>>>>>I will be in the market for a laptop soon for the home. I would like to be able to run Visual Studio .Net 2008 or 2010 on this PC and create both web and windows solutions. I had a WinXP Pro laptop in the past. I assume this new laptop will contain Windows 7.
>>>>>
>>>>>What version of Windows 7 should I be looking at? Professional? Will Home Premium allow me to do development in VS.Net?
>>>>>
>>>>>Also, I will be installing VFP9 on this PC.
>>>>
>>>>Laptops can be vulnerable to loss or theft. Win7 Ultimate (and Enterprise, available only to corporate accounts) offers BitLocker, which can encrypt disk contents. There are other disk encryption options but none as arguably easy to use.
>>>>
>>>>If the machine is going to be used for development it doesn't make much sense to use anything other than Ultimate. You only have to hit an arbitrary MS restriction in a lesser version once or twice to more than cost you the upfront price difference.
>>>>
>>>>Although it's possible to spec laptops from some vendors (e.g. Dell) with Win7 Pro or Ultimate, most boxed consumer laptops you'd buy at Best Buy etc. likely come with Home Premium. However, if you find a consumer machine you like with Home Premium, you can upgrade it later to Ultimate: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-CA/windows7/products/features/windows-anytime-upgrade
>>>>
>>>>Make sure you get 64-bit Windows 7, 32-bit is pretty much obsolete.
>>>>
>>>>If you're looking for a home computer, and you're only considering a laptop because you want something compact (i.e. you don't plan to use it outside the home), there are various small-form-factor and all-in-one computers available.
>>>
>>>Any developer considering buying Windows 7 Ultimate should consider a Visual Studio 2010 / MSDN Professional subscription. It includes all versions of Windows, numerous licenses for each, VS 2010, and numerous legacy licenses. (Even including VFP 9! <g>). It can be had from Software Wholesale International for $599/year for three years.
>>>
>>>http://www.software-intl.com/content.aspx?page=MSDN-Subscription-Coupon
>>>
>>>PS -- Why do you say 32-bit is pretty much obsolete? This topic came up not long ago here and some people.I respect, like Rick Strahl, said it isn't even such a good idea. I didn't think a lot of apps even run in 64-bit yet.
>>
>>Because 32 bit apps will still run on a 64 bit box, but 32 bit boxes will be more and more limited over time in favor of 64 bit boxes.
>>Tim
>
>Over time. I'm not sure we're there yet.

I think we finally are. Win 7 64 bit is stable, fast, and slick. And it finally has broad driver support.

My primary desktop and laptop are 64bit now and I'm not having any problem with my apps (business/personal/games/etc).

Naturally now that Microsoft has got 64 bit right after preaching about it for a decade, their premier development environment (VS2010) has gone back to 32bit only.

Yeah - someone will try to defend that move.