Windows Vista Version Information Released

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.windowsitpro.com/windowspaulthurrott/Article/ArticleID/47665/windowspaulthurrott_47665.html' target='_blank'>http://www.windowsitpro.com/windowspaulthurrott/Article/ArticleID/47665/windowspaulthurrott_47665.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Two days before the start of Professional Developers Conference (PDC) 2005, I've received exclusive insider information about the product editions, or SKUs, which Microsoft intends to create for Windows Vista (codenamed Longhorn). While the exact breakdown of the Windows Vista editions has been the subject of much speculation, this list closely matches the editions list I first published on the SuperSite for Windows last year. Here's how the Windows Vista product editions break down. There will be two general categories of Windows Vista editions, which map closely to the two that exist today for XP ("Home," which comprises Starter, Home, and Media Center Editions, Pro, which includes Professional, Professional x64, and Tablet PC Editions). In Windows Vista, the two categories are Home and Business. In the Home category, Microsoft will create four product editions: Windows Vista Starter Edition, Windows Vista Home Basic Edition, Windows Vista Home Premium Edition, and Windows Vista Ultimate Edition (previously known as "Uber" Edition). In the Business category, there will are three editions: Windows Vista Small Business Edition, Windows Vista Professional Edition, and Windows Vista Enterprise Edition. In all, there are 7 product editions planned for Windows Vista."</i><br /><br />That's a whole lotta' Vista! 8O Windows Vista Home Premium Edition sounds like it would be the best for most people, then I noticed that it was missing Remote Desktop, which I use a fair bit. So, unsurprisingly, the Ultimate Edition is what I'll likely go for. I'll be curious to see how the price points work, especially in relation to multiple licenses in the home. If Microsoft doesn't come up with a plan similar to Apple's "five home licenses for $199 USD" offering, I predict Vista will have a very hard time getting into homes that are already running XP on multiple computers. It's just too expensive to ask the average family to drop $800 on getting five new copies of Vista.<br /><br />I found the inclusion of "DVD ripping" in the Vista Home Premium Edition downright shocking - how can they possibly get past the DCMA which states that any software that cracks the DeCSS encryption on DVDs is illegal? Has Microsoft found some loophole, or have they managed to come to some agreement with the major movie studios? Even if they did, surely they can't flaunt the law as it stands on the books now. This is fantastic news if true, because it would allow consumers to get content from their DVDs onto their video players. I've tried many different DVD rippers, and they've all been too esoteric and/or unreliable for me to use regularly.

[RenesisX]

I remember an early version of Windows Media Player 9 that had a DVD Ripping tab in it, but it disappeared before final release, so it's an idea they've been playing with for some time.

Not having that feature basically killed their Portable Media Center concept as there was no way to copy any films onto it from DVD, and of course, there are almost zero decent films available for purchase online.

[Jeremy Charette]

Well, the makers of DVD to Pocket PC haven't been sued under the DMCA either...

[Jason Dunn]

Well, the makers of DVD to Pocket PC haven't been sued under the DMCA either...

They're not in the USA - they're in Australia I believe, or SE Asia. The only retail ripper, "DVD 123" (?), had to pull their product from the shelves and release a new version that would only copy non-encrypted DVDs once the DCMA was signed into a law. There are all sorts of DVD rippers out there, none are made/sold by people based in the USA.

[Phoenix]

Seven product variations? :roll:

I like Microsoft and what they offer, but this is ridiculous. They should have one client OS for the home and one for the enterprise and that's it. This is only going to confuse people and make things more difficult for those who make a living at supporting the platforms.

But I am interested in seeing the final product and all that it will offer.

[mar2k]

Something tells me the so-called Ultimate edition might cost more than some complete systems. Let's hope not.

I suspect most people around here will go for Home Premium though. It will be interesting to see what happens if Media Center is part of the standard OS......

[Felix Torres]

I found the inclusion of "DVD ripping" in the Vista Home Premium Edition downright shocking - how can they possibly get past the DCMA which states that any software that cracks the DeCSS encryption on DVDs is illegal? Has Microsoft found some loophole, or have they managed to come to some agreement with the major movie studios?


