Vista Versions - Page 1

Today Microsoft has officially released its latest and greatest operating system yet, Windows Vista. The new OS promises to help you get what you want done quicker, and more easily, as well as being far more secure than previous versions (it's also shinier than ever!). Today I had intended to release an article discussing all the ins and outs of Vista, the features that have been added, the features that have been lost, and how the OS performs in real world scenarios. However, owing to the colossal size of the project, and due to prior commitments, I have been unable to finish it for today. Bugger.

Instead I have decided to publish just the 'Vista Versions' chapter for now as a mini-article, particularly since this is the information that a number of people have been asking me about over the last week or so. At any rate, enjoy!

With Windows XP, initially things were simple; there was a 'Home Edition' for home users, and a 'Professional Edition' with extra networking features for business users to utilize. As the years have gone by, extra members have been added to the XP family of operating systems; XP Media Center Edition (as the name would suggest, this version is focused more for the 'living room'), XP Tablet PC Edition (essentially the same as 'normal XP', but with added features that allow a pen/touch screen to be used rather than a keyboard/mouse), and XP Professional x64 (the same feature set as XP SP2, but designed to run 64-bit, as well as 32-bit code, making use of the 64-bit extensions available on newer processors).

For Vista, Microsoft has split the operating system up into even more versions, and if you count the 'N' & 'K' versions (editions without Media Player/Movie Maker installed by default), as well as the 64-bit editions of each, there will be over 15 variations of Vista available. This may sound like a confusing thing to do, but it's actually a wise move, both for the benefit of consumers, and for Microsoft. Consumers have more choice, allowing them to pick something that has the features which meet his or her needs more accurately (this should also see less users buying the top-end version of the OS just to get an extra one or two features, which should save the user money).

Microsoft has designed the Vista installation DVD to allow the installation of almost any version of Vista, depending upon the product key supplied during setup. This means that there's no additional cost involved for offering all of these extra versions (unlike with XP, which requires a different installation disc for every version). This allows Microsoft to offer a large variety of products for every niche in the market, while at the same time saving on production costs - very clever!

The editions of Vista can be broken down as follows:

• Windows Vista Starter (32-bit only)
• Windows Home Basic (with a 32-bit, an x64 version, and 'N' editions of each)
• Windows Vista Home Premium (with a 32-bit, and an x64 version)
• Windows Vista Business (with a 32-bit, an x64 version, and 'N' editions of each)
• Windows Vista Enterprise (with a 32-bit, and an x64 version)
• Windows Vista Ultimate (with a 32-bit, and an x64 version)

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Article Navigation:

• Introduction
• A Flavour of Vista for Everyone
• Windows Vista Starter
• Windows Vista Home Basic
• Windows Vista Home Premium
• Windows Vista Business
• Windows Vista Ultimate