Microsoft Vista Info Leaked

slashnutt writes to tell us Yahoo News is reporting that Microsoft accidentally released information about Windows Vista earlier than originally planned. From the article: "Microsoft disclosed information about a plan to release eight different editions of the new operating system on a company help page that was under development. The company has not made any official statements about the different versions of Windows Vista it plans to offer. The company has since taken down the Web site and declined to confirm the information and said it will offer more details about the Vista launch, targeted for the second half of 2006, in the coming weeks. Microsoft spokesman said in a statement 'This page has since been removed as it was posted prematurely and was for testing purposes only.'"

Enough Choice To Choke A Horse

Ugh. Eight different versions.

Windows Vista Starter (designed to combat piracy of Windows overseas; probably won't go on sale in US)
Windows Vista Home Basic
Windows Vista Home Premium
Windows Vista Business Basic
Windows Vista Business Premium
Windows Vista Corporate Basic
Windows Vista Corporate Premium
Windows Vista Ultimate

While I'd really like to believe otherwise, I cannot help but think that this will turn into a nightmare for application support. The ones that worry the most are the two at either end of the line: Starter and Ultimate. Will you need Ultimate to run top-of-the-line games or use top-of-the-line hardware? Will people with Starter not be able to use your program because they're missing certain functionality? Will you be able to burn DVDs with Home Basic, or does that functionality only come with Premium and Ultimate?

Sure, each version will be tailored to that particular end user's most likely needs. You can bet, however, that there'll be all sorts of "incentives" to bump yourself up to the next level of functionality in the form of "well, that functionality only comes with version X"...

Re:Hey, its better than Linux

It's true, but none of those thousands of versions of linux are intentionaly crippled. Ops. No you cannot run a 'server' with this version or no you can not setup this or that without the premium version.

Sure, Linux is still strugling with the packaging since there is no standard. But it is getting better and better, everyday. :-D

Re:Hey, its better than Linux

Actually, it isn't true. "Linux" is the kernel, which is now available in two versions: 2.4 and 2.6 (and all prior versions of course). There are many distributions, but they all use one of those two kernels.

Re:Hey, its better than Linux

Likewise, I'll bet all 8 versions of Vista use the same "kernel". It's not the kernel that makes things work or not work (for the most part), it's the user-level software on top.

Re:Hey, its better than Linux

At least I can try most of the various versions of Linux without having to pay $400 a pop.

And, once I have a version I like. I don't have to fork out another $400 just because I decide to upgrade my motherboard.

And a lot of the so-called 4000 versions of Linux are specific versions that people have built for their preferred application. An example would be my netboot CD [bcgreen.com] that allows net-booting Knoppix from a CD -- which I designed so that I can give students in a classroom their own Linux box (without touching their hard drives), and also a way to do semi-automated backups and restore for public Windows boxes.
That's something that I (as a hobbyist) could never create with Windows (much less distribute).

Re:Hey, its better than Linux

"The WPA system checks ten categories of hardware:
* Display Adapter
* SCSI Adapter
* IDE Adapter (effectively the motherboard)
* Network Adapter (NIC) and its MAC Address
* RAM Amount Range (i.e., 0-64mb, 64-128mb, etc.)
* Processor Type
* Processor Serial Number
* Hard Drive Device
* Hard Drive Volume Serial Number (VSN)
* CD-ROM / CD-RW / DVD-ROM

It then calculates and records a number based on the first device of each type that was found during setup, and stores this number on your hard drive. Initially, this is sent to Microsoft in an automatic dial-up, together with the Product ID number derived from the 25-character unique Product Key used in setting up Windows.

If Service Pack 1 has been installed, the entire Product Key is also transmitted: This can then be checked against a list of known pirated keys

The hardware is checked each time Windows boots, to ensure that it is still on the same machine. Also, if you subsequently perform a complete format and reinstall of Windows, Microsoft's activation center will have to be contacted again because the information held on the machine itself (the number previously written to your hard drive) will have been wiped out by reformatting the hard drive. If your hardware is substantially the same, this will be done by an automated call without your needing to talk to anyone.

What does 'substantially the same' mean? WPA asks for 'votes' from each of these ten categories: 'Is the same device still around, or has there never been one?' Seven Yes votes means all is well -- and a NIC, present originally and not changed, counts for three yes votes! Minor cards, like sound cards, don't come into the mix at all. If you keep the motherboard, with the same amount of RAM and processor, and an always present cheap NIC (available for $10 or less), you can change everything else as much as you like.

If you change the device in any category, you have lost that Yes vote -- but will not lose it any more thereafter if you make changes in that category again. So, for example, you can install a new video display card every month for as long as you like.

Note that it appears that if you boot with a device disabled (disabled -- not removed), the device is not found in the enumeration -- so if, say, you disable a network connection which uses the NIC and then reboot, you may be missing its three votes and find that a new activation is needed."

http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.php [aumha.org]

Re:Hey, its better than Linux

I'm sorry, but that is wrong, plain and simple. The capabilities of the various versions have already been leaked, and Home Basic is not that crippled. Essentially, anything you can do on Home XP, you can do on Home Basic, but Home Basic Premium throws in the media center extras.

