[Jason Dunn]

http://www.windowsitpro.com/windows...rott_47665.html

"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."

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.

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.

[Jason Dunn]

http://www.windowsitpro.com/windows...rott_47665.html

"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."

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.

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.

[Phronetix]

The average family won't need five copies though. Your set-up excluded of course! :mrgreen:

Jason, any news on the apparent large amounts of video RAM needed to run Vista? I hear 512Mb being needed, or is that sensationalist banter?

For 512Mb I'd wanna be able to lick AND taste the interface.

I'm looking forward to the Vista versus Leopard banter. The five editions seems a bit ambitious for a product delayed literally six or seven times. I suppose the Vista Lite versions may be taylored to older hardware. It would suck to get a new system this Xmas then find out you have to upgrade the v-card just to be able to use the new OS.

[ctmagnus]

I've heard that current high-end video cards (ie, 128 MB video RAM) should be able to handle it. But I haven't done too much research into the issue.

[saru83]

7 Editions?!!? kinda weird, but its a good indication that they r trying to satisfy consumer needs. I’ll go for the Ultimate :wink:

[ADBrown]

Ten bucks says that their "DVD ripping" feature actually means "copy to low-quality, DRMed, encrypted up the *** WMV file that self-destructs after one viewing."

In any event, I'm not buying. It took me years to find a Microsoft OS that works: I'm never giving up XP. Besides which, the prices and hardware requirement involved are absolutely scandelous. Microsoft's just trying to jumpstart PC upgrades so that they can start shipping OSes again.

[Andy Whiteford]

Current vid cards will be fine, there is a very rich UI on offer but it is very customisable and you can turn off the majority of effects to assist with performance.

[mr_Ray]

7 editions sounds a lot, but it's not really.

Starter edition - only sold in emerging price-is-of-utmost-importance markets such as China. So we're down to 6.

Then halve that - 3 each for home and business.

Business - the basic level one will do for the basic desktops. The small business version includes several technologies that in a larger organisation would be dealth with seperately - eg volume shadow copy, backups, etc. For the workstation class there's the Enterprise Edition including things like hardware virtualisation, etc. Nice clear distinctions.

Home again has 3 classes - basic for low cost, premium that includes all the great media-centric and tablet-PC stuff. Ultimate is for the real enthusiast or just plain rich people who want the Home Premium goodies while not giving up on the pro features such as remote desktop, IIS, etc.

Bear in mind that 95%+ of people don't buy an OS, just get a PC with one included, and there's really not going to be any problems, just more choice.

[gt24]

Here is the thing I don't like... XP Professional already costs quite a bit of money. $229.95 obtains you XP Pro, $199.95 for XP Pro upgrade, or $146.95 for OEM (at your internet Newegg store).

However, at brick and motor stores I have seen Pro go for around $300 and Home for $200. Now we have two versions of Home and an Ultimate edition. Considering all the features Ultimate has (it shall include special music downloads, file downloads, just a ton of other features than the OS), I think the higher version of Home will cost the same as XP Pro leaving Ultimate edition to... REALLY cost a ton.

I suppose we shall see... but the one thing I find the most annoying about a computer is when I try to run some sort of cool utility on XP only to find that XP Home doesn't support it! That is why I like having XP Pro at home...

It would be annoying to have a crippled version of Vista in the future due to the fact that the Uber edition would be insanely priced. Also, consider that Vista will require computer upgrades (IE, new machines for normal users) and I doubt that the version of Windows that comes on those machines will be anything but Vista Home Basic... Sheesh, most likely you would need an Alienware to find an OEM Uber edition...

When all else fails, XP works for me... for now.... I REALLY hope I am still in college when this releases though, so I can get a student discount... :devilboy:

Here is one more thing to think about... the consumer Vistas are what most people want, IE people who are not in a business... yet you NEED a business edition (the Professional edition) to do some critical things...

(source http://neowin.net/comments.php?category=main&id=30353 )

Windows Vista Professional Edition

* Aimed at the business consumer
* Can join domain, has IIS web server
* Akin to XP Pro

Hmmm... this version is similar to XP Pro... this version is the FIRST one that can join a domain? Doesn't this sound like the consumer version will have simple file sharing only, and all those other fun limited networking capabilities? I'm not running a domain but I still find this something interesting to look into. I certainly want to see what I will be missing first!

