Topic: Yes another Vista thread. I apologize in advance.

[Pugnate]

Windows Vista Home Basic
Similar to Windows XP Home Edition, Home Basic is intended for budget users not requiring advanced media support for home use. The Windows Aero theme with translucent effects will not be included with this edition. 64-bit Home Basic will support up to 8 GB of physical memory, and will be supported until 2012. $199.00
 
Windows Vista Home Premium
Containing all features from Home Basic, this edition will also support more advanced features aimed for the home market segment, such as HDTV support and DVD authoring. Extra premium games, mobile and tablet PC, network projector, touchscreen, and auxiliary display (via Windows SideShow) support, and a utility to schedule backups are also included. Home Premium supports 10 simultaneous peer network connections (compared to 5 in Home Basic). The version of Meeting Space included will also allow for interaction (in Home Basic, you may only view meetings), but Remote Desktop sessions may only be received, not controlled, in this edition. This edition is comparable to Windows XP Media Center Edition. 64-bit Home Premium will support up to 16 GB of physical memory, and will be supported until 2012. $239.00
 
Windows Vista Business
Comparable to Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, Windows Vista Business Edition is aimed at the business market. Includes all the features of Home Premium with the exception of Windows Media Center and related technologies, Parental Controls, and Windows DVD and Movie Maker HD (the regular Movie Maker is included). Includes the IIS web server, fax support, Rights Management Services (RMS) Client, file system encryption, dual processor (two sockets) support, system image backup and recovery, offline file support, a full version of Remote Desktop, ad-hoc P2P collaboration capabilities, Previous Versions (Windows ShadowCopy), and several other business features not in Home Premium. 64-bit Business supports 128 GB of memory. Mainstream support for Business ends on 4/10/2012; extended support ends on 4/11/2017. $299.00
 
Windows Vista Enterprise
This edition is aimed at the enterprise segment of the market, and is a superset of the Business edition. Additional features include multilingual user interface support, BitLocker Drive Encryption, and UNIX application support. This edition will not be available through retail or OEM channels, but through Microsoft Software Assurance. Since Enterprise is a benefit of Software Assurance (SA), it will include several SA-only benefits, including a license allowing for multiple virtual machines to be run, access to Virtual PC Express, and activation via VLK. [34] 64-bit Enterprise supports 128 GB of memory. Mainstream support for Enterprise ends on 4/10/2012; extended support ends on 4/11/2017. Part of Software Assurance enterprise licensing N/A

Windows Vista Ultimate
This edition combines all the features of the Home Premium and Enterprise editions, a game performance tweaker (WinSAT), and "Ultimate Extras". On January 7, 2007, at CES, Microsoft began to announce what some of these Ultimate Extras will be. When Vista launches to consumers on January 30, Microsoft will immediately make the following Extras available for Ultimate users: "Dream Scene", a utility that will allow for full-motion video desktop backgrounds; "Hold'Em"; "Hold'Em", a Vista-customized version of the Texas Hold'Em poker game; Multi-user interface language (MUIL) packs, designed to allow individuals fluent in different languages to share the same PC; BitLocker Online Secure Key Storage, where Ultimate customers will be offered a secure place to store their BitLocker encryption keys in the Online Vista Marketplace; and "Digital publications," a collection of tips and tricks, blog links and other resources for getting the most out of Ultimate.[35][36] After that, many more are expected to be announced through 2007, including a photo editing and merging tool shown at CES called "GroupShot". More detailed information regarding some of these extras can be read at the Vista Ultimate website here The Ultimate edition is aimed at high-end PC users, gamers, multimedia professionals, and PC enthusiasts. 64-bit Ultimate supports 128 GB of memory. Mainstream support for Ultimate ends on 4/10/2012; extended support ends on 4/11/2017. Another upgrade variant of Windows Vista Ultimate is the Windows Vista Ultimate Signature Edition, a limited, numbered edition of Windows Vista Ultimate that features Bill Gates' signature on the front of the packaging along with its unique number. $399.00

So I saw Vista in action, and like Scottws I was a bit impressed. So I thought I may as well go for it, considering I've got a direct x 10 compliant card and many of the games I own are getting direct x 10 patches. Company of Heroes is expected to have a DX10 patch that upps the visuals next month.