So either you are misinformed, lying, or intentionally spreading FUD.

Re:Hey, its better than Linux

Sally has no choice but to pay for another copy of Windows,

• freebsd [freebsd.org]
• openbsd [openbsd.org]
• netbsd [netbsd.org]
• gnu-darwin [gnu-darwin.org]
• ReactOS [reactos.org]
• SuSe [www.suse.de]
• Fedora [redhat.com]
• Debian [debian.org]
• Gentoo [gentoo.org]

-- Your comment has too few characters per line (currently 8.2).

Re:What you talkin' about?

Yep I busted my self. Ouch. (:-{)}

Cheers,

Bill

Re:What you talkin' about?

Well, what you say is more understandable. But still, it doesn't take much research to learn that if you need to pick a distro for a company you can't really go wrong with Redhat or SUSE.

But really, saying that there's too many Linux distros isn't what gets zealots like me all in a knot. What is really irritating about these Windows versions is that capability was taken out of some versions on purpose. Instead of making the product better, some "developers" have been paid to actaully make the product worse. Such insanity would never happen in the open source world. If I pick the 'wrong' distro at least it's functionality isn't being limited on purpose.

Re:What you talkin' about?

The point is that there is no company or other entity telling someone what they can and can't do with their Linux installation just because they didn't pay enough money.

There are always trade-offs.

Red Hat dropped out of the consumer market. Linspire is anchored there.

The uber-Geek might be able to bend any randomly chosen Linux distro to his will. The reality is that most of us have to make choices.

Choices in hardware. Choices in software. Choices in technical support.

Time and money.

Sigh...

Someday we'll look fondly upon the days when you could just ask if someone is running "98" or "XP," maybe with "SP2." Very soon the abbreviations alone will take up several alphabets.

Re:Enough Choice To Choke A Horse

Where did you get that list? According to Neowin's recent news, it's more like this [neowin.net]:
- Windows Starter 2007
- Windows Vista Home Basic
- Windows Vista Home Basic N
- Windows Vista Home Premium
- Windows Vista Business
- Windows Vista Business N
- Windows Vista Ultimate
- Windows Vista Enterprise

No Basic/Premium of Business, and there's no "Corporate" listed there.

Anyway, it's still 8. :-) And I agree it's too many. It confuses more than it clarifies. When Joe User gets to decide, is he a Basic or Premium home user? Do a company need a Business edition or an Enterprise edition? The problem seem to be that you need to study feature lists and compare to know for sure what you need. I'd rather see just a Home vs Pro vs Ultimate (being the Home + Pro merge). Three editions (or more if you count N editions which Microsoft must do).

Re:Enough Choice To Choke A Horse

It confuses more than it clarifies.

I suppose that's intentional; that way the customer, confused about which 'version' to buy, will upsell themselves, just to be 'safe'.

It won't be that confusing to retail buyers

- Windows Starter 2007
- Windows Vista Home Basic
- Windows Vista Home Basic N
- Windows Vista Home Premium
- Windows Vista Business
- Windows Vista Business N
- Windows Vista Ultimate
- Windows Vista Enterprise

Windows Starter version will never be seen by 99% of people outside its intended market (developing nations). How many Slashdot readers have even seen Windows XP Starter Edition on a computer or in a store (including online stores)?

The 'N' versions of Windows (Europe-only) will be simply ignored by the vast majority of buyers and retailers. Some retailers (maybe most) will not even stock the 'N' versions. Source:

Still 'no demand' for media-player-free Windows [zdnet.com]

Vista Enterprise Edition will only be available through volume licensing, so retail buyers won't see this version either. The IT folks who can buy Enterprise Edition are knowledgable enough not to be confused.

So far, that leaves:

- Windows Vista Home Basic
- Windows Vista Home Premium
- Windows Vista Business
- Windows Vista Ultimate

Since Vista Ultimate Edition is probably only for the uber-geek, most retail buyers will probably only need to choose from three versions: (1) Home Basic, (2) Home Premium, and (3) Business. For buyers of Windows PCs, that choice is similar today: XP Home, XP Media Center Edition, and XP Pro.

Re:It won't be that confusing to retail buyers

Don't forget about the people who d/l it from kazaa or bittorrent?

Ars Technica actually has an interesting take [arstechnica.com] on this (Enterprise Edition, Business Edition, and pirated versions).

Most Slashdot readers probably know about a pirated "corporate" version of Windows XP Pro that's widely available on peer-to-peer networks. This version's volume licensing (and no activation requirement) is what makes this pirated version easy to use by illegal downloaders.

For Vista, the only versions availabe through volume licensing (Business Edition and Enterprise Edition) are missing features that most pirates want (Media Center features and other goodies). The versions that pirates want (Home Premium and Ultimate) will require activation, so illegally downloaded copies of these versions will be a pain in the ass to use (in theory). Doesn't MS block "cracked" versions from downloading updates?

Re:It won't be that confusing to retail buyers

Since Vista Ultimate Edition is probably only for the uber-geek

Software wise, it's actually identical to the Starter Edition, but it comes with a frisbee. I think they're targeting the stoner audience.

