Comparing Windows Vista editions
Which one's right for you?
By Walter Glenn
As someone who has used Windows Vista since its release,
I've gotten all kinds of questions from clients, friends, and family. What are
the cool new features? Is it really more secure?
Will I have to upgrade my computer hardware?
One of the most common questions is, "Which edition
will I need?" With six flavors of Windows Vista available, the choice can seem
daunting. By the end of this article, I hope you'll see that the choice
really just boils down to two or three and isn't difficult
at all.
The editions
Six editions of Windows Vista are available:
 |
| Windows Media Center, included with Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate, allows computers with a TV tuner to record and play TV shows |
| • | Windows Vista Business. This edition
is intended for businesses of all sizes. It does not feature the media
capabilities of Windows Vista Home Premium but does include the Windows Aero
user experience. It also includes several features important to businesses, such
as advanced backup features and Remote Desktop Collection. |
| • | Windows Vista Enterprise. This
premium business edition is available only through volume licensing to organizations covered by the Microsoft Software
Assurance program. |
| • | Windows Vista Ultimate. This edition
provides a superset of all of the features of the other editions of Windows Vista,
including the media capabilities of Windows Vista Home Premium and the business
features of Windows Vista Business. It adds Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption to help protect data on a lost or stolen PC. Windows Vista Ultimate also offers Windows Ultimate Extras, free downloads that extend functionality or provide new features. |
Narrowing the field
Whether you are a home or business user, you really need
concern yourself with only a few editions, so let's start by narrowing the
field a bit.
You can eliminate both Windows Vista Starter and Windows Vista Enterprise from consideration right away. Windows Vista Starter
is sold only with new PCs in emerging markets and is not available at all to countries and regions with more developed technology markets, such as the United States, Canada, the European Union, Japan, and Australia. Windows Vista Enterprise is sold through volume
licensing, so if your company licenses it, you'll be using it. Not much choice
there.
This leaves four main editions for consideration:
| • | Windows Vista Home Basic |
| • | Windows Vista Home Premium |
| • | Windows Vista Business |
| • | Windows Vista Ultimate |
It's tempting to consider the first three of these
editions (Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium, and Windows Vista Business) as roughly analogous to Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Media Center Edition, and Windows XP Professional. However, the disparity
of features between Windows Vista Home Basic and Windows Vista Home Premium is greater than
that between Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Media Center Edition. Windows Vista Home Basic does not include the Windows Aero user experience, Windows Mobility Center (a single place to adjust common mobile PC settings), or Tablet PC capabilities. Windows Vista Home Basic also does not include
other media features such as Windows Movie Maker or Windows DVD Maker.
 |
| Windows DVD
Maker, available in Windows Vista
Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate, enables you to create DVDs of your home movies and photos |
For me (and I suspect for most people), this pretty much
eliminates Windows Vista Home Basic from the competition. I don't recommend it to
anyone who asks, because Windows Vista Home Premium provides so many more features
for a relatively small price difference. That isn't to say that Windows Vista Home Basic doesn't have its place. On low-end computers used primarily for
e‑mail and Internet access, it might be an ideal choice. But if you're the type
of person who likes a richer set of features, Windows Vista Home Basic is probably not for you.
Choosing the right edition
And then there were three. For most people, the choice of
Windows Vista editions will come down to the following:
| • | Windows Vista Home Premium. For the
vast majority of home users, Windows Vista Home Premium is the edition of
choice. It's also likely to be bundled with the majority of new desktop
computers sold because most manufacturers are now invested in providing computers with Windows Media
Center capabilities. This edition also offers significant
mobility features and will likely be included with most mobile PCs. |
| • | Windows Vista Business. For most
business users, Windows Vista Business will be the right choice. With
significant business features such as Remote Desktop Collection and the capability to connect to
a domain—and without the added weight of Windows Media
Center—Windows Vista Business makes a good fit for businesses of any size. |
| • | Windows Vista Ultimate. For anyone
who needs both Windows Media Center and business functionality, Windows Vista Ultimate
is, well, the ultimate choice. It's also a great choice for anyone who just
wants the best and is attracted to the possibility of an ever-growing list of
new features through Windows Ultimate Extras. Of course, it also works well for
anyone who has the money and doesn't want to worry about which features are
needed. If, like me, you mostly use a single computer that has to pull
business, gaming, and entertainment duties, Windows Vista Ultimate is a perfect
choice. |
With Windows Anytime Upgrade, you're covered anyway
Windows Anytime Upgrade
gives people who acquire
Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium, or Windows Vista Business the capability to upgrade
to a more powerful edition at any time, online, for a price that should be
equal to or less than what the upgrade edition would cost.
In other words, if you decide on Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Business now,
and then later decide that you need the extras that Windows Vista Ultimate
provides, you can simply buy a new product key online, unlock the new
edition, and you're good to go.
More information
If you're interested in learning more about the different Windows Vista editions, see the Windows Vista editions overview page and the comparison of key features on the Microsoft website. For detailed comparison charts, see Windows Vista editions compared feature by feature.
About the author
Walter Glenn is a writer and consultant based in Huntsville, Alabama. He is the author of numerous books, articles, and white papers on Windows and other Microsoft technologies. You can visit his website at www.walterglenn.com.
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Product key
A sequence of 25 letters and numbers. To activate Windows, you must enter the product key.
Domain
A collection of computers on a network that share a common database and security policy. A domain is administered as a unit with common rules and procedures, and each domain has a unique name.
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