The Seven Editions of Vista

aidan_walsh

... and thats before the EU pipe in and start looking for N Editions.

Vista is going to be available in the following flavours:

* Starter Edition
* Home Basic Edition
* Home Premium Edition
* Professional Edition
* Small Business Edition
* Enterprise Edition
* Ultimate Edition

The sparse few details that are available are here.

Now then, how many of these are actually going to sell, I wonder? I don't see Starter Edition being the OEM version of choice, so we can pretty much expect very low sales on that. Joe Public won't be doing any research on which version suits him, he just wants a computer that works, and the companies won't want to sell a machine that has people phoning them wondering why such and such doesn't work out of the box. Home Premium is looking reminiscent to todays XP Home, so thats probably going to the typical preinstalled copy. The lines are looking a little more blurred in the higher up editions. Most people in the know will probably head straight for Ultimate Edition, and forego the rest. So, will it be another two horse race, but with more "competition" on the field this time out?

the_syco

My take on it:

* Starter Edition -
* Home Basic Edition - XP Home
* Home Premium Edition - XP Home + Office
* Professional Edition - XP Pro
* Small Business Edition - XP Pro + Office
* Enterprise Edition - Server
* Ultimate Edition - For Linux users

Laguna

Well i'd take the cheapest on the list with IIS/PWS on it (if I buy another edition of smelly windows that is). Ultimate edition.. pfff.. is that the edition that comes with the code actually written properly?

aidan_walsh

Windows IT Pro has a much better breakdown of whats going to be in each.

Windows Vista Starter Edition: Aimed at beginner computer users in emerging markets who can only afford a low cost PC. As with the XP version, Windows Vista Starter Edition is a subset of Home Edition, and will ship in a 32-bit version only (no 64-bit x64 version). Starter Edition will allow only three applications (and/or three windows) to run simultaneously, will provide Internet connectivity but not incoming network communications, and will not provide for logon passwords or Fast User Switching (FUS). Windows Vista Starter Edition is analogous to XP Starter Edition. This version will only be sold in emerging markets.

Windows Vista Home Basic Edition: A simple version of Windows Vista that is aimed at single PC homes. Windows Vista Home Basic is the baseline version of Windows Vista, and the version that all other product editions will build from. It will include features such as Windows Firewall, Windows Security Center, secure wireless networking, parental controls, anti-spam/anti-virus/anti-spyware functionality, network map, Windows Search, the Aero user interface, Movie Maker, Photo Library, Windows Media Player, Outlook Express with RSS support, P2P Messenger, and more. Windows Vista Home Basic Edition is roughly analogous to Windows XP Home Edition. This version is aimed at general consumers, Windows 9x/XP Starter Edition upgraders, and price sensitive/first-time buyers.

Windows Vista Home Premium Edition: Whole home entertainment and personal productivity throughout the home and on the go. As a true superset of Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium Edition will include everything from Home Basic, as well as Media Center and Media Center Extender functionality (including Cable Card support), DVD video authoring and HDTV support, DVD ripping support (yes, you read that right), Tablet PC functionality, Mobility Center and other mobility and presentation features, auxiliary display support, P2P ad-hoc meeting capabilities, Wi-Fi auto-config and roaming, unified parental controls that work over multiple PCs, backup to network functionality, Internet File Sharing, Offline Folders, PC-to-PC sync, Sync Manager, and support for Quattro Home Server. Windows Vista Premium Edition is similar to XP Media Center Edition, except that it adds numerous other features and functionality, including Tablet PC support. My guess is that this will be the volume consumer offering in the Windows Vista timeframe (today, XP Pro is the dominant seller). This version is aimed at PC enthusiasts, multiple-PC homes, homes with kids, and notebook users.

Windows Vista Professional Edition: A powerful, reliable and secure OS for businesses of all sizes. Windows Vista Pro Edition will include domain join and management functionality, compatibility with non-Microsoft networking protocols (Netware, SNMP, etc.), Remote Desktop, IIS Web server, and Encrypted File System (EFS). Additionally, Pro Standard will include Tablet PC functionality. Windows Vista Pro is roughly analogous to XP Pro today. This version is aimed at business decision makers and IT managers and generalists.

