Microsoft released the famous Windows Vista with plenty of eye candy for users. I thought about getting Vista in the future - after all, I would be getting Vista with any new PC I buy, since they're all coming equipped with Vista already - but the revelation that there were six versions of Vista stopped me in my tracks. These versions would be:

• Windows Vista Starter
• Windows Vista Home Basic
• Windows Vista Home Premium
• Windows Vista Business
• Windows Vista Enterprise
• Windows Vista Ultimate

Surely they didn't have to divide Vista into so many versions? (Oh, there's also the two European "N" editions; if you count those, you have eight versions of Vista! Wheee.) Windows Vista Starter only allows you to run three applications at a time and does not have many features that a computer should have. It's targeted to "emerging markets who can only afford a low cost PC." All the other editions grow from there, the Ultimate version being the one that has the features of all the other versions plus special features like the Game Performance Tweaker. As for the "N" editions:



I find the need for all these versions pointless. Imagine buying a computer! It'll take quite a while to figure which version you want and would make purchasing a computer daunting for beginners. ...Is Windows trying to catch up to the five or so years of not making any new operating systems by creating six (or eight) releases of their newest OS? You can read more about Vista here, which includes screenshots of most of the Vista versions.

So. Tell me what you think about MS creating six versions of Vista.

Serena

The version of Windows Vista Starter really made me laugh, but to laugh sadly, what a bullshit is this? it only lets you run three applications at a time and does not have many features that a computer should have! Hahahaha, now this is stupid, I rather install windows 1 and save 512 MB of RAM.. Anyway, I don't know why they need all those versions, but for me, the only difference is more or less software and services installed, they could just make one CD with different installations, even though that would mean people could much more easily use the best version of Vista Ultimate when people start to play with reverse software engineering, but they would have one nice CD! Those versions are pointless and even more annoying.. the only thing I understand, that the cost of each is different for example Windows XP Home is about two times cheaper than Windows XP Professional..

First of all, if anyone is ever getting Vista, don't settle for anything other than Vista Ultimate or premium. When you just put the normal consumer editions into consideration, most of the versions are just BS. Starter and Home Basic were created as part of a marketing trick. Since everyone has to pay the same price for the upgrades no matter what version you're using, if anyone buys the starter or home basic M$ just ripped you off. In my opinion only ultimate is even remotely worth buying. (I get all of them for free. Its great when you know someone who can get these legally.)

or business version if you don't want all that junk. Business version actually runs faster than Home Premium and/or Premium.

xboxrulz

Yes, don't settle for anything less than Vista Ultimate. I talked to a CAD designer recently after his upgrade to vista. Apparently the new version of AutoCAD he's demoing doesnt work with Vista Home Basic. It requires him to be running Vista Ultimate. So now I'm guessing Microsoft has a new scheme to make people upgrade by making the more professional apps only work under Vista Ultimate. Bad business move.

A smart business move, though, was their move of Outlook from the student and teacher edition of MS office to the small business edition. Student & Teacher edition was for exactly what the title stated. Only it was cheaper. The catch being you must show your student or teacher ID before purchasing. Most businesses just got around this and bought student and teacher, didn't show any ID, and got away with a $300 discount. Now all the business people are mad because 1) they can't return their products to the store (Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, etc...) because the return policy won't allow returns on software, games, or music. 2) They not only can't return their copy, but have to pay an additional $300 for the small business edition.

Love ya Microsoft!

If/when i get vista i'm almost definately going to have to go with the ultimate version. I need the extra features but it costs quite a bit.
The whole vista starter made me laugh, 3 applications at the same time? When computers these days come with like 1gb of RAM. Microsoft are seriously ripping these people off but i guess the only good thing is that people that can't afford even decent machines will be in luck.
It's also pretty stupid how none of the upgrade paths from windows xp lead to vista ultimate, the user should get a choice at the very least.

-HellFire

Then all the users would have to pay more, as they're literally buying all the versions. Some probably don't need Vista Ultimate though, so they would be wasting their money.



Whoa. That's annoying. =O Didn't know they did that too. They're probably just waiting for everyone to get Vista Home, install programs, and realize that half the programs can't be installed. Then they're going to rake in all the money from the upgrades. Sneaky. XD

Ah, so after hearing from everyone, I'm going to get Vista Ultimate if I ever get Vista. I don't want to be stuck with some second-rate OS and pay for upgrades. It's just not worth it. But I'm pretty happy with XP for the moment. =D I can make it look cool without Vista. XDD

Serena

Well that just further puts the poor new windows operating system further into the ground lol.

Seems most of what they do or don't include are just some minor settings changes and software......

I don't have computer good enough to use Windows Vista. If I ever get computer good enough, Windows Vista Home Premium is my
OS within it. (Maybe. )

I've been running Vista Business that I got from my college, and I don't really like it that much. Though, I didn't like Windows 2000 when it first came out because it didn't support directx, but later I found that it was my OS of choice for a few years just because it ran so well after they got all those patches made for it. Similarly, Vista has its share of problems. Performance-wise, I have a gig of ram and a 2.4 ghz Pentium 4 processor and it runs relatively decently. The problem that's been coming up is that annoying prompt that asks permission every time before you run a setup program or a configuration tool. I haven't yet found a way to shut that off. That aside, the next problem that came up was when I went to install Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, only to find that it was incompatible with Vista, and it's cd-checking protection came up and was denied by vista because it is unsupported. Blah.
Another thing I miss is mplayer2.exe. Mplayer2 has been used as long as I can remember as a bare bones compliment to Windows Media Player. This vista apparently doesn't have it. And only has the bulky Media Player 10. Bleh.
Overall, I think I'm going to switch back to Windows 2000 again, just because of it's reliability. XP has too many bells and whistles which slows it down. Windows 2000 is just right for what I use it for... If it weren't for some programs like Dreamweaver or directx, I'd totally just switch to Linux