EDIT by OpaQue : The new Windows Vista is going to be released in 7 diffrent versions starting right the basic to super advance versions.

To whihathac : Quote the stuff that you copy.

Wow. LOTS of choices on this one. That could be cool, depending on what features and capabilities Microsoft puts with each release.

But I'm still waiting a while for them to release the super-stable version. And so that my school will get the upgrade discs in on our awesome student-license agreement and sell it to me for five to ten bucks.

*drools*

Haha yea Sarah81 that sounds great Windows Vista SS : SuperStable - The Way of the Future (tag line), and about the 7 versions being introduced i think this is a good idea not only for people who dont need to spend the money on the professional versions if they dont need it and or dont know how to use it but it also helps in the fact that you cant stuff up anything thats not there - for the newbie in us all .....awww thanks microsoft.

Wrong category *moves*

This sounds like a nice way to go though .

The problem is, I'm a pessimist, and chances are high that they'll screw us on the price of it .

I for one will either go for the ultimate, because of it's gaming tweaks, or the professional, because I'm a cheap ass .

My main concern is the knowledge that a lot of people get lost in XP Home and XP Pro (as to which one meets their needs). So I feel 8 versions will only add to the confusion. Also, the Starter Edition is completely redundant, as it is so limited in its uses. Not too many would actually be able to use it from something other then play solitaire, and I am quite sure that it will be THAT version that will end up pre-installed on most new systems.

I've read the specifications of the Ultimate Edition and I quote


Now, if the audience for the UE is that big, why is there a need for 8 versions? I can completely understand the need for a few; a standard Home user one, one for the more advanced home user (programmers, IT developers etc), a small business edition and an enterprise edition. So yes, I do see a need for several versions, but then again wouldn't limiting the version count to 2 or 3 with customization options during the install make it far more easier on the clients?

So to summerize, I feel they've gone overboard in all the versions.

Now to move on to prices, I fear for those. I really fear about the prices of these editions. I think the Starter Edition will come close to what XP Home costs, and the Ultimate one will probably come close to $500 or more.

Now this is the real question - Vista looks really nice, but the price is that what counts. I don't suppose that difference in price between Vista Pro and Ultra would be 50$, also difference between Vista Home and Vista Pro can't be too big.
Seems to me that Microsoft is trying to push their Vista in the multimedial waters to be a rival to Apple with its online services. But the good thing (bad to someone?) Microsoft has put big money into preventing piracy, and encuraging the uses to buy the original and they'll get extra features.

Hahaha...you know what they're doing, right? Haven't you heard about the "usage" charge they're putting in place for Windows? You will have to keep paying to be able to use it! And you laugh at *NIX users for what??? Let's see...500 bucks for the crappy new Windows...or I can download debian, or someting else that performs better, for nothing! 500 bucks for a copy of Windows...when something more stable and secure costs nothing. You guys are suckers...

There are users that don't want to bother with Linux, they want to play games, listen music in winamp, browse pictures from their digital camera and expect everything to work, not to compile extra packages or get the headers of some program just that it can work. And they'll pay for that..
Sad, but now Microsoft realized that he could make money just for using Windows. You have to buy it, and then pay to use it.. This is a disaster!

Glad I work as a consultant...I have a feeling I'll get a little work from small businesses trying to figure this out.

My first reaction was: "great, now they are really going to confuse people" to "wait confused people = more money for me".

Let me be the first to say, "Thank you Micro$oft!"

Ouch, I feel sorry for the customer service guys who have to explain this in lamens term to your average buyer.