Windows Vista Small Business Edition: Designed for small businesses without IT staff. Small Business Edition is a superset of Vista Pro Standard Edition, and includes the following unique features: Backup and Shadow Copy support, Castle and server-join networking, and PC fax and scanning utility. Additionally, Microsoft is looking at including a number of other features, many of which might be cut: These include Small Business Edition guided tour, pre-paid access to the Windows Live! Small Business or Microsoft Office Live! subscription services, Multi-PC Health (a managed version of Microsoft One Care Live), and membership in the Microsoft Small Business Club online service. Microsoft will offer a Step-Up program for Small Business Edition that will allow customers to upgrade to Windows Vista Enterprise Edition (see below) or Windows Vista Ultimate Edition (see below) at a reduced cost. This SKU is new to Windows Vista; there is no XP Small Business Edition. This version is aimed at small business owners and managers.

Windows Vista Enterprise Edition: Optimized for the enterprise, this version will be a true superset of Windows Vista Pro Edition. It will also include unique features such as Virtual PC, the multi-language user interface (MUI), and the Secure Startup/full volume encryption security technologies ("Cornerstone"). There is no analogous XP version for this product. This version is aimed at business decision makers, IT managers and decision makers, and information workers/general business users.

Windows Vista Ultimate Edition: The best operating system ever offered for a personal PC, optimized for the individual. Windows Vista Ultimate Edition is a superset of both Vista Home Premium and Vista Pro Edition, so it includes all of the features of both of those product versions, plus adds Game Performance Tweaker with integrated gaming experiences, a Podcast creation utility (under consideration, may be cut from product), and online "Club" services (exclusive access to music, movies, services and preferred customer care) and other offerings (also under consideration, may be cut from product). Microsoft is still investigating how to position its most impressive Windows release yet, and is looking into offering Ultimate Edition owners such services as extended A1 subscriptions, free music downloads, free movie downloads, Online Spotlight and entertainment software, preferred product support, and custom themes. There is nothing like Vista Ultimate Edition today. This version is aimed at high-end PC users and technology influencers, gamers, digital media enthusiasts, and students.

Peteee

Seven shades of ****

OctavarIan

Peteee wrote:

Seven shades of ****

I hear ye.

Fenster

Windows Vista Ultimate Edition: The best operating system ever offered for a personal PC, optimized for the individual.

Windows Gentoo Linux???

KeRbDoG

Anyone try the latest beta of Windows Longhorn? I just tried it and considering it was beta was looking good. The beta version i just tired was the "Ultimate Edition." Currently a good skin on windowsXP would look as good
One thing i did like was Internet Explorer 7 beta. Getting more like Mozilla everyday (now uses tabs!)

wes

Will stick with OS X and Linux...

I think there are too many editions there and the home user will be better off with the Ultimate Edition.

KeRbDoG

wes wrote:

Will stick with OS X and Linux...

I think there are too many editions there and the home user will be better off with the Ultimate Edition.

Im still confused why people like OS-X... Linux with a cute and cuddley (and most times annoying/slow) GUI.

aidan_walsh

wes wrote:

Will stick with OS X and Linux...

I think there are too many editions there and the home user will be better off with the Ultimate Edition.

7 editions of Windows is too many? When looking at Linux you have to pick from about 1x10^25 different versions...

Laguna

kerbdog wrote:

Im still confused why people like OS-X... Linux with a cute and cuddley (and most times annoying/slow) GUI.

Well this person likes it as it's far more reliable and intuitive than Windows. I don't think the GUI is that bad, I'm more irritated by Ubuntu Linux's GUI to be honest.

chump

I think one of the stand out features on windows is that it's intuitive... isn't that why it became so popular in the 1st place?

RE*AC*TOR

I'm more confused by why people with OSX use linux at all. BSD not good enough?

Capt'n Midnight

Will they release the different processor versions together like they used to do for NT4 ( mips/ppc/alpha/i386) or will i386/64 bit/itanium be different products ?

