Filed under: OS Updates, News, Windows, Microsoft, Commercial
The 8 faces of Windows Vista
by Victor Agreda, Jr. Feb 20th 2006 at 7:00AM
Paul Thurrott confirms
Microsoft is releasing no less than six versions of Windows Vista, eight if you count the EU editions sans Media Player.
It makes my head hurt trying to sort through the differences, but the lineup includes (in order of increasing power):
Windows Starter 2007, Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista
Enterprise, Windows Vista Ultimate. What, no Windows Vista Extreme Edition? Notice the Starter edition doesn't contain
the word Vista. Paul calls Ultimate "The best operating system ever offered for a personal PC, optimized for the
individual." Well that clears things up. You can map the official names with Thurrott's earlier preview, complete with salient
data points. It is true that Windows offers choice for the consumer. You aren't locked into a music player like iTunes,
and you now have 8 flavors of Vista goodness to choose from. But perhaps there is a such a thing as too much choice?
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So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Pete R. said 10:48AM on 2-20-2006
I am not a Windows (Microsoft) basher, lets start there. However, I wonder how memory resource intensive this newest version will be!!?? If its a MAC OS look alike, then its got to have a robust amount of ram to handle all the new widget overhead. We are already running anywhere from 512 to a Gig RAM to make XP respond at an adequate pace. I cant imagine what VISTA is going to be hungry for2Gigs, 2.5!!??
Long story short, there will be the usual installs, followed by patches, followed by service packs...maybe 3 this time, then the sad realization that you need to pump up your system to run it.
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Diddle said 12:29PM on 2-20-2006
Forget talking OS requirements, this article is about the sheer number of varieties which will be available.
I, for one, think it's stupid. You know that they will have it so certain software apps require a certain version of Vista in order to run, which will only confuse and anger the Average Joe computer user who doesn't understand why his new software won't run on his new computer.
I wish they'd just gone with 3 versions - Server, Home / Business, Portable.
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Franklin said 5:07PM on 2-20-2006
Look at it this way: Now Windows has as many confusing versions as there are Linux distros.
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passerby said 1:20AM on 2-21-2006
@3
Its true, try to get your linux box onto a WEP network, definately a research project, but Linux will get there one day. Certain distros (akin to traditional brand names?) are standing out for desktop use like Ubuntu, Suse. But also people are not paying much to get a copy.
There is currently no pricing details for Vista variants, this info is just marketing, to get you ready when its out, so you are informed on which one to choose when its released.
I think if anyone is looking to buy Starter edition they should just try Linux for heavens sake.
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Fabulo said 6:07PM on 2-21-2006
I bet the starter edition does not sell in NA. it sounds like the stripped down version of XP Microsoft crafted for asian distribution (in an attempt at curbing piracy)
It will probably also only run on "lower hardware" in a kind of locked down manner.
Home basic and home premium just sound like xp home and xp media center. However, I can't gather any info from the article about networking. It's hinted that vista home is meant for "on pc households"
All in all, this is too many choices, too many bundles.
This reminds me of the car industry: you want the sunroof, you also need the 6cd changer. Hopefully by the time Vista is out, I'll have switched to Linux and MacOS at home exclusively.
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