So basically Vista Business isn't for people like us, as it is stripped of all the multimedia options -- which is senseless. They all seem to have Aero which is fine, but I don't understand why Home Premium is limited to 16GB of RAM usage while the Ultimate is at 128GB. WTF!

Anyway I really want the Ultimate edition, but then I saw the price... what a heart break. $400!!!! For software! Would I rather not buy a 360?

So if I go for home premium I miss out on all the business ed. options, which is fine. But I hate being limited to 16GB RAM. Who knows how the future will shape out. So I don't care for the business edition options, then what am I missing out on?

a game performance tweaker (WinSAT): Well... I wonder how well that would work anyway?

Dream Scene", a utility that will allow for full-motion video desktop backgrounds: Sounds cool, but worth it? Nope. The rest are pretty meh. I find the following very interesting though:

Customers in Canada and the United States who purchase the Ultimate Edition (full or upgrade) before June 30, 2007 will be able to purchase additional licenses of Vista Home Premium at a cost of $49.99. These licenses will be sold online through Microsoft's web site.

That is very interesting. So could I basically sell licenses of Vista Home Premium on eBay and make some of my money back?

edit:

Had a look on eBay. Vista Ultimate upgrade and OEM are going for $250. Hmmmmmmmmm.

What's the disadvantage of going Ultimate OEM?

[Quemaqua]

I want no part of it.  None.  Not even a little bit.

[idolminds]

Why would you want video as your desktop? I find some still images as wallpaper make icons hard to read/find. I couldnt imagine a freaking video.

[ren]

You can make video as your wallpaper with VLC on XP. I don't see why you would need Ultimate Edition except for the RAM thing. I don't think we'd go over 16GB in the next 5 years or so though.

[Cobra951]

I want no part of it.  None.  Not even a little bit.

Check, for me too.

You can make wallpaper out of DVD playback too, with WinDVD (under XP, of course).

[iPPi]

Vista is pretty impressive.  I know a couple people who use it and it is pretty good.

I've got a copy of Vista Business on its way pretty soon myself for my laptop.

[ScaryTooth]

I may check it out. $400 is a lot of dough though. I may wait for a hacked copy...

[Quemaqua]

Even if I wanted it, which I don't, I can't afford it and find the prices entirely offensive.  Makes me want to throw my fucking 360 out the window.

[Jedi]

We've got a few machines running Ultimate here at work but it's a 30 day thing only. Looks nice and that's without Aero as the GPUs aren't up to snuff. I might pick up a OEM from a contact I have but that'll still set me back a fair wack - or unfair as the case may be.

[gpw11]

If I cave and decide I really want Aero Glass I'll probably find a way to get it for free if possible. 

[scottws]

I decided I'll stick with XP for awhile, I think.  It works just fine.

[Pugnate]

Well the upgrade edition of Ultimate is going for $250 as is the full OEM.

The home premium which is just as good is going for $130 upgrade and full OEM is $150.

From what I understand with an upgrade edition you can do a clean install. When you are installing and it asks you for your previous windows all you need to do is insert your old XP disc which it checks and that's about it.

That's still a lot of dough.

[scottws]

From what I understand with an upgrade edition you can do a clean install. When you are installing and it asks you for your previous windows all you need to do is insert your old XP disc which it checks and that's about it.

Yep.  That is correct.  When I reformatted Jennie's mom's computer, she had the XP Home upgrade edition.  It asked me to insert a previous version of Windows, so I inserted the ME disc that came with her computer and it accepted it.

I've always wondered though if you need a previous version with the same license type.  For instance my XP is a (legal) volume license key version.  What I do not know is whether or not a Vista Upgrade verison with the retail license would work with my VLK-licensed XP.  Probably, but do I really want to take the chance?

[Pugnate]

Well the thing is that at installation time it has no real way of checking to see if the cd key is valid.

I am probably going to go for Windows Vista, but I am just hoping it dual boots with XP OK.