For the non-OEM versions having a transferrable license from 32 bit to 64 bit would be nice, or rather essential since the chances of upgrading a 64bit PC would be fairly high during the lifetime of this product.
For OEM it's a non-issue of course.

rogue-entity

I think there are too many editions there and the home user will be better off with the Ultimate Edition.

No, the average home user will be better off with the Home Basic edition actualy. All most home users want to do is browse the web with internet explorer, check there emails in outlook express, let there children play computer games and type up the odd word doc in Word. More tech-friendly home users will probably opt for Home Premium for its Media Center capabilities. Likewise myself, and users-in-the-know will go for the ultimate edition.

It has been said that XPs greatist failing was that it was a "business OS". I never believed that, XP, for all its security problems, was a hell of a lot nicer to use then all the previous ones, and to be fair to microsoft, it was a MASSIVE improvement over 9x!

I think one of the stand out features on windows is that it's intuitive... isn't that why it became so popular in the 1st place?

Windows has many useful features, some I like, some I dont. When Linux distros "port" some of the better windows features over, and speedup booting of there "desktop" editions we will be on a road to more linux desktops being used in our corner of the world.

I am looking forward to Vista Beta 2, which should be up for a download, and should (hopefuly) run on my aging PC.

LFCFan

where can you get Beta versions of Vista? Do you have to a be a registered Beta tester and if so how do you sign up for that?

aidan_walsh

Buy an MSDN subscription.

Capt'n Midnight

more rumours
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/21/windows_vista_leak/

The Windows Vista family will feature three editions targeting consumers, three for business users, a basic edition (called Windows Starter 2007) that will probably target small and medium businesses and specific deployment scenarios, and Windows Vista Ultimate that combines features from the home and business editions.

Standard Toaster

http://www.shoutwire.com/viewstory/5249/It_s_official_8_different_flavors_of_Windows_Vista

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.

The starter edition sounds like a waste of time....only three applications/windows are allowed to run simultaneously!!!
Is one of these the server edtion?
I guess the Ultimate edition will be the most pirated.

sceptre

The_Edge wrote:

The starter edition sounds like a waste of time....only three applications/windows are allowed to run simultaneously!!!

XP Starter edition was launched in late-2004 for use on old hardware in markets like Thailand, Malaysia, India and Russia. It wasn't sold anywhere else and wasn't licensed to be used anywhere else. While both the Register and Shoutwire appear to think Microsoft will be aiming Vista Starter edition at basic users or SMEs, I'd be surprised if they sold it outside the poor countries they've already exclusively sold its predecessor in.

Rambo

were is the Windows FREE edition

Laguna

Anyone have a rough figure on how much the ultimate edition will cost?

Capt'n Midnight

Laguna wrote:

Anyone have a rough figure on how much the ultimate edition will cost?

Which version ?
OEM or Retail or Upgrade or Volume License ?
And do you want software assurance with that too ?

I HATE the complexities of windows licensing and pricing.

BopNiblets

That Aero thing isn't really new, ceck out SphereXP:
http://www.spheresite.com/screenshots.html

Cryos

BopNiblets wrote:

That Aero thing isn't really new, ceck out SphereXP:
http://www.spheresite.com/screenshots.html

Where do you think Aero Came from mate ? where were you with the longhorn builds ?

There is conflicting information everywhere lads, firstly afaik from working in the industry is that there will be 3 versions, a base, standard and pro none of that 7 flavours carp.

projectmayhem

tbh i couldn't give a rats ass about vista. i just want dx10

will many of you actually buy vista on launch?

aidan_walsh

I will, though I think I'll run it under a virtual machine for a couple of months first. That way I get the ability to work on it as a development platform, as well as sit out the initial hoo-hah.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Laguna wrote:

Anyone have a rough figure on how much the ultimate edition will cost?

1 soul

aidan_walsh

Well, it appears that 6 is the final number. Business, Enterprise, Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate and Starter.

LFCFan

aidan_walsh wrote:

Well, it appears that 6 is the final number. Business, Enterprise, Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate and Starter.

it's actually 5, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise and Ultimate. Be interesting to see the pricing of these.