Member Avatar for Catweazle

Things don’t get easier, do they? Windows ‘prophet’ Paul Thurrot suggests that there are going to be no less than seven different versions of Windows Vista! Vista will be offered in ‘Home’ and ‘Business’ varieties, with three ‘Home’ versions and four ‘Business’ versions:


Windows Vista Home

Starter Edition.
This will be a cut down version, 32-bit only, and will be made abailable to emerging markets only.

Home Basic Edition
Roughly equivalent to Windows XP Home, this version will be aimed at single PC households.

Home Premium Edition
Adds Media Centre features to the basic Home version, as well as numerous other features. This version could well be the one to be promoted as the ‘Advanced’ version for people to buy, and fulfill the role Windows XP Professional formerly took.


Windows Vista Business

Professional Edition
Domain features, remote desktop, IIS web server, encrypted file system etc. This version is the basic set of features offered for business use.

Small Business Edition
Adds numerous features specifically tailored toward business use. The feature set is targeted toward small business owners and managers.

Enterprise Edition
Another new version with added features targeted towards corporate use.

Ultimate Edition
All the features of Home Premium and Professional Editions plus more. Aimed at gamers, power users, digital media enthusiasts and other ‘niche’ users.


See the report here and keep an eye out for further information to appear soon at Paul Thurrot’s Supersite.

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Short answer and correction to the early rumors: Microsoft’s official Vista client lineup was six core editions — Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise and Ultimate — (plus EU “N” variants that exclude Windows Media Player). That differs from some early previews that suggested seven SKUs; the company’s product announcement is the authoritative list. (news.microsoft.com)

A few practical notes tied to the thread posts: as suspected, the low‑cost Starter SKU was real but constrained — 32‑bit only and intended for emerging markets with stripped features. Home Basic was the entry consumer SKU; Home Premium added Media Center/HD support and the full Aero UI; Business added domain‑join, Remote Desktop host, EFS/IIS and other corporate features; Enterprise was volume‑license/Software Assurance only (adds BitLocker, MUI and enterprise virtualization rights); Ultimate bundled consumer + business features and the so‑called “Ultimate Extras.” These differences drove which edition an OEM or IT shop picked. (en.wikipedia.org)

On the Small Business and server questions: SBE showed up in early planning chatter and previews, but it did not become a distinct retail client SKU in the final Vista consumer lineup — small organizations typically used Vista Business (or Enterprise via licensing) or server products. Server development continued separately (the “Longhorn” server work became Windows Server 2008) and was not merged into the Vista client SKUs. ’s instinct to separate client SKUs from server SKUs was correct. (itprotoday.com)

If you’re looking at this thread years later: Windows Anytime Upgrade let users step up between compatible Vista editions without reinstalling, but Vista is now out of extended support (end date April 11, 2017) and no longer receives security updates — avoid using it on machines that hold sensitive data. For historical troubleshooting or migration planning, match the edition to the required features (media vs. domain/enterprise functionality) rather than marketing names. (news.microsoft.com)

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Member Avatar for jwenting

Nothing really new there, except the names.
The plans to introduce a stripped lowcost version for the 3rd world have been known for at least a year.
The other versions (except maybe "ultimate") seem simply equivalent to similar products already in existence for XP.
Home, Media Center, Pro, SBE, and 2003 Server.

Member Avatar for Squires

Is Pro, SBE, and Enterprise taking the roll of the "Longhorn Server" products? Or will we see Server versions in addition to these 7?

Member Avatar for jwenting

SBE and Pro are not server products now.
They're clientside products, with SBE being essentially a pack of several Pro licenses bundled with a server license and some other software (Exchange, MS SQL Server, etc).

Member Avatar for Catweazle

There's now a fuller description here:
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_editions.asp

No, I don't believe these new versions simply integrate the 'Server 2003' products into the line, nor are they Longhorn Server. The supposed new features included make them new product lines.

'Home Premium' and 'Ultimate' won't be made available with Corporate licenses. Many gamers and power users avoided paying for their Windows XP installation by using Corporate installs, and that doesn't look like being as attractive this time around. Windows Vista Pro will merely be the 'budget' business version.

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