News Vista versions officially announced

[WilHarris]

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2006/02...product_names/

[MrWillyWonka]

I was wondering what MS will do about the Media Player thingy with the EU, will the N version just apply to Europe or not? I would want the Ultimate version, as said, for the media center feature, as well as the extra networking features. We already knew there were gonna be different flavours of Vista, but is it just a marketing thing to get people to pay to switch over to different versions when they need it?

Now we just need to know the pricing, my bet is hundreds for the ultimate version.

[Arkuden]

naturally the one with the most appeal will be an arm and a leg for.

[Confused Fishcake]

That is sheer marketing genious, Mr Joe will go to PC World, buy a computer with Vista, find out he then needs a differnet version, rings up high-rate phone lines to work out what to do, find out you can pay £100 to upgrade to a different version, upgrades, then next time he wipes his hard drive (Or "his hard drive crashes" as he would say) he needs to go through hours of finding upgrade codes to re-upgrade. Its going to be a complete nightmare, I'm definately going to wait until games I like will only work on Vista before I switch. ALso until someone has hacked the s**t of it so it is easy (er) to use.

[BioSniper]

As far as I am aware all versions of Vista will ship on the same DVD (yes its DVD only apparently) and depending on what key you enter upon install will depend on what you are allowed to use/what is installed.

Atleast this is the way I am told it currently works for the beta version.

[pman]

I'll probably get it, but by the time I will hopefully I will be on a mac full time running Leapard.

[Risky]

Interesting stuff, particularly the "Windows Starter 2007" which is priced down would be handy for secondary boxes.

As for the "Windows Vista Ultimate" I'm sure it will be stuck in at a fancy price, and most of the purchasers won't really that version in truth, much as now with XP Pro.

Then again I imagine the real big bucks option will be Windows Vista Enterprise as that has some real tech in it.

[atanum141]

thats the dumbest idea ive seen, how confusing is that.

they just make it so hard for thir end market who is "joe bloggs" who dosent know what he/she gets.

[Da Dego]

Actually, I don't think this is so bad at all.

As Risky points out, the basic allows you to get a good stripped version for cheap. When all you're looking for is to power a dumber terminal, I think this is a good idea. Actually, it's about time they started taking the 'thin client' concept to heart.

Really, for Joe Bloggs, Dell will make the decision for him. They'll include Vista Premium or whathaveyou on it, and he'll be fine. No harm, no foul.

The benefit is in corporate customers and enthusiasts, who now have a few different options depending on what they really need to do with it. Run a domain server? Get ultimate. Otherwise, get premium. Need a thin client in the corner for web-hosting, but don't want 'nix? Get starter.

All in all, multiple flavors isn't a bad thing. It's about time MS started tailoring this stuff...after all, the ability to control what things you install is part of the beauty of 'nix and its 15 million distros. Finally, you can have a new, current windows OS without all the bloat if you don't want it.

[kiljoi]

I don't see how this is really big news, or something to get excited over. They did the same thing with Server 2k3. I like the idea myself, it gives you more options. Options are always nice.

[infered101]

What about us gamers. There really isnt one that truly catters fully to us. I would have thought with more and more people playing games more often that they would have made a version for gamers that is basic but has some cool little gaming tricks to boost performance.

Oh and its a good idea and a bad one. Me personally i would rather see a windows media edition as just that a media edition only. Instead of what they look to be making which is media player dumbed into all the other versions. I think they basically just went ok basic now add this and its this add that and its that. They didnt make complete different versions just added onto to make it different. Atleast that is my outlook on the situation.

[DXR_13KE]

i will wait at least 3 months before i get vista, or until ultimate gets down to a bether price

[woodshop]

allow me to use my great guessingpower to name prices:
(all prices in USD and only my guess::

# Windows Starter 2007: $150
# Windows Vista Home Basic: #200
# Windows Vista Home Premium: $250
# Windows Vista Business: $250
# Windows Vista Enterprise: $300
# Windows Vista Ultimate:$400

Now remember people for those Greeat Great low prices you also get @ no extra chargem Truck loads of cost enabling DRM!!!

[FIBRE+]

I think il do what I did with XP... wait a few months for the bulk of the problems to iron out.

Most Joes will want Home Premium, but enthusiasts like us will probably want Ultimate. No info on pricing yet, but we rather suspect that's an irrelevant consideration for a large number of enthusiasts.

I dont know about anyone else but I want to pay as little as possible.

Might try the **demo** version before I buy.

[fev]

i will source my copy as i always do before buying, and before anyone spews out "aw fev you won't buy it you'll keep trying"

i always pay some way towards my OS.. it's the core of the system

[Risky]

Originally Posted by woodshop

allow me to use my great guessingpower to name prices:
(all prices in USD and only my guess::

# Windows Starter 2007: $150
# Windows Vista Home Basic: #200
# Windows Vista Home Premium: $250
# Windows Vista Business: $250
# Windows Vista Enterprise: $300
# Windows Vista Ultimate:$400

Now remember people for those Greeat Great low prices you also get @ no extra chargem Truck loads of cost enabling DRM!!!

Just because the article listed them in that order, don't think that's the price scale. If you read the article its' pretty obvious that Enterprice will be priced way above Ultimate. Now taking a look at current pricing, I'll look at the OEM editions (we all build our computers after all) -

Home          $ 94  £50
Media Centre  $115  £80
Pro           £140  £68

(from newegg.com and ebuyer.co.uk (ex vat/tax) and I have no idea why they are so different )


Now would guess that they won't push the prices up much more than $15/£10 for an equivalent edition give the amoutn of regulatory fire they see these days. Then assume Standard=Home, Home Premium = MCE, Business = Pro and I'd guess your ultimate would be at $200-250 (based on those newegg prices) but Enterprise could be a whole pile more.

As for needing Ultimate, I really think it may just be a matter of turning vanity into money.

[Kipman725]

you missed out the .torrent version

[Hybr1d]

Originally Posted by pman

I'll probably get it, but by the time I will hopefully I will be on a mac full time running Leapard.

Amen brother!

Hmmm, so many versions not to buy...

Actually I do like Vista but there is no way I'm paying for it before I've tried it, if it's any good then I will fork out. The betas have been good and it's a nice mix of Win & Mac ideas (no I'm not saying it's a rip) and I think if they lay off the whole DRM thing and only implement DRM where necessary then it will be a great OS

[Kipman725]

Originally Posted by Hybr1d

implement DRM where necessary then it will be a great OS

DRM isn't necessary

[RotoSequence]

Ill wait until its stable according to actual users, and then buy Vista Ultimate for $40 (assuming its a $400 product) from a Redmond vole