Re:Enough Choice To Choke A Horse

When Joe User gets to decide, is he a Basic or Premium home user?

Premium, of course. Who the hell wants to be Basic? They might as well call it "Windows Vista for Dumb People Too Dumb and Uncool for Premium" or "Windows Vista for People Picked Last for Kickball in the Fifth Grade". Nobody will willingly buy Basic, and that's the reason it exists.

This is common pricing tactic, and it works amazingly well. Our estimation of value works differently looking up the scale than it does looking down. If something costs half as much but is only half as good, that's not seen as a good deal, where something that costs twice as much only needs to be 50% better to be worth consideration. Adjust this to your products and you can always find a point where people will pay a lot more for very little difference. People will focus on the differences, often fixating on some non-essential feature that they *might* want, and base the final decison on that alone.

Some people seem offended by these kinds of pricing tricks, but I find them incredibly interesting in a "they're hacking my brain" kind of way.

Re:Enough Choice To Choke A Horse

Why would you think that? Microsoft has the BEST support for multiple OS and backwards compatibility that I've ever seen in the entire software industry. The vast majority of current software designed for Win32 runs on any of their platforms from the past 10 years. Can you think of any vendor that has better cross-OS and backwards compatibility support? I certainly can't.

At the risk of being labeled a troll, I have to suggest that perhaps this is because they don't actually change their OS. They just add crappy layer upon crappy layer so that the old stuff runs because every old Microsoft OS is still buried in there somewhere.

Re:Enough Choice To Choke A Horse

Oh....,

I was sure it was going to be something like:

Windows Vista 3.1
Windows Vista 95
Windows Vista 98
Windows Vista NT
Windows Vista CE
Windows Vista 2000
Windows Vista 2003
Windows Vista XP

Re:Enough Choice To Choke A Horse

Choice is good.

I'd rather have eight shitty alternatives to choose from than to have one mandatory one. Hell, I even voted last election.

YAllahoo

Too bad Microsoft didn't put Allah on the page. Then Yahoo would be censoring this report too.

I know what it is.

There will be several different versions such as Windows Vista Red and Blue. They are all pretty much the same, but if you want to complete the game you'll need some friends with the other versions, and some link cables.

Testing?

'This page has since been removed as it was posted prematurely and was for testing purposes only.'"

Testing what, the waters?

premature release?

I'm sorry to hear that Microsoft is the latest sufferer of this common problem. I'd like to help them out; I get a number of advertisements in my inbox each day offering various treatments for premature release. Perhaps someone can forward these emails to Microsoft?

8 ways to have your company locked in...

From the MS spokesman: "We are known for giving our users choice, this is what's great about capitalism!"

Someones getting fired...

Have they leaked which of these versions will run Halo 2?

Or will it be included as a pack in?

Old news

This was revealed days ago in an Engadget entry that was much more informative:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/19/which-windows-v ista-will-you-run-you-have-8-choices/ [engadget.com]

"Windows Starter 2007 - Vista without Aero, probably meant for developing nations.

Windows Vista Home Basic - Basic Windows Vista for your single PC fam, doesn't sound like much going on here. Analagous to XP Home.

Windows Vista Home Basic N - European version of the same, but without Media Player (because of antitrust rulings against MS in the EU).

Windows Vista Home Premium - This is the one we're all probably gonna own. It's got Media Center functionality, Cable Card support, the whole home-media shebang.

Windows Vista Business - Think of it as XP Pro, but Vista.

Windows Vista Business N - Think of it as XP Pro, but Vista, but Euro.

Windows Vista Enterprise - Business version of Vista with numerous enterprise features, like Virtual PC, volume encryption, etc.

Windows Vista Ultimate - Love that name. This one does all of the above (and more); what else do you need to know? It's ultimate Windows.."

More choices are rarely a bad idea. I dislike bundled crapola that I'll never need or want.

Re:Old news

posterlogo [slashdot.org] wrote:

More choices are rarely a bad idea. I dislike bundled crapola that I'll never need or want.

It appears you have never heard of the paradox of choice [swarthmore.edu].

In a nutshell, too many choices often lead to a inability to decide. It is the same reason people take so long to decide on an ice-cream flavor at Baskin-Robbins or on a dish from a chinese carry-out menu: too many choices. Most people simply don't want to think too hard when making a purchase, so it's a good idea for companies to make the range of choices as few and distinct as possible.

Here is an excerpt from the book [usatoday.com].

Here are the Eight Versions

The info was pulled so I'll repost here:

Windows Vista for Developing Nations Windows Vista for Dummies Windows Vista for Planned Obsolence Edition Windows Vista for Virtual Vista Deployment Edition - Professional Windows Vista for your Inner Fast(tm) Edition Windows Vista with Digital Rights Management Media Edition Windows Vista Corporate *Windows Vista for Secure Computing * please note this edition will be released at a future unannounced date.

Too many vistas...

I like the comment that was made on Blue's News [bluesnews.com] about the Vista line when the story first broke.

Vista DOS
Vista WFW
Vista 95
Vista 98
Vista ME
Vista XP
Vista la Vista