Public will buy which version?

[Hark Agin]

Of the many versions of MS Windows Vista that will be available in January,
which version will the majority of the public buy? And then which of them
will be next? Will the price be the deciding factor in most purchases?

When will the new computers with Vista installed be available in retail
stores? And which version will the OEMs be installing on their machines? 32
and 64 bit?

Anyone care to speculate or give an educated guess? I'm betting that the
cheapest will be the bigger seller with the public and OEMs.

 

[Rick Rogers]

The average home user will likely go with Home Premium.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

We will tell you in February. Vista will not be available at retail until
Jan. 30. Are you trying to ask what you should buy?

 

[Hark Agin]

Are you trying to ask what you should buy?

No, I'm going with 64 bit. What are the OEMs putting on the 32 bit machines?

 

[Scott]

Hark Again spake thusly on 12/16/2006 7:50 AM:

Of the many versions of MS Windows Vista that will be available in
January, which version will the majority of the public buy? And then
which of them will be next? Will the price be the deciding factor in
most purchases?

*dusts off crystal ball*

I see no wait..OK.... I see the pubic clamoring for a pretty GUI.. yes! Yes!

I see a public that's poverty stri--..no wait. I see them flush with cash!

Therefore I predict everyone will buy Windows Vista Ultimate Edition.

But another guy here says I'm full of it and predicts that Windows Vista
Home Premium will be the top seller with consumers followed by Windows
Vista Home Basic.

When will the new computers with Vista installed be available in retail
stores?

If it's anything like Windows XP was at launch it you'll see some right
after the launch date and more later as the old stock clears out.

And which version will the OEMs be installing on their machines? 32

and 64 bit?

I'm betting on 32-bit (at least in most cases). Besides 64-bit ain't
gonna be much good unless the CPU is also 64-bit.

Anyone care to speculate or give an educated guess? I'm betting that the
cheapest will be the bigger seller with the public and OEMs.

Naah, everyone loves to spend money, I'm sure it will be the most
expensive version. Screw this other guy here.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Depends on the OEM and the machine. Basic machines will get Home Basic,
media center machines will get Home Premium. Business machines will get
Business. Some OEM's will give options via configurators.

 

[Dale]

I'd bet money that Home Basic will be the hottest seller. OEMs like Dell
and HP are only concerned with being able to offer the lowest price on TV
advertisements or their home pages. And the average user doesn't know to do
anything except buy that lowest priced package.

Dale

 

[Marty]

Most all the computers that you see advertised now are XPMCE2005.
So my guess would be Home Premium.

Marty

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Besides, folks have heard about Glass and want it. They will need Home
Premium for that.

 

[Marty]

I think that's what I'll buy for my other two computers that I tested on.

Marty

 

[BChat]

I am going with Home Premium, now in this "poll'', and later on my machine
BChat

Of the many versions of MS Windows Vista that will be available in January,
which version will the majority of the public buy? And then which of them
will be next? Will the price be the deciding factor in most purchases?

When will the new computers with Vista installed be available in retail
stores? And which version will the OEMs be installing on their machines? 32
and 64 bit?

Anyone care to speculate or give an educated guess? I'm betting that the
cheapest will be the bigger seller with the public and OEMs.

 

[drygnfyre]

I think the x86 (32-bit) edition of Home Premium will be the most popular,
although I intend to use Ultimate myself. I don't have a 64-bit processor,
though.

 

[Dale]

Ultimate all the way for me. I don't want to spend hours trying to do some
obscure task only to find out my version didn't support it. But there is a
difference between me and the average user (perhaps not between me and many
users here). I make my living off my computers. Every penny I have ever
spent on PCs has been repaid manifold in increased wages as my skills
increased.

Hmmmmm. Thinking about that, perhaps I should make a home basic and a home
premium machine just to learn the limitations... but I'm not going to.

Dale

 

[Mike]

Hmmmmm. Thinking about that, perhaps I should make a home basic and a
home premium machine just to learn the limitations... but I'm not going
to.

That's exactly what I plan on doing. I have enough spare laptops around
here that this is feasible.

Mike

 

[Brian W]

Yes that's what I'll be getting. Full version, not the Upgrade.

 

[Saucy]

If there is a big diff between the Basic and Prem price that Microsoft sets
for the "white box" market, my guess is that you will see a lot of Basic.
The name brand PCs probably will get better deals because of volume but even
then, the name brand low-ends will have Basic nevertheless .. however with
any model with multi-media stuff etc. a name brand will probably sport Prem.

The white box local yocal market is fiercely competitive and being able to
advertize low low prices is partly what it is all about. If Basic is
cheaper, it will be used.

But like said elsewhere, we will know more in February.

Saucy

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

If you just want to see what the differences between the editions look like,
you can do that with same Vista dvd that you purchase and install on your
computer. After you install Vista on your computer you sign up for VPC 2007
beta on Connect, download, and install the program. Then you set up a
virtual machine.

It turns out that if you do not enter a product key during Vista setup, you
get to pick which edition to install from a drop down list. You can use it
for up to 30 days without activating. So you install the edition of your
choice in a virtual machine on your Vista desktop. You can try one edition
for a few days and then install the next and so on. Do not activate any of
the virtual machines and you can do the try-outs with the same dvd you
purchased. When done with all the try outs simply delete the virtual
machine.

So there you sit running Vista on your computer with this window on your
desktop that just happens to be a virtual computer also running Vista.

Then you will be an expert on the differences between the different editions
of Vista and can come back and tell us all about it.

Just remember to uncheck that box on the first Setup screen that says to
automatically activate after 3 days.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Sadly, Glass is not supported in Basic. A lot of folks are going to be
miffed.

 

[Dale]

Very good idea, Colin. Thanks.

Dale

If you just want to see what the differences between the editions look
like, you can do that with same Vista dvd that you purchase and install on
your computer. After you install Vista on your computer you sign up for
VPC 2007 beta on Connect, download, and install the program. Then you set
up a virtual machine.

It turns out that if you do not enter a product key during Vista setup,
you get to pick which edition to install from a drop down list. You can
use it for up to 30 days without activating. So you install the edition
of your choice in a virtual machine on your Vista desktop. You can try
one edition for a few days and then install the next and so on. Do not
activate any of the virtual machines and you can do the try-outs with the
same dvd you purchased. When done with all the try outs simply delete the
virtual machine.

So there you sit running Vista on your computer with this window on your
desktop that just happens to be a virtual computer also running Vista.

Then you will be an expert on the differences between the different
editions of Vista and can come back and tell us all about it.

Just remember to uncheck that box on the first Setup screen that says to
automatically activate after 3 days.

 

[Kevin Young]

Doesn't the Vista EULA prevent you from running certain versions of Vista in
a Virtual machine Colin?