

VL builds

VL builds work with VLKs (volume license keys). Volume license keys can be used to activate multiple installations of the software without any mechanism (such as a product activation mechanism) checking the total number of installations. The license for the software will place restrictions on the use of the key. Typically, the license will limit the key to a fixed number of installations which must only be within the licensee's organization and also place the licensee under an obligation to keep a record of the number of installations, keep the key confidential and possibly even require that the licensee organization makes itself available for a software licensing audit to verify that its use of the key is within the terms of the license.

Upgrade editions[edit]

In-place upgrade from Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 to Windows 7 is supported if the processor architecture and the language are the same and their editions match (see below).^[1][3][19] In-place upgrade is not supported for earlier versions of Windows; moving to Windows 7 on these machines requires a clean installation, i.e. removal of the old operating system, installing Windows 7 and reinstalling all previously installed programs. Windows Easy Transfer can assist in this process.^{[1][3][20][21]} Microsoft made upgrade SKUs of Windows 7 for selected editions of Windows XP and Windows Vista. The difference between these SKUs and full SKUs of Windows 7 is their lower price and proof of license ownership of a qualifying previous version of Windows. Same restrictions on in-place upgrading applies to these SKUs as well.^[22] In addition, Windows 7 is available as a Family Pack upgrade edition in certain markets, to upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium only. It gives licenses to upgrade three machines from Vista or Windows XP to the Windows 7 Home Premium edition. These are not full versions, so each machine to be upgraded must have one of these qualifying previous versions of Windows for them to work.^[23] In the United States, this offer expired in early December 2009.^[24] In October 2010, to commemorate the anniversary of Windows 7, Microsoft once again made Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack available for a limited time, while supplies lasted.^[25]

Upgrade compatibility[edit]

There are two possible ways to upgrade to Windows 7 from an earlier version of Windows:

• An in-place install (labelled "Upgrade" in the installer), where settings and programs are preserved from an older version of Windows. This option is only sometimes available, depending on the editions of Windows being used, and is not available at all unless upgrading from Windows Vista.^[26]
• A clean install (labelled "Custom" in the installer), where all settings including but not limited to user accounts, applications, user settings, music, photos, and programs are erased entirely and the current operating system is erased and replaced with Windows 7. This option is always available and is required for all versions of Windows XP.^[27]

The table below lists which upgrade paths allow for an in-place install. Note that in-place upgrades can only be performed when the previous version of Windows is of the same architecture. If upgrading from a 32-bit installation to a 64-bit installation or downgrading from 64-bit installation to 32-bit installation, a clean install is mandatory regardless of the editions being used.

Anytime Upgrade editions[edit]

Until the year 2015, Microsoft also supported in-place upgrades from a lower edition of Windows 7 to a higher one, using the Windows Anytime Upgrade tool.^[1] There are currently three retail options available (though it is currently unclear whether they can be used with previous installations of the N versions).^[28] There are no family pack versions of the Anytime Upgrade editions. It was possible to use the Product Key from a Standard upgrade edition to accomplish an in-place upgrade (e.g. Home Premium to Ultimate).^[29][30]

• Starter to Home Premium
• Starter to Professional¹
• Starter to Ultimate¹
• Home Premium to Professional
• Home Premium to Ultimate
• Professional to Ultimate¹

¹ Available in retail, and at the Microsoft Store

Derivatives[edit]

Windows Thin PC

On February 9, 2011, Microsoft announced Windows Thin PC, a branded derivative of Windows Embedded Standard 7 with Service Pack 1, designed as a lightweight version of Windows 7 for installation on low performance PCs as an alternative to using a dedicated thin client device. It succeeded Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs, which was based on Windows XP Embedded. Windows Thin PC was released on June 6, 2011. Windows Thin PC is supported until October 12, 2021.^[31]

Embedded versions

Windows 7 is also currently available in two forms of Windows Embedded, named as Windows Embedded Standard 7 (known as Windows Embedded Standard 2011 prior to release, the newest being Windows Embedded Standard 7 with Service Pack 1) and Windows Embedded POSReady 7. Windows Embedded Standard 7 has extended support until October 13, 2020 and Windows Embedded POSReady 7 until October 12, 2021.^[32] Both versions are also eligible for Extended Security Updates (ESU) for up to three years after their end of extended support date.^[7]

Comparison chart[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]