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21 Feb 2006
Microsoft has rapidly pulled a prematurely published Windows Vista help page that detailed the various flavours of the operating system due to be launched later this year.
The web page, now removed, indicated that there would be eight versions of the new operating system. Two of these are designed with Media Player removed for the European market, following the European Union's ruling on Microsoft's anti-competitive practices.
"Microsoft recently posted a web page designed to test the Windows Vista help system that included incomplete information about the Windows Vista product line up," said a Microsoft spokesman.
"This page has since been removed as it was posted prematurely and was for testing purposes only. We will share more information about the Windows Vista line up in the coming weeks."
The eight Vista versions listed on the web page include a basic cut down version, named Windows Starter 2007, designed for developing countries. In addition there were two versions for home users and three for businesses.
Windows Vista Home Basic and Windows Vista Home Premium look set to offer the usual range of features, but the Premium edition may include Microsoft's Media Centre platform for multi-computer homes.
Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Enterprise are clearly aimed at the small and medium business sector and large enterprises respectively. The final version, Windows Vista Ultimate, may include the feature sets from both home and business versions.
Windows Vista Home Basic N and Windows Vista Business N are the two EU specific operating systems.
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Do you agree?
linuxes
i don't get the logic of "8 versions of windows -> i will use linux." At my office alone we have people running bsd, fedora, suse, and a few other things in the mix; the linux landscape is a *lot* more confusing. case in point: how many different binary installers does your average linux project have? Your average windows project has maybe two (32 and 64 bit). And it sounds like the core of the system will mostly be the same, it's just what they bundle with it that differs. look, i love linux; i do most of my work on it... but for all the ripping i hear on windows for *not* having options, i think it's pretty strange to rip on them for the deciding to start giving people choices.
Posted by: droppedd 22 Feb 2006
8 More ways to enjoy Windows
I think that it is a bit premature to dismiss Windows Vista. Sure for someone living in the United States all is well and peachy when it comes to buying power and potential. For someing living in Northen Africa even Linux is considerd as a Luxury when taking into account currency conversion and download speeds. When it comes to the EU im sure Microsoft does not want to squander any more of its fortune on petty battle because the competition needs to find more and more ways to restrict their growth. So i applaude Microsoft's venture and business minded strategies
Posted by: Mr Jones 22 Feb 2006
Not 8 versions per market!
Chances are unless you are a business you will only care about the 2 home edition offerings. The only thing that really surprises me about this article is the removal of Media Player for the EU market although I would hardly call these a "new versions" of Vista. Last I checked there were over 100 "flavors" of Linux so if you are confused about the numerous offerings from MS I would suggest switching to a Mac.
Posted by: Andy 22 Feb 2006
8 does not mean bad.
Just becuase there are 8 versions of Vista does not make it a horrible OS. There are several for EU to comply with there laws about media players. There are several versions with businesses that offer diffrent networking solutions and diffrent versions of home for the same reason. Did you know that XP also has several versions? There is home, pro, media center, and more
Posted by: Neumang Online 22 Feb 2006
Thanks EU
It is possible that the reason for 8 versions has been brought about by the EU directive to only supply a basic version of Vista and will we pay the same as the suped-up version, so loosing out yet again, thanks to the EU?
Posted by: D B Sears 22 Feb 2006
8 Versions of windows vista!!!
That's exactly what we need, more versions to complicate things for everybody. Microsoft has enough money without having to complicate the entire market. Linux anybody?
Posted by: JD 21 Feb 2006
Forget it
Reading about Vista has made me decide to learn Linux well enough that I can completely replace windows with it. Perish the thought of any more dealings with Microsoft.
Posted by: Richard 21 Feb 2006