Windows Vista Home Basic Edition

* Equivalent to XP Home
* Includes firewall, parental controls, Security Center, Movie Maker, Photo Library and more
* For first time buyer / budget conscious

Windows Vista Home Premium Edition

* Everything from Vista Home Basic
* Adds DVD video authoring, HDTV support, DVD ripping support
* Similar to current XP Media Center edition but with added features

Ok... so Home Premium is essentially Home edition with Media Center Edition addons... oh Goodie! I kinda wanted more than those features... but those features will be nice. In leau of something like full control over networking, I'm not as happy though...

Windows Vista Small Business Edition

* Designed for small businesses without IT staff
* Backup and Shadow Copy support, Castle and server-join networking, and PC fax and scanning utility
* Pre-paid access to the Windows Live! Small Business or Microsoft Office Live! subscription services

Ok, it takes Small Business edition TO SEND A FAX? True, I don't need to send faxes from Windows... but for those who like to use that feature.... I bet they will be tickled pink by this fact... Besides, the business edition WON'T have the features of the consumer edition... so no fun media stuff on this branch... Either I have fun, or I work, not both (at least, not until the Uber edition). NOTE that the Uber edition will NOT have Fax capability, since it will only have the features of Professional, NOT Small Business Edition... so I suppose if you really like Faxing that you might need a 3rd party utility...

Windows Vista Ultimate Edition

* "The best operating system ever offered for a personal PC"
* Superset of both Vista Home Premium and Vista Pro Edition
* Podcasting application, Game Performance Tweaker, possible free music/movie downloads

So, in order to game efficiently (IE, have performance tweaks), in order to have nothing disabled (well, have most stuff not disabled...), you need the Uber edition... which as you can tell by the possible free music/movie downloads... this version will cost a TON! I didn't mind, so much, having a Home and Pro edition... although it made technical support annoying. However, as more versions come out, I will still need the top edition... and the top edition will cost a TON more than the previous version's top dog. THAT is what I find annoying and that is what will make me hesistate to upgrade. I will wait for full reviews of the different versions before I make a decision (I certainly won't be the first to dive in) but somehow I think I will find anything other than Uber as a crippled OS...

One last note... the Uber is all the features of the consumer and BUSINESS branch. When have you known a business OS to sell for cheap? True, Professional isn't really a server OS and there isn't really anything like Uber edition... From Newegg, Windows 2003 Web Edition (lowest version) OEM style is $379.95... so it might be an indicator of a worst case scenario here... Uber might push $400, considering that it is a Business and Consumer OS in one with free music and movies to boot, an ultimate operating system that the world has never seen the likes of!! Blah... maybe I'm just not enthused about Vista anymore...

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by Phronetix

The average family won't need five copies though. Your set-up excluded of course! :mrgreen:

Five? No. But two or three? Very possible - and one of them is likely to be a laptop.

Originally Posted by Phronetix

Jason, any news on the apparent large amounts of video RAM needed to run Vista? I hear 512Mb being needed, or is that sensationalist banter?

Pure FUD. To have the maxed out, ultra-cool Aero interface you need a DirectX 9 capable video card with 128 MB of RAM. If you lack a modern video card, in the worst case scenario is that you run with the same graphical UI as you have in XP now. Or you can go back to the retro Windows 9x interface if you wish. It's no different than XP in this regard, there's just more headroom for high-end graphics.

Any computer that can run XP will run Vista with essentially the same user experience - which is why the pricing issue on the OS is important.

[gibson042]

:soapbox:
I am still happily running Windows 2000, because in my opinion all XP really added was some UI bloat—bundling in features that are done better and more efficiently by free/open source software anyway—at the expense of privacy and control of one's computer(s). I will continue to run Windows 2000 until it is no longer viable, at which point I will probably switch over to Gentoo or Ubuntu Linux, or maybe even the x86 version OS X. Certainly not Vista, though... never again will I buy a Microsoft desktop OS. Six crippled versions and one extreme pocketbook-drainer, all of which recommend a new video card and all of which won't play full resolution protected video unless you have a monitor that doesn't even exist yet? No thanks.
:deal: :bangin:

I don't think I'm alone, either. All of the compelling features of Vista have either been removed or postponed or backported (not that they were ever enough to counteract the draconian DRM, but at least there was something interesting going on). People who buy new computers probably won't have a choice, but what incentive does anyone have to upgrade their current system?