Selecting the Right Vista Version

If you haven’t purchased Vista yet - or you’d like to know whether or not it’s worth upgrading to a more-capable version of Vista - this article is for you. A step-by-step procedure leads you through the ins and outs of selecting the right version of Vista for you.

A Quick Overview of All the Versions 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 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 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. We’re showing in Table 1-1 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.

Table 1-1: U.S. List Prices for  Different Vista Versions

Windows  Vista Home Basic
    Windows Vista Home Basic Full $199.00
    Windows Vista Home Basic Full (additional  license only, no disc) $179.00
    Windows Vista Home Basic Upgrade $99.95
    Windows Vista Home Basic Upgrade (additional  license only) $89.95

Windows  Vista Home Premium
    Windows Vista Home Premium Full $239.00
    Windows Vista Home Premium Full (additional  license only) $215.00
    Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade $159.00
    Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade (additional  license only) $143.00

Windows  Vista Business
    Windows Vista Business Full $299.00
    Windows Vista Business Full (additional  license only) $269.00
    Windows Vista Business Upgrade $199.00
    Windows Vista Business Upgrade (additional  license only) $179.00

Windows  Vista Ultimate
    Windows Vista Ultimate Full $399.00
    Windows Vista Ultimate Full (additional  license only) $359.00
    Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade $259.00
    Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade (additional  license only) $233.00

Although not every Vista version correlates exactly with an XP product version, the pricing is in line with XP pricing. For example, XP Home is currently USD $189.00, compared to $199.99 for Vista Home Basic, whereas XP Home Upgrade is $89.97, just two cents off from the Vista Home Basic Upgrade. Upsells won’t be particularly expensive, either: Pricing for the much more capable Vista Home Premium is just $40 to $60 higher than that of Home Basic. Pricing in countries other than the United States will vary, but should adhere to the relative positioning shown in Table 1-1. At this writing, Microsoft’s web site in Canada states that Windows Vista Ultimate will list for CAD $450 in that country, compared with USD $399 in the United States. Those two prices are about the same when currency exchange rates are factored in.

If you’re buying a retail copy of Vista, and you already own a previous version of Windows, such as XP, don’t buy a full version of Vista. Find out what Microsoft’s current requirements are to qualify for an upgrade version, which is much cheaper. To successfully load an upgrade version, you usually must be installing onto a machine that has the old version installed, or you must have the old version on a CD (which you insert briefly during the installation of the new OS as proof). Microsoft can change these requirements at any time, so confirm this before whipping out your plastic.