It's official, 8 different flavors of Windows Vista

[usil]

Here is an independant summary of the whole article:
Windows Starter 2007 - This edition does not include the Aero graphical user interface, hence it’s not Vista-branded. And there’s no 64-bit edition, no networking, no Fast User Switching, no DVD Authoring, no gaming common controller support, and no image editing with enhanced touchup, and only three applications/windows are allowed to run simultaneously. Good only for really basic users with low budgets.

Windows Vista Home Basic - This is the true baseline version of Windows Vista; think Windows XP Home Edition. You can expect to find features such as Windows Firewall, Windows Search, Photo Library and etc. And every other edition below will be based on this edition. Good for general consumers or even the kids.

Windows Vista Home Basic N - Same as the Home Basic Edition, but minus the Windows Media Player. This edition is for the Europeans as they have antitrust rulings against Microsoft which does not allow the player to be bundled.

Windows Vista Home Premium - This edition includes features such as Media Center Extender support, Cable Card support, DVD authoring and Tablet PC functionality. This edition is best suited for notebooks and networked home desktops, but it’s probably insufficient for the geeks.

Windows Vista Business - Analogous to the Windows XP Professional, this will probably be the most widely used edition in corporate environments. This edition allows joining of domains, non-Microsoft networking (Netware, etc), Remote Desktop and Microsoft Windows Web Server. Most geeks and IT professionals will want to go for this edition.

Windows Vista Business N - Just like Home Basic N Edition, this one is meant for the Europeans and comes with no media player.

Windows Vista Enterprise - This edition will come with several new features such as Virtual PC, multi-language user interface (MUI) and Secure Startup (BitLocker Drive Encryption).

Windows Vista Ultimate - This one is going to be the most expensive, most feature-packed, and perhaps the most pirated edition of Vista. It’ll include new and unique features such as Game Performance Tweaker, Podcast creation utility, online “Club” services and privileged product support. This edition will be perfect for Windows fanboys.

And the whole article:
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_editions.asp

That ultimate edition looks awefully good. Looking forward to shelling out a few hundred bucks for that!

[Nix]

Support nightmare jumps to mind.

[Tuttle]

Not wrong there. Home and Pro is bad enough.

"Can you enable Remote Desktop? Nope, it's Home. What about gpedit.msc? Nope, Home. Right-click | Properties and fix the ACLs that your spyware messed with? You guessed it..."

Bloody marketeers. :rolleyes:

[bistro]

Windows Starter 2007 - This edition does not include the Aero graphical user interface, hence it’s not Vista-branded. And there’s no 64-bit edition, no networking, no Fast User Switching, no DVD Authoring, no gaming common controller support, and no image editing with enhanced touchup, and only three applications/windows are allowed to run simultaneously. Good only for really basic users with low budgets.

"Basic users with low budgets"?? I wonder what inspired the boys at MS to come up with this version?? I can just see a whole slue of cheapy computers coming out with this OS on them.....Ripoff City. I wonder where the profits are coming from with this one. I smell a rat....

Supposedly this info on the different versions was inadvertently disclosed: Microsoft blunder leaks information about Vista (http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyid=2006-02-21T202021Z_01_N2195718_RTRUKOC_0_US-MICROSOFT-VISTA.xml&rpc=22)Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, prematurely posted information about its much-anticipated Windows Vista operating system on one of its Web sites, the company said on Tuesday.

Microsoft disclosed information about a plan to release eight different editions of the new operating system on a company help page that was under development. The company has not made any official statements about the different versions of Windows Vista it plans to offer.

The company has since taken down the Web site and declined to confirm the information and said it will offer more details about the Vista launch, targeted for the second half of 2006, in the coming weeks.I have a hard time believing this was a "mistake". :rolleyes:

I'm also waiting to see if all those "extras" in the other versions can be had a lot cheaper with third-party software. Just exactly what is that "Game Performance Tweaker" in the Ultimate version? What makes it any different from game tweakers already around?

Signed,

El Cynico

[usil]

I believe that Basic Version will only be released in Far East countries, and other 3rd World countries.

[bistro]

I believe that Basic Version will only be released in Far East countries, and other 3rd World countries.

So....If I should want the Basic version, then I will have to join the Peace Corps? Oh boy! What a deal....

[Nix]

I believe that Basic Version will only be released in Far East countries, and other 3rd World countries.In an effrort to stop piracy maybe ?

[usil]

Yes, their strategy is to make it very cheap to discourage piracy, and also because they are poor by west standards.

[Sal_gal]

Support nightmare jumps to mind.
Microsoft is forever looking over Mac's shoulder. This new O/S will be a nightmare (for me a teacher) and for industry.

[usil]

Now Now, don't all be so negative. As it is now, there is no real support difference between XP pro and home. It may be the same case for Vista. Lets wait and see.

[SuperSparks]

You have to feel sorry for MS sometimes, it doesn't matter what they try and do it upsets somebody. Either they have too many versions and get accused of causing support problems or they have too few and get accused of bloating the software with features that people don't want.

Personally I prefer a situation where people can buy a version that suits their particular needs. I just hope that it's done in a better way than XP Home was, just chopping bits out of Pro left it with some odd quirks.

[jmtjet]

What about cost? Any cost figures released?

[SuperSparks]

Nope, it's too early for that. If I had to make a guess, and this is purely my opinion, I's say that Home Basic will be roughly in line With XP Home, and Home Premium will be in line with XP Pro.

[bistro]

I'll be talking with my bank regarding a small business loan to get that Ultimate version....

[jmtjet]

Just keep an eye on eBay. As soon as Vista is released there'll be OEM versions listed for a lot less than the retail version. The sellers will swear they're legal versions also.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Windows-Vista-Beta-CD-With-Activation-Key_W0QQitemZ7221985321QQcategoryZ11229QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[SuperSparks]

Here is the official word. Vista will come in 6 versions:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4754462.stm

[bistro]

Any definitive word yet as to what the recommended* hardware requirements are gonna be? I'm fresh out of Cray super-computers and I need to know if I need to order some new ones..... :rolleyes:


*Note I said recommended...going with the minimum requirements is like putting kerosene in a Ferrari....you might get it out of the driveway, but it ain't going too far beyond that...