[scottws]

I wonder how much Jennie's mom can get it for...  I know she was able to get Jennie's sister Office 2003 Professional for $60.

[Pugnate]

How is she able to get discounts?

[scottws]

Ummm she is a Microsoft salesperson.

[gpw11]

*cough*hook me up with office 2007 *cough*

[gpw11]

Oh, and can you dual boot and have the two installations share a partition with, say, all your game and media files and stuff on them? 

I mean, ideally I'd like to dual boot OSX86 and XP on my next system, but if I could get OSX86 and Vista going as two seperate partitions and then have a small partition with XP that has access to a lot of my Vista files that could work pretty well as a fall back if I run into any early vista compatibility problems with certain programs.

[scottws]

I am sure you can.  I don't know if the two Windows will automount the other partitions, but I would think probably and if not I'm sure you could get it to work.

Edit:  Actually, that's not totally correct.  Data will be fine:  music files, images, movies, documents, spreadsheets, etc.  But programs would need to be installed on both Windows installations so that the registry would be populated with the program information.

[iPPi]

*cough*hook me up with office 2007 *cough*

Office 2007 is fucking awesome.

[gpw11]

Yeah, data is my primary concern.

[scottws]

Yeah, data is my primary concern.

Yeah, shouldn't be an issue at all.  You should be fine. 

Hell, my music folder in my Ubuntu installation is just a link to the Windows Shared Music folder.  If you can do that between Linux and Windows, you can bet you can do it between Windows and Windows.  If you end up having trouble, post about it and I'll help you figure it out.

[ScaryTooth]

Think I might go with the OEM from newegg at some point when I have the money.

Bam!

Not sure how activation and all that shit works in Vista. Hopefully, if you build a new system with a new mobo, and such, you won't have to buy another copy.

[iPPi]

I should have gotten the Media Center Edition of XP for my laptop to get Vista Home Premium.  Instead, I went with XP Pro (dunno why I did in retrospect), and I get Vista Business.  Oh well.

[scottws]

Not sure how activation and all that shit works in Vista. Hopefully, if you build a new system with a new mobo, and such, you won't have to buy another copy.

I think Vista's EULA is much more clear about what is considered the computer.  I believe they consider the motherboard to be the computer.  So you probably can't switch motherboards with the OEM copy, though there might be an exemption in the case of failure, but even then I would think they would require you to replace it with the same motherboard.

I also know that even the retail license is much more restrictive now.  You can only install Windows Vista on two different computers ever (one at a time).  Then it's done.  Previously the retail license didn't restrict how many machines you migrated the Windows OS to.  Some guy named Paul Thurrott argues otherwise, but this guy is a moron.

[Pugnate]

Think I might go with the OEM from newegg at some point when I have the money.

Bam!

Not sure how activation and all that shit works in Vista. Hopefully, if you build a new system with a new mobo, and such, you won't have to buy another copy.

I was thinking of going OEM as well, but the problem is that an OEM seems to be limited in the number of installs when you upgrade your machine.

The upgrade edition shouldn't have an issue, but I am just worried if it is going to be the exact same thing as the regular edition.

[scottws]

As said previously (sort of), the full install version and the upgrade version is the same except the upgrade version asks you to prove that you previously purchased another version of Windows.

There is no other difference.

[ScaryTooth]

I've been reading, I guess with the OEM version, you can't upgrade at all. Not even a video card, which is really shitty.

So retail it is. Now, should I got 32-bit, or 64-bit? I'm thinking 64-bit is probably a driver nightmare.

[Pugnate]

64 bit isn't a good idea, because a lot of software won't run as well. Oh and the upgrade version won't allow you a clean install.

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5887

This obviously sucks.

[MysterD]

I've been reading, I guess with the OEM version, you can't upgrade at all. Not even a video card, which is really shitty.

That bites!!!

[ren]

As said previously (sort of), the full install version and the upgrade version is the same except the upgrade version asks you to prove that you previously purchased another version of Windows.

There is no other difference.

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5887

This site goes against what you're saying. It says it doesn't just check for the disc, it checks the previous Windows install.

