Windows Vista is Now Offically Available...

Microsoft has now made Windows Vista available for the General public to purchase. This is their most secure, stable, and best looking operating system that they have ever created. It includes several new and improved features, which seem too numerous to mention them all. Although, I will be writing several articles on them in the future.

Several of the enhancements are very visible like the Aero interface with Glass effects. Others are under the hood that are not visible like the new security features, such as the new firewall. For example, the first enhancements that you will notice right away after you log in to it for the first time is are the new Start menu, and the greatly improved Windows Explorer.

Demystifying The Versions of Vista
There are five editions of Windows Vista to choose from. Each edition is designed to meet the needs of specific markets.

Two of the editions are for home users (i.e.: Premium and Basic), two of them are for business users (i.e.: Business and Enterprise), and then there is Ultimate edition contains all the features of every edition.

There are also two versions of each edition of Windows Vista, the full and upgrade versions. The full version is intended for new computers that don't have an operating system. The upgrade version requires that you have an older version of Windows that qualifies for an upgrade.

Note: The Full version of Vista is more expensive then the Upgrade version because your computer didn't have a previous version of Windows that qualified for an upgrade installed.

• Windows Vista Home Editions
  
• Home Premium: Contains more features then the Basic edition. (Check the latest prices: Full and Upgrade [Qualifying versions of Windows that can be upgraded are: Windows 2000, Vista Home Basic, and XP])
  
• Home Basic: Designed for homes users with basic computing needs such as: e-mail, browsing the Internet, and viewing photos. (Check the latest prices: Full and Upgrade [Qualifying versions of Windows that can be upgraded are: Windows 2000, and XP])
• Windows Vista Business Editions
  
• Business: Designed to meet the needs of a small businesses. (Check the latest prices: Full and Upgrade [Qualifying versions of Windows that can be upgraded are: Windows 2000, Vista Home Basic, Vista Home Premium, and XP])
• Enterprise: Designed enterprise business customers, has several features for managing and deploying this OS to large, global organizations. (This version of Windows is not available in the retail channel, you must have special enterprise licensing contract from Microsoft to acquire it.)
• Windows Vista Ultimate: Provides the best features of the editions. (Check the latest prices: Full and Upgrade [Qualifying versions of Windows that can be upgrade are: Windows 2000, Vista Business, Vista Home Basic, Vista Home Premium, and XP])

For a comparison chart of all the different versions of Vista and features they include check out the following web page.

If you have multiple PCs in your home or office that that you want to upgrade, there are also Additional License Packs that you can purchase for a discount. These packs include additional OS licenses that you can used for installing Vista on other computers.

Microsoft is also making it easier for you to upgrade from one version of Vista to another using the Anytime Upgrade licenses. For example, you can upgrade from the Home Basic edition to either the Premium or Ultimate edition. Or if you have the Business edition, you can upgrade it to the Ultimate edition.

Check out the Windows Vista web site for the latest information.