Which Version Of Windows Vista?
Monday, October 8th, 2007There are a few different versions of Windows Vista, and to help choose the right package we've put together a quick summary, some information we found useful and some links so you can find out more.
There are 5 main versions:
- Vista Home Basic
Basic operating system for home users who don't need the bells and whistles
- Vista Home Premium
For home users who want entertainment, media player, games, TV, DVD and movie editing.
- Vista Business
Advanced data recovery, remote desktop, and other professional features.
- Vista Enterprise
Cost effective option for large organisations, very similar features to Business, but licensed for a larger amount of users.
- Vista Ultimate
All the business features, plus the entertainment bells and whistles that you get with home premium.
Extreme Tech produced a handy table (adapted from the Microsoft site) which helps show the differences between the versions at a glance.
| Vista Edition | Vista Home Basic | Vista Home Premium | Vista Business | Vista Enterprise | Vista Ultimate |
| Fancy Aero "Glass" User Interface | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| User Account Control (UAC) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Firewall/Defender | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IE7 with phishing filter, protected mode | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Instant Search | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Maximum supported RAM (32-bit version) | 4GB | 4GB | 4GB | 4GB | 4GB |
| Maximum supported RAM (64-bit version) | 8GB | 16GB | 128GB | 128GB | 128GB |
| Number of logical CPUs (cores) supported | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Number of physical CPUs supported | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Backup and recover | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduled backup | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Volume Shadow Copy | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| BitLocker (drive encryption) | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| SuperFetch | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| "Premium" Games | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Media Player 11 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Photo Gallery | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Media Center (with HDTV/cablecard support) | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Windows Movie Maker (with HD support) | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Windows DVD Maker | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Remote Desktop | Limited | Limited | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Offline Files/Folders | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IIS Web Server | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Meeting Space Interaction | Limited | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rights Management Services | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tablet PC Functionality | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SideShow | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Speech Recognition | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fax and Scan | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ultimate Extras | No | No | No | No | Yes |
You can find more information on the Vista section of the Microsoft Site; or see their official comparison chart.
