Microsoft has had patchy success with its Windows Vista series of operating systems, and is banking on its next major addition to the Windows franchise, Windows 7 to turn its fortunes for the better. After having generously released beta versions of the operating system to the public, the company is gearing up for a product launch schedule. In the process, it made its SKUs (variants) of the operating system official today. The lineup consists of three variants in particular, suited for domestic deployments, with three variants aimed more towards commercial deployments, and then of course, there is an Ultimate variant that lets one have it all. The lineup for Windows 7 is as follows:

• Windows 7 Starter Edition
• Windows 7 Home Basic
• Windows 7 Home Premium
• Windows 7 Professional
• Windows 7 Enterprise
• Windows 7 Ultimate

The Starter Edition variant is an entry-level OS for available through OEM/OEI channels. Like the Windows XP Starter Edition, it supports up to three open applications concurrently, along with restrictions on the kind of hardware that can be used in the system. For emerging markets, the Home Basic variant serves as a mainstream platform sans all the paraphernalia of a fancy, animated Aero UI. This variant will be available only in emerging markets. The Home Premium variant adds Aero UI, multi-touch HID capabilities, and the ability of creating workgroups or home networks, along with premium applications such as Media Center. It will be available world-wide through OEM and retail channels.

The Professional variant is a super-set of Home Premium and has enhanced networking capabilities such as Remote Desktop host, domain support, offline folders, etc. It adds features such as Mobility Center (that provide system management for portable machines) and Presentation-mode making PCs boardroom-friendly. It will be available through OEM and retail channels. The Enterprise variant is available only in volume-licenses and serves as a client OS in large networks. It is a super-set of the Professional variant, and adds to its feature-set with Branch Cache, Direct Access, and BitLocker features. Finally, there's the Ultimate variant that lets you have it all, it is a super-set for all the variants.