[Xessive]

Man, this whole business with Vista is becoming too complicated for me to ever bother with Vista at all. If Microsoft make owning Vista too much trouble (i.e. can't customize/upgrade my hardware conveniently) I may just switch to something else altogether, probably Apple.

Here's a link to Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Ultimate for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM @ Newegg.com. This seems like the best option for people like me (emphasis on System Builders).

[ScaryTooth]

Maybe you can reinstall it after you build a new system

It's still not extremely clear though. If I can reinstall it after I upgrade or whatever, thats fine. I just may buy the OEM.

I'm still not sure about it though. Do I go 32-bit, or 64-bit? Worried about driver problems. I hear Vista pretty much breaks EAX if you have a soundblaster audigy card, like myself.

It's still really tempting though. And I mean, everyone is going to have to upgrade sooner or later. Driver support for XP will start vanishing, XP will start toget fazed out. Might be smart to wait a few months, huh?

[Jedi]

Man, this whole business with Vista is becoming too complicated for me to ever bother with Vista at all. If Microsoft make owning Vista too much trouble (i.e. can't customize/upgrade my hardware conveniently) I may just switch to something else altogether, probably Apple.

Here's a link to Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Ultimate for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM @ Newegg.com. This seems like the best option for people like me (emphasis on System Builders).

It's not that complicated, it's no more complicated than it is with XP. yeah there's more product versons but you'll be looking at either Premium - either a full copy or an upgrade, or if you’ve the money got for ultimate. Done.
As for this matter of using an upgrade CD to do a fresh install I’ve never seen this work. With every new OS that comes out this always comes up, and I’ve tried it with an ME upgrade (don't ask it wasn't my machine) and it didn’t do jack just like every other time someone else has tried it with any other upgrade. I’ve never seen this happen.

And Driver support of XP wont fade any time soon either, there's really no hurry to upgrade other than the importance that you yourself place upon it. Let the OS hit the streets and see what comes of it, there might be a shit storm waiting when the dust settles or there might not be but there's no harm in taking your time in upgrading.

[scottws]

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5887

This site goes against what you're saying. It says it doesn't just check for the disc, it checks the previous Windows install.

I was basing my quote off of every previous release of Windows ever.  I didn't realize they changed that for Vista, so I apologize.

[ren]

I'm confused with the 32/64 bit thing as well. Which one is the one to buy?

[scottws]

As for this matter of using an upgrade CD to do a fresh install I’ve never seen this work. With every new OS that comes out this always comes up, and I’ve tried it with an ME upgrade (don't ask it wasn't my machine) and it didn’t do jack just like every other time someone else has tried it with any other upgrade. I’ve never seen this happen.

I did it myself just six months ago on Jennie's mom's computer.  Windows XP Home, upgrade version.  All I did was insert her copy of Windows ME that came with her Dell.  It works.

[Jedi]

I did it myself just six months ago on Jennie's mom's computer.  Windows XP Home, upgrade version.  All I did was insert her copy of Windows ME that came with her Dell.  It works.

hmm I say hmm....

[Pugnate]

I was basing my quote off of every previous release of Windows ever.  I didn't realize they changed that for Vista, so I apologize.

No lol you don't have to apologize. This is what we all assumed after our experiences with the upgrade editions of the past. In fact before this particular news, every tech junkie on the internet said the same thing. I think they brought about this change because they will be able to check the authenticity of the first copy if it is installed first.

I'm confused with the 32/64 bit thing as well. Which one is the one to buy?

I asked the same question. Everyone says it is much better to go for 32 bit because 64 bit compatibility hasn't been refined yet and probably won't be for a while.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=33&threadid=1994820

Man, this whole business with Vista is becoming too complicated for me to ever bother with Vista at all. If Microsoft make owning Vista too much trouble (i.e. can't customize/upgrade my hardware conveniently) I may just switch to something else altogether, probably Apple.

Here's a link to Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Ultimate for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM @ Newegg.com. This seems like the best option for people like me (emphasis on System Builders).

BLASPHEMY!

It is worse coming from you haha. No I don't think it is complicated. I'd suggest the upgrade edition still since most of us have a legal copy of Windows anyway.