Customer Reviews:
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 To many worthless broken windows April 30, 2008
P. Myers (Alberta)
0 out of 11 found this review helpful
Home Premium sucks.....ultimate sucks. Nuff said. I've used them all for home and bussiness and they all fail horribly.
 How Many Windows, Let Me Count the Ways April 8, 2008
Ophella Paige (Reno, Nevada)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
First there's Vista Home Basic which, like all the versions of Vista, has your basic digital media features like Windows Photo Gallery, but it doesn't do Aero. You get Windows Flip, but no 3D and no live taskbar thumbnails. If that stuff means nothing to you, go with it.
Second there's Vista Home Premium. Add Flip 3D and Aero to the version above and the availability to do scheduled backups. Also you get Windows Media Player, which you don't get with Home Basic. Windows Media Center can truly can handle all your Media needs. It comes with HDTV support, Xbox 360 Center Extender compatibility (which means nothing to me as I'm not a gamer), Windows DVD Maker and Windows Movie Maker.
Third there's Vista Business. You get everything you get in the above versions, but no Windows Media Player, but you do get business features like Windows Fax and Scan, offline files and folder support and Remote Desktop. If you're a business person, then perhaps this is the version for you.
Fourth there's Vista Ultimate. With this version you get it all, the business stuff plus the media stuff.
And then there's the Upgrades, like the four versions above, they are all upgrades to the SP1 versions.
So far we have eight versions. The first four, plus the four upgrades. That's eight different prices. But wait, I'm not finished. There's four more upgrades, you can upgrade from Home Basic to Home Premium, from Business to Ultimate, from Premium to Ultimate, from Basic to Ultimate.
That's a lot to digest. Then there's still a version you can't buy, one you've got to be a Microsoft Assurance customer to get, called Windows Vista Enterprise.
That's a lot of windows in the Microsoft Operating System house, but I'm guessing there are only three versions that will be of interest to most. Vista Home Basic, because it's the cheapest. Home Premium, because you get the Aero interface and Windows Media Player, or lastly Vista Ultimate, because with this one you get it all.
I was pretty confused when I started this review and maybe I still am, a little, but I think I've got it all sorted out in my head and I'm wondering if I've been any help to you, dear reader, at all. For the money, Basic is the best deal, but me, I'd go with Home Premium or even Ultimate, because I can afford it and because it's the latest and the greatest.
Now with all that out of the way, do I like Vista? Absolutely. I've been an XP girl for way too long. I didn't upgrade straightaway when Vista first came out, because I'd heard all the horror stories. I have Vista now and I'm happy with it. Will I go back to XP? Answer, no. I've got Vista now and I'm sticking with it.
I'm Pretty Impressed, So There You Go 5 Stars April 8, 2008
Sara "Babe" Hackett (from the Darkside)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
I've been using Vista with SP1 for a couple weeks now on two different computers, my MacBook Pro and my iMac, both running on Bootcamp partitions and I have to say I'm pretty darned impressed.
I have lots of ram, ram to spare in both my machines, as I'm a Photoshop girl and both my machines are the latest and greatest Apple has to off, so I was good to go as far as hardware was concerned. I had no problems running the Aero eye candy and though it's no Leopard, it's quite nice. I liked the transparent window frames and I liked the minimizing and restoring effects, but again, I'm used to the Mac, so for me they were no great shakes.
I like the search box in the start menu, but I like spotlight better. Still it's very handy. The Widgets are a copy of Mac's Dashboard and Flip 3D is a copy of Expose, but then again Microsoft has been copying Apple for years.
I had to go online and download the printer driver again for my Brother printer, but that was no big deal and a couple of my Photoshop plugins had to be updated, but then I hadn't used them for awhile. I was just checking everything because of the new Vista install.
In conclusion I guess I'd say if you've got the hardware and are not a Mac person, this is a pretty good operating system and it seems stable. I know, I know, you've probably read all the same stuff I have about how Vista crashes and crashes and crashes and I've experienced plenty of crashes myself, but those problems seem to have been solved with the SP1 upgrade.
The Home Premium version I have on my MacBook hasn't crashed yet and Vista Ultimate on my iMac has only brought down my machine one time. Granted, it's early days yet, but as for now I'll say it again, I'm pretty impressed.
However there is one thing I just cannot seem to wrap my mind around. Why oh why are there so many versions of Vista. Well that bothered me with XP as well. Do you really need:
Vista Home Basic with SP1
Vista Home Premium with SP1
Vista Business with SP1
Ultimate with SP1
Vista Home Basic Upgrade with SP1
Vista Home Premium Upgrade with SP1
Vista Business Upgrade with SP1
Ultimate Upgrade with SP1
That's an awful lot of Vistas. Then there's:
Vista Anytime Upgrade Pack with SP1 [Home Basic to Home Premium]
Vista Anytime Upgrade Pack with SP1 [Business to Ultimate]
Vista Anytime Upgrade Pack with SP1 [Home Premium to Ultimate]
Vista Anytime Upgrade Pack with SP1 [Home Basic to Ultimate]
Come on, Microsoft, how about a one size fits all operating system like they do over in the Mac world. And this business about your copy protection, lighten up. Maybe some people do rip off Mr. Jobs' Leopard, you know buy it and put it on more than one machine, but how many computers can they use at a time. Yes, yes, maybe a husband and wife could be on at the same time, or one of the kiddies, but sheesh, give us a break.
I know you have to protect yourself from the hordes who want free software, but Apple's making a pretty penny with Leopard even while they trust their users, you could too.
Still, I guess I have to give all your Vistas with SP1 five stars, grudgingly, because of the way I think you do business, but I've got Vista working fine on two different computers, plus my husband has it on a couple others and we're not having major problems, so there you go, five stars.
Reviewed by Sara Hackett
 Included DVD does not contain 64-bit version... April 8, 2008
Skidz
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
I just received my upgrade DVD today, only to discover that it only includes the 32-bit software. A small insert in the case gives a special URL (below) where you can go to order *free* alternate media. This allows you to get a copy of the upgrade on CD instead of DVD, or to get a 64-bit version of the upgrade.
I know what you're thinking...that you'll just order the alternate media now so that it will be ready to install once your upgrade DVD arrives with it's key. Sorry, you need your product key to order the 64-bit version. I went to the web page and entered my information, but it wouldn't process, so I had to call Microsoft directly. To my surprise, a real person (friendly and fluent in English) answered the phone immediately and was able to process my request. They are mailing me the 64-bit DVD which I was told would arrive within 3-10 business days. He explained that the new product keys being issued are not yet in their online system, so they have to be processed via phone.
I was not charged for the media, or for shipping.
[...]
If you're reading this, you probably know whether you need the upgrade or not, just make sure you allow yourself some extra time if you're currently running a 64-bit version of Vista Home Premium.
I'm giving this 4 stars. Would have been 5 stars if the DVD had included 64-bit versions. (Unfortunately nothing in the product description makes this apparent.)
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![Microsoft Windows Vista Anytime Upgrade Pack with SP1 [Home Premium to Ultimate]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41NQDSmkUpL._SL160_.jpg)
