It seems like Windows Vista has a lot more versions than Microsoft has ever offered before. But that isn’t quite true. The Redmond company years ago split Windows XP into almost as many versions as we have today with Vista. You may occasionally hear Vista’s versions referred to as SKUs. This term stands for Stock Keeping Unit. We’ll use the more common terms version and product version throughout this article instead. Here’s a review of the major Windows XP versions (roughly in order of increasing power), which we’ll compare with Vista’s versions:

1. Windows XP Starter Edition (less-developed countries only)

2. Windows XP Home Edition N (European Union only)

3. Windows XP Home Edition

4. Windows XP Media Center Edition

5. Windows XP Tablet Edition

6. Windows XP Professional Edition N (European Union only)

7. Windows XP Professional Edition

8. Windows XP Professional x64 Edition As we’ll explain later, you may not have heard much about Windows XP Starter Edition because it was only preinstalled on PCs in emerging countries to offer a lower price point. The N editions (which do not include Windows Media Player) were sold only in Europe to satisfy antitrust requirements there. All Windows XP product versions, except Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, were available only in 32-bit versions. All versions of Windows Vista, except Vista Starter, come in 32-bit and 64-bit versions. If we ignore for a moment the differences between 32-bit and 64-bit processing, the Starter edition, and the N editions, Windows Vista can be categorized into as few as five different flavors:

1. Vista Home Basic

2. Vista Home Premium

3. Vista Business

4. Vista Enterprise

5. Vista Ultimate

In a moment, we’ll take you through a simple, step-by-step process that’ll help you decide which version you need (or which version you might want to upgrade to, if you have a less-capable version). First, let’s dispense with Vista Starter, N, and 32-bit versus 64-bit.

If You’re Reading This, You Don’t Need Starter - Windows Vista

Windows Vista Starter is limited to 32-bit processors, supports only the basic Vista user interface, and will address a limited amount of RAM. It’s designed only as a loss leader to get Windows’ pricing down to a level that’s competitive in less-developed countries. Unless you’re buying a PC in one of these countries, you probably won’t hear much more about Vista Starter. And if you are buying such a PC, your computing needs are pretty basic, so it’s unlikely that you’re ready for this article just yet.

The N Editions Aren’t For You, Either in Windows Vista

Whatever Vista versions are being offered in Europe with an N moniker to satisfy the European Union’s antitrust rulings, you also probably won’t need them. The EU in 2004 began requiring Microsoft to offer versions of Windows without the Windows Media Player included. The requirement for a separate version of Windows was intended to enhance competition in the market for media players, such as the downloadable RealPlayer application. Microsoft has (as of this writing) always sold its N versions for the same price as its fullfeatured Windows, so demand for the N versions never materialized. Until there’s a big price difference, consumers will continue to interpret N to mean not interested.

If Your PC Is 64-Bit Ready, Run 64-Bit Vista

The differences between 32-bit Vista (usually referred to as the x86 version in honor of the 32-bit architecture of Intel’s 80386, 80486, and Pentium processors) and 64-bit Vista are more complex. The good news is that, if you’re buying a new PC with Vista preinstalled, it will probably come with 32-bit or 64-bit processing already enabled, depending on the chipset that powers your machine. Any new 64-bit PC that’s sold with Vista preinstalled will almost certainly come from the factory with 64-bit drivers and anything else that might be needed to support 64-bit processing. Since this is a article on selecting from among the five primary versions of Vista, we’ll leave a full discussion of 32-bit versus 64-bit for another day.

A Few Simple Questions to Determine the Best Vista Version for You

If you’re trying to decide which version of Windows Vista to buy for the first time, simply step through the following Q and A:

1. Will your PCs need to log on to an in-house network server? a. If not, and your PCs will only need (at most) to access each other’s files and printers via peer-to-peer networking, you only need a Home version of Vista. Go to Question 2. b. If your PCs need to log on to a network domain, you need a non-Home version. Go to Question 3.

2. (To determine which Home version): Do you have a tablet PC, do you want to burn DVDs, or do you want to record and playback video content with Windows Media Center? a. If not, you can get by with Vista Home Edition. b. If you need any of the above features, you need Vista Home Premium.

3. (To determine which non-Home version): Does your company have a Volume Licensing deal with Microsoft? a. If yes, get Vista Enterprise, which enables you to create a centralized installation routine for Vista. b. If not, get Vista Business, which is available at retail and has most of the features of Vista Enterprise (as described later in this article).

4. (To determine whether you need Vista Ultimate): Do you need some features that are found only in Home Premium and some other features that are found only in the Business or Enterprise versions of Vista?

a. If you need, for example, Windows Media Player (which is available only in Home Premium) and BitLocker drive encryption (only in Enterprise), get Vista Ultimate.

b. If you don’t need such a comprehensive mix of features, save your money and buy a version of Vista that’s cheaper than Vista Ultimate. Prices for the various versions of Vista can change at any time, and the list prices we show in this article will surely be discounted online. Before you select a version of Vista to buy, enter the search term windows vista into a price-comparison engine such as Shopping.com or PriceGrabber.com. Don’t overspend to get a version of Vista that has features you’ll never need. Your decision on which version to purchase will be influenced by the cost difference of the more capable versions. The U.S. list prices for different Vista versions, even though better prices will certainly become available. The relative positioning of each version, however, is very likely to remain in the order shown here.