I'm curious to see what kind of deal they cooked up to make this possible. Best guess is that, unlike CDs, which WMP lets you rip into unprotected files, DVDs will only be ripped into copy-protected WMV/MS-PVR formats. The idea is to let you store content on your home server for streaming around the house, on your laptop for travel viewing, and on your portable media center. They'll most likely have some tight restrictions on where the files will play so its almost certain they'll only play on the machine they were ripped on.

As for the DMCA, I don't think it applies; the key point is that this would be *authorized* ripping. Remember, what makes rippers illegal is that they use an *unathorized* key to access the encoded stream. Any MS ripper would have legal keys to work with so they're home free.

As for the multiple versions, all they're doing is lining up the packages with the customer bases and the kinds of PCs they buy; no sense and putting an OS for a $2000 extreme gamer PC on a $299 e-mail-and-surfing Wal-Mart special, after all.

1- Starter edition is for emerging markets to try to limit piracy
2- Home Basic is the grandparent's edition; e-mail, surfing the web and print shop, light word processing.
3- Home Premium is for folks with home networks
4- Ultimate is for eXtreme edition PCs, hence the heavy gaming focus
5- the Business editions are to take care of the three basic corporate markets: small business, general purpose corporate desktops, and corporate executive. The fact that the decision-makers in the corporate market get their own edition is the real smart move here.

For us techies, there are really only three versions to consider: Premium, Professional, and ultimate. And most likely we'll pay the extra $50 to get the ultimate. :-)

I'm sure we'll see more on how the versions differentiate and the pricing as we get closer to the 06 release. Like, today there is more news filtering out of the conference: Stuff like Movie Maker HD, DVD-authoring, cablecard support, 3-d games, software-based extender functionality, built-in virtual PC sessions in the corporate versions, etc.

But frankly, all I want to know is how the DVD ripping is going to be implemented, what restrictions it'll have, and what kind of hardware it'll need. (Big-time high end no doubt.) I'm sure the hardware vendors *want* to see this. ;-)

[kiwi]

[quote=Jeremy Charette] There are all sorts of DVD rippers out there, none are made/sold by people based in the USA.

I miss DVD Decrypter :-( and I heard the guy who did shrink DVD is now workin gon the Nero product?

[Felix Torres]

Thurott has a pair of charts on his Windows Supersite that claries the version differences and feature sets.
Worth a look.

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_editions.asp

[Damion Chaplin]

Well, the makers of DVD to Pocket PC haven't been sued under the DMCA either...

They're not in the USA - they're in Australia I believe, or SE Asia. The only retail ripper, "DVD 123" (?), had to pull their product from the shelves and release a new version that would only copy non-encrypted DVDs once the DCMA was signed into a law. There are all sorts of DVD rippers out there, none are made/sold by people based in the USA.

I think you're referring to DVD X Copy, by 123 Studios. Personally, I think they always knew they were gonna get the plug yanked since DVD X Copy Platinum is version 1.2.3 (get it, 123 studios?). With a version number like that, it sounds like they weren't planning on releasing any more versions anyway.

Now... Back on topic! :evil:

[Phronetix]

I wonder if MS will be selling upgrades from one SKU to another with more features?

Is there any truth to what is being reported about the huge VRAM requirements of Vista? That 256 MB may be enough but 512 will likely be the practical minimum. 8O

If this is true then I believe MS may be walking into a self-imposed trap, with very few people able to make the upgrade, but rather they'd have to buy new hardware. I'm looking forward to the Vista vs. Leopard banter as the release date approaches.

[Jason Dunn]

Is there any truth to what is being reported about the huge VRAM requirements of Vista? That 256 MB may be enough but 512 will likely be the practical minimum. 8O

Read the discussion over at Pocket PC Thoughts for answers to this:

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=364702

[Phronetix]

Is there any truth to what is being reported about the huge VRAM requirements of Vista? That 256 MB may be enough but 512 will likely be the practical minimum. 8O

Read the discussion over at Pocket PC Thoughts for answers to this:

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=364702

Thanks Jason.
:oops:
Oh man, that's the post I'd responded to in the first place! I saw this one on DMT and just assumed I'd forgotten to press submit. Either that or had merely dreamed about posting to it. Worse still was the fact that I couldn't recall the joke I made in the first post, so I had to think of something new. ;-)

Herein lies a problem with getting the news from all the ThoughtsMedia sites in one RSS feed... I don't really pay attention to which site it is. :P