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Posts with tag premium

Acer VP trashes Vista Home Basic

Posted Oct 27th 2006 4:16PM by Jordan Running
Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft, Commercial

Acer: Vista Home Basic suxAcer, the world's fourth largest PC manufacturer, says Microsoft is effectively forcing consumers to pay for the pricier Vista Premium because Vista Home Basic isn't any good. "The new [Vista] experience you hear of, if you get Basic, you won't feel it at all," said Acer senior VP Jim Wong, "There's no [Aero] graphics, no Media Center, no remote control." Since PC buyers won't settle for Home Basic, Wong Says, they'll demand Premium, but won't want to pay extra for it. Premium costs manufacturers 10% more than Home Basic, which increases the cost to build a PC by to 1-2%, a significant amount in the low-margin OEM world.

What do you think? Will anybody want Vista Home Basic, or will PC manufacturers be stuck holding the bill? If nobody wants Home Basic, should Microsoft ditch it and lower the price for Premium?
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Microsoft releases Vista upgrade chart, reason surrenders

Posted Jul 31st 2006 12:25PM by David Chartier
Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft

Microsoft Vista upgrade matrix
Microsoft has unveiled a Vista upgrade matrix, detailing which present versions of Windows are eligible for upgrading to one of the four relevant versions of Vista (Starter and Enterprise are targeted for specific markets and therefore not included in this matrix). To make matters a bit complicated, however, some editions (such as XP Pro or Win2K) are only eligible to upgrade to a "corresponding or better" version of Vista, i.e. - Business or Ultimate. As icing on the cake, some ugprades will require a fresh wipe and install, while others can be upgraded 'in-place', retaining your applications and settings.

To be clear, however: all present versions of Windows listed in this chart are eligible to purchase upgrade editions of Windows Vista. Previous versions, such as Win98 and ME, will have to purchase a full edition of Vista.
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AOL to launch AIM Pro for corporations

Posted Jul 19th 2006 2:45PM by Jordan Running
Filed under: Internet, Commercial, Freeware

AIMAccording to CNet, today AOL (this blog's parent company) will launch AIM Pro, a new version of its instant messaging product aimed (no pun intended) at corporate users. AIM Pro will be free for anyone to use and will include all of the standard AIM features, plus integration with Microsoft Outlook's calendar and directory features and WebEx's voice, videoconferencing, and collaboration features. It also lets users use their professional email addresses instead of AIM screen names and has built-in SSL encryption. Later on, AOL plans to offer a premium version of AIM pro that includes "an IT management console, logging and regulatory compliance features." Regarding interoperability with other networks, which may be of particular importance to business users, AOL's VP of business services Brian Curry said, "I think we are slowly making our way there...We don't have anything to announce around that right now."
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Four Windows Vista flavors on one DVD

Posted Mar 1st 2006 10:10AM by Jordan Running
Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft, Commercial

Windows Anytime UpgradeAccording to ZDNet's Ed Bott, the retail version of Windows Vista will include four of the OS's six-plus flavors on a single DVD.  The versions included on the DVD will be Vista Business, Home Basic, Home Premium, and Ultimate, and which version gets installed depends on how much the purchaser spends and what product key they use to install Vista. This is a good move on Microsoft's part because it prevents retailers from having to stock four versions of the same product and promises an easy upgrade scenario called Windows Anytime Upgrade. If a user has Vista Home Basic installed and wants to upgrade to Premium, for example, they can just buy a product key for an upgrade fee and install the beefier version of Vista from the disc they already have. Perhaps not so good for Microsoft is the fact that it's going to take hackers a couple weeks, tops, to figure out how to get those upgrades for free. However, Microsoft is used to piracy and has no doubt made ample room for it in its business model, so I doubt we'll see Redmond struggling at the hands of such hackers any time soon.
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Six(ish) versions of Vista, then?

Posted Feb 27th 2006 11:15AM by Jordan Running
Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft, Commercial

The many flavors of Windows VistaFirst they were, and then they weren't, but now BBC News is reporting that, Microsoft has really, officially confirmed that it will be shipping Windows Vista, to quote our own Victor Agreda, Jr., in "a rainbow of flavors." Ready? Start counting:
  • Vista Business
  • Vista Enterprise
  • Vista Home Basic
  • Vista Home Premium
  • Vista Ultimate
  • Vista Starter
You can head over to BBC News for all the deets, but here's the gist: It's pretty much what we've been expecting. Vista Business and Enterprise are pretty much what you'd expect. Home Premium does everything Home Basic does but tosses in the Aero GUI that we've seen in all the screenshots and "will also be able to connect their machine to an Xbox 360 gaming console"--expect it to be the version that ships on most OEM PCs. Vista Ultimate combines the features of all the other versions and, finally, Vista Starter is intended for low-end PCs in developing nations. Additionally there will be "versions made specifically for Europe that, in accordance with an EU mandate, remove the Windows media player," which are analagous to the "N" versions previously rumored. So that adds up to... yep, a rainbow of flavors.
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