:: Intrepid Spaniel ::

So you have decided you want to upgrade to windows Vista, despite the negative reviews.

The next question is which version do you want? Thanks to some convoluted marketing from the folks at Microsoft, that choice can be confusing and costly.

Which Version?
At ISU we have the Enterprise edition, which seems to come with all but the Media center features. If you decide you do upgrade at home, I recommend this article to help you decide which of the too many versions to use.

Also, this handy chart allow you to compare features between the versions

In short, the article recommends either Vista Ultimate (for home users) and Vista Business for small businesses. Home users on a budget may be able to to go with the Home Premium version, but we sure you know what you are missing, it might be worth the upgrade to Ultimate, despite the exorbitant cost.

Here is a summary of all the versions available to home and small business users..

Vista Ultimate is a must for serious Windows Users at home (you seem to get what you pay for, but $260 for an upgrade?) You get all the features including media center, dvd maker, and much more.

Use Vista Business Edition if you’re going to be rolling out Windows Vista in a small- to medium-sized business and aren’t participating in Microsoft’s Software Assurance program, then you’re going to use Windows Vista Business because it has everything you need for business computing and comes at a somewhat reasonable price for a business. Windows Vista Business is essentially Windows Home Premium EXCLUDING DVD Maker, Media Center, and other goodies, in exchange you get group policy support and roaming profiles and the ability to scan and fax. (not included in home versions as well as the following features.)

If you choose a home edition, you will miss these features.. including 5 of 12 of the new Vista security features.

BitLocker hard drive encryption wasn’t included in the Home editions because Microsoft feared home users would lock themselves out of their systems.
Device Lockdown, requires a group policy
Network Access Protection
Enhanced Authentication Model
Encrypting File System (EFS).
Microsoft Scan and fax
Volume Shadow Copies, which keeps a revision history of many version of your files

Use Vista Home Premium if you can live without BitLocker and the complete PC backup utility (and check for others above)
Home Premium puts back most of the features you found in Windows XP Home SP2 (except faxing capability) and gives you a supposedly more stable OS and better graphics with Windows Aero (assuming you have the video card and horsepower to support it). Again, most people running XP at home (particularly XP Media Center) have the same or more features at the moment than if they installed this edition.

Don’t use Vista Home Basic because it has nothing when it comes to the cool Vista features so while getting a new OS for $100 upgrade may seems like a good deal, it doesn’t offer much beyond Windows XP except the new interface, which even if you have the hardware, you can’t use the new Aero Interface. It really should be a free XP service pack. In fact, after reviewing the features compared with XP, this is a step backwards for most people. There is really no reason to buy this.

I am disappointed in Microsoft’s confusing marketing campaign, the fact that there really ought to be only two edition, Ultimate and Enterprise. I am also saddened by the fact that for many of us, because Microsoft is a monopoly, that there will be no choice in the matter over time. As a business user, you will eventually be forced into Vista if you wish to maintain a Microsoft environment. However, organizations can and should use this time to re-evaluate Linux and Mac alternatives

If you want more info on compatibility, tweaking and howto guides, I recommend checking out my wiki page on Vista.