Jupiter Jones said:
Yes, it is simple.
Perhaps NewEggs marketing is making the simple seem complicated.
If New Egg lists those with little or no explanation, they are making it
difficult for their customers.
The fact NewEgg can not explain what they have tells us something about
NewEgg.
Newegg doesn't have the resources to fully list the features and
considerations of the different versions. Except for the Upgrade Tech SKU
which seems to be Newegg specific, most online software vendors have the
other 17 versions. That makes it a Microsoft marketing issue not a Newegg
issue.
Your 21 is flawed, for one, the signature is a packaging difference only
and otherwise identical.
You also missed educational and others such as MSDN, TechNet etc.
There is software for sale beyond NewEgg.
Perhaps NewEgg is best for the already informed.
Your experience with them indicates as much.
Fair enough. One of the 21 is identical to the others except for the
packaging. I left the other versions out since they are not retail to the
general public.
Instead of looking at 21 as you did, I would start with the 4 above and go
from there.
Then upgrade or full.
If full, OEM or retail.
For most it is that simple.
The hardest part is which of the 4, and that is usually easy.
I'm sorry to disagree with you Jupiter, but I would hardly call someone
using your simple method a fully informed buyer.
I'm guessing that you didn't read my article.
That's OK. We can
discuss some of the issues here.
Buying a copy of Vista was so complicated that I created some new terms to
help clarify matters.
I broke the 21 versions into three basic categories:
The Features Version (4)
Home Basic
Home Premium
Business
Ultimate
The Bit Version (2)
32 bit
64 bit
The Package Version (3)
OEM
Upgrade
Full
I don't even discuss to any real extent the features versions on my website.
This is a good website to determine what features go with what versions:
http://www.powerdonkey.net/signup3.php
There are 42 features there that a Vista customer has to understand and pick
and choose from to find the right version of Vista for them. I don't have a
big problem with that. It is the nature of beast. But I wouldn't call the
process of determining which features a Vista buyer might want as simple.
Then there is the device limitation of the different features versions.
Home Basic allows only 5 device connections and the others allow 10 device
connections - 'connections' to "Print services", "File Services", "Internet
Information Services" and "Telephony Services". So a buyer must understand
that if they have more than 5 'devices', Home Basic won't work for them. I
really don't understand what these 'devices' are. Is a modem connected to
the internet a "Telephony Service" device? Are hard drives, floppy drives
and DVD drives considered "File Service" devices? If true, one can come up
with five such devices in a hurry.
The bit version can be a little bit tricky though. When I got my beta
version of Vista, it had both the 32 and 64 bit versions. The instructions
said to install the appropriate version for my computer. Anyone doing any
homework at all will quickly discover that it isn't that simple. There are
driver issues with the 64 bit version. Most applications are still 32 bit.
You won't gain much there at least right now by choosing the 64 bit version.
Except for high data usage applications, 32 bit should suffice. However,
you miss the opportunity of future-proofing your PC if you pass on the 64
bit version. So that one isn't such a simple decision either. In some
cases, the only way you could really know what version is best for you is to
try them both and see which one you can live with. I was excited to hear a
rumor that Vista would come with both DVD's like the beta's did, but only
Ultimate was ultimately chosen to include both DVD's.
And lastly in this brief overview we have the package version. The main
issue here is the transferability rights to another device and to a third
party. The rights generally speaking become more liberal as you move from
the OEM to the Full package version. Believe me, it is no simple matter to
wade through the three EULA's to determine what those rights are. Yes,
there are three EULA's (at least), one for OEM, one for Business and one for
Home Basic, Home Premium and Ultimate.
I won't go into the other complexities of the EULA's here, but anyone who
isn't a lawyer can become quickly overwhelmed by the lack of simplicity
there!
One simple consideration of the package versions is what previous version of
Windows qualifies for the upgrade. But then there is a matrix that the
Vista buyer has to look at to determine what the upgrade path is. And then
there are the 'true in-place' versus 'clean install' upgrade considerations.
I have done the research and I don't claim it to be the definitive guide for
choosing the right version of Vista. I posted it as a helpful guide to those
who don't want to spend a lot of time online doing the research to become a
more informed buyer.
I came up with a list of 12 questions that can greatly narrow down the
choices. It is not a comprehensive list, but in lieu of a full-fledged flow
chart, it can greatly simplify the decision process. You will have to use
the matrix on my website or make one of your own.
Top Row:
OEM 32 Bit
OEM 64 Bit
Upgrade
Signature Upgrade
Upgrade Tech SKU
Full
1st Column:
Home Basic
Home Premium
Business
Ultimate
Then go to your favorite online software vendor and enter the prices for
each row/column cell.
----
First, print out the Vista Version Matrix in the first section of my article
or make one for yourself.
Next, answer these questions that apply to you:
Did you build your computer, build one for someone else or order a new PC
from a system builder/vendor?
If no, cross out the OEM columns in the table.
Do you own or will be buying Windows 2000, XP TabletPC, XP Home, XP
Professional or XP Professional x64 and is it or will it be installed on you
computer?
If no, cross out the Upgrade, Signature, and Upgrade Tech SKU columns in the
table.
Next, answer these questions that you want or don't want in your new
operating system:
Do you want to have the option to sell the OS in the future and keep your
current computer?
If yes, cross out the OEM columns in the table.
Do you want to be able to install your version of Vista on another computer
if your current computer dies?
If yes, cross out the OEM columns in the table.
Do you want both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Vista?
If yes, cross out the OEM columns in the table.
Do You want Aero (Windows Vista glass-like translucent graphical interface),
scheduled backup capability and Productivity Features?
If yes, cross out the Home Basic row.
Do you plan to or want to be able to uninstall and then reinstall Vista on
another computer?
If yes, cross out the OEM columns in the table.
Do you want to connect more than 5 devices for "Print services", "File
Services", "Internet Information Services" and "Telephony Services"?
If yes, cross out the Home Basic row in the table.
Do you want to use Windows Media Center? Note that Media Center is a
superset of the Media Player which will be available on all versions.
If yes, cross out the Home Basic and Business rows in the table.
Do you want to use Virtualization and / or Remote Desktop?
If yes, cross out the Home Basic and Home Premium rows in the table.
Do you want the Previous Versions feature? (Allows you to restore previously
cached versions of your data files).
If yes, cross out the Home Basic and Home Premium rows in the table.
How Much do you want to spend?
Finally, cross out the individual cells with prices above the amount you
want to spend for Vista.
----
That's as simple as I could make it. But to make a fully informed decision,
a person wanting to purchase Vista should read the EULA's for themselves and
carefully research the other issues related to the features, bit and package
versions.
--
Alan Norton
Reviews of ABIT AN8 SLI, ECS P965T-A & Foxconn 975X7AB-8EKRS2H MBs
Vista Confusion, Missing Posts Mysteries & Playing the Rebate Game Articles
Arizona Pics and Cute Animal Pics
http://www.mindspring.com/~anorton1/