Did you jump on the Windows 7 beta to get an early look at the all the new features in Microsoft's latest operating system? Holding out for a polished, finished product before messing around with your OS? Microsoft just announced all the versions of Windows 7 it will be selling, so you can start working on deciding which is going to be right for you.

All of the features of a lower version are in the higher up ones. There's no some-have-this, some-have-that to keep track of: each step up just adds more and more stuff on and doesn't remove anything.

The very simplest edition is Windows 7 Starter, which is really bare-bones. The system limits you to running only three applications at once, so don't expect to be very productive with it. Home Basic allows unlimited applications and adds in some useful network options, like connection sharing. Home Basic will be limited to sales in developing markets, so it won't be showing up in any U.S. stores.

The version most of us consider the "base" Windows 7 installation is Home Premium. This gets Aero Peek for snazzy window effects and taskbar management and comes with lots of media playback options out-of-the-box, including DivX support. For users with touchscreens, Home Premium supports multi-touch and integrates handwriting recognition.

Windows 7 Professional adds the same kind of advanced features XP and Vista Professional included, like managed network support, smart printer routing, and support for encrypted files to keep your data safe.

At the highest, most feature-rich, most expensive end of the spectrum are Enterprise and Ultimate. Enterprise adds some more encrypted disk options onto Professional and VPN-like remote access capabilities. Ultimate looks like the home user version of Enterprise; expect pretty much identical feature sets.

There's no word yet on pricing, but all these editions should be available as both stand-alone copies and upgrades from previous Windows systems. If you skipped Vista, you can still get upgrade pricing when transitioning from XP, but you'll have to do a full install — just make sure you back up all your data first!

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