Windows Vista - 7 different versions

[xyle_one]

Amazing -

If you've been wondering why Windows Vista has taken a long time to reach Beta 1, we can now tell you why: there's seven separate editions of Vista headed your way. OK, that's not the reason for the delay, but how else do you introduce that many OS versions, without invoking Snow White & friends?

Join me know as I romp through the various editions, many of which you'll see are just barely differentiated.

First up, there's Starter Edition, which like XP Starter Edition, is a crippled (and lame) product aimed at the two-thirds world. It will limit users to three concurrent applications, and provide only basic TCP/IP networking, and won't be suitable for most games.

The next step up is Home Basic Edition, which is really the sibling to today's Windows XP Home.

However, as the name suggests, there's also Home Premium Edition, and this is where we start to split features like hairs and create a cackle of products. HPE will build on the the Basic Edition by adding, most notably, the next-generation of Media Center capabilities, including support for HDTV, DVD authoring, and even DVD ripping backed up (of course) by Windows DRM. For non-corporate types, this is probably going to be the OS that most people use. It's similar to XP Pro in power, but with all of the added bells and whistles for entertainment. Well, most of them.

Windows Vista Professional Edition won't occupy the same spot that XP Pro occupies today, because this time it's truly aimed at businesses. It won't feature the MCE functionality that Home Premium Edition has, but it begins to provide the kind of functionality you'd expect in a business environment, such as support for non-Microsoft networking protocols and Domain support. But don't expect too many businesses to necessarily turn to PE.

Microsoft is also planning both a Small Business Edition and an Enterprise Edition, which build upon pro by adding (seemingly minor) features aimed at appealing to each market. SBE, for instance, includes a networked backup solution, while EE will include things like Virtual PC integration, and the ability to encrypt an entire volume of information.

Last but not least, there's Ultimate Edition.

I can't believe this is real. 7 versions? There is no need for 7 versions. I also fear that the general public will fucking eat this up and continue to pay money for what amounts to a severely crippled release of its operating system. I see it as 2 versions, enterprise, and not-enterprise.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050910-5298.html

http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/47665/47665.html?Ad=1

[Aloone_Jonez]

   

[piratePenguin]

More Choice!

[Refalm]

Windows still doesn't include apt-get

[WMD]

Hmmm...Apple has two: desktop and server.  And many Linux distrobutions only have one version.

MS needs seven...

[HeroicRaptor]

They need seven so they look productive and to make it easier for hackers to make viruses. How can they not copy code again and again?

[Aloone_Jonez]

This is just marketing ploy they're using to try to appeal to as many differant types of user as possible.

[mobrien_12]

Gee, remember when Bill Gates swore under oath that making separate versions of the same Windows would confuse the industry and cause great damage?

[Lead Head]

i wonder what OEMs are gonna do with so many options

[skyman8081]

[xyle_one]

Lovely contribution right there.

[worker201]

The more versions there are, the less likely you will be able to find one that suits all of your needs.

And Windows still won't be able to accomplish tasks that awk can handle in seconds or read a usbstick that isn't FAT formatted.

[mobrien_12]

The more versions there are, the less likely you will be able to find one that suits all of your needs.

And Windows still won't be able to accomplish tasks that awk can handle in seconds or read a usbstick that isn't FAT formatted.

Really?  It can't handle NTFS formatted USB sticks?

[Orethrius]

Sauron's pistol pic (removed to save PUB's bandwidth)

Actually, Sauron makes a valid point.
No matter which one you choose, there will still be the unmistakable sound of a pistol being cocked somewhere just out of sight.

[worker201]

Really?  It can't handle NTFS formatted USB sticks?

It might - my Mac can't format NTFS though!

In all seriousness, I keep my usbstick and iPod in HFS+ format.  Now there's no practical reason why Windows should have a problem providing at least a little support for this format.  Linux - no problem - actually, with the 2.6.15 kernel customized for such a purpose, I can read and write just as well as I could on the Mac.  Stick the usbstick in Windows, and it says it isn't formatted.