Скачать Windows Vista Home Premium
Windows Vista Home Premium
Только лицензионный продукт
Производитель:Microsoft Corporation
Редакция:Home Premium
Размер:Rus x64 — 3,5 Гб, x32 — 2,8 Гб; Eng x64 — 3,6 Гб, x32 — 3 Гб
Язык интерфейса:Русский
Разрядность Системы:x32/x64
Минимальные системные требования:
Процессор:32-разрядный (x86) или 64-разрядный (x64) процессор с тактовой частотой 800 МГц
ОЗУ:512 МБ
Место на диске:20 Гб
Графика:SVGA (800 x 600)
Проверено на вирусы:
Скачать Windows Vista Home Premium (Домашняя расширенная) — оригинальные дистрибутивы от Microsoft.
Windows Vista Home Premium (Домашняя расширенная) — это идеальная версия операционной системы для домашних пользователей, сочетающая в себе удобство использования и расширенные мультимедийные возможности. Эта версия предлагает улучшенную поддержку цифрового контента, включая работу с видео, фото и музыкой, а также функции для создания домашних сетей. Windows Vista Home Premium обеспечивает комфортную работу с развлечениями и повседневными задачами, сохраняя при этом высокий уровень производительности.
Эта версия остаётся популярной среди пользователей, которые ценят простоту интерфейса и широкие возможности для работы с мультимедиа. Windows Vista Home Premium (Домашняя расширенная) идеально подходит для семейного использования, предлагая надёжность и удобство.
Для активации этой версии требуется лицензионный ключ, который можно приобрести на странице с товаром. Использование оригинальных ключей гарантирует доступ ко всем функциям и регулярным обновлениям.
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- Publication date
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2008-02-04
- Topics
- Windows, Windows Vista, Windows Vista Home Premium, SP1, Service Pack 1, 32-bit, x86, Microsoft
- Language
- English
- Item Size
- 2.9G
Original ISO of Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 x86!
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- 2018-09-10 02:38:26
- Identifier
- WindowsVistaHomePremiumSP1
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- Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1.6.3
- Year
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2008
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Скажу сразу – это не обзор операционной системы, а обзор коробки и ее содержимого в плане дизайна. Дело в том, коробка Windows Vista Retail версии исключительная, и, на мой взгляд, заслуживает отдельного рассмотрения. Данная статья — это уникальный материал, ибо я не нашел не только в русском, но и в англоязычном интернете подробного описания коробки Windows Vista. Я считаю это непростительное упущение, ведь в эту коробку было вложено много труда инженеров и дизайнеров, так что нужно восстановить историческую несправедливость.
Даже беглого взгляда на коробку достаточно, что это что-то необычное. Вспомним как выглядят все коробки для любых дисков – это обычный параллелепипед. Он может быть прозрачным, или не прозрачным, из белого, черного или цветного пластика, но всегда это была ничем не примечательная прямоугольная коробочка.
Microsoft, и, возглавляющий ее в 2006 году Билл Гейтс, для которого эта система стала последней в его карьере директора, с выходом Windows Vista решили сделать прорыв как в функционале своих операционных систем, так и в дизайне. А в случае с Vista значительные дизайнерские силы были брошены даже на коробку. Конечно, OEM версии Vista упаковывались либо в конверт, либо в стандартную прямоугольную пластиковую коробку. А для розничных покупателей решили сделать чуточку больше.
Как-то раз, листая страницы барахолки АВИТО я заметил предложение, мимо которого, извиняюсь за тавтологию, не смог пройти мимо. Windows Vista Home Premium Retail Box предлагался всего за 300 рублей. По нынешнему курсу это чуть больше $6. Также мне понравился насыщенный травяной зеленый цвет этой версии.
Дело в том, что коробочные версии Vista существуют в четырех вариантах. На фото ниже вы можете видеть их все. Vista Home Basic имеет бледно зеленый цвет. Vista Home Premium имеет сочный насыщенный зеленый цвет. Vista Business имеет глубокий синий цвет, а коробка Vista Ultimate выкрашена в черный цвет. Так что есть выбор для любителей разных цветов.
В Windows Vista впервые появился революционный интерфейс Aero Glass, который после перекочевал в Windows 7, после чего он кому-то не понравился и от него, к сожалению, отказались. Дизайн Aero Glass также было решено применить и к коробке с розничной версией ОС. Уже начиная с Windows 7 началось упрощение коробки, она стала проще и потеряла прозрачность, выполнена из мутного перерабатываемого пластика в угоду экоактивистам и открывается обычно, как книжка. А сейчас вообще нет никаких коробок, и последнюю версию Windows можно купить лишь в цифровом виде, или, если удастся найти, на фирменной флешке.
Коробка Windows Vista выполнена из прозрачного пластика и имеет скругленный правый верхний угол. Также скруглена левая боковая грань коробки. Открывается коробка не как книжка, а необычным способом. Нужно потянуть за ярлычок в левой верхней части коробки либо за уступы на правой грани коробки. Внутренний лоток, удерживаемый штифтом, откинется вправо.
На передней стороне лотка закреплен диск с 32-разрядной версией системы. Во всех коробках Vista лежит только один диск с 32-разрядной системой, кроме Ultimate – там положили 2 диска с 32 и 64-разрядными системами. 64-разрядную версию Windows Vista Home Premium предлагается скачать с сайта, ключ от 32-разрядной подойдет.
За диском в лотке есть отсек для печатной продукции. Там лежит листовка и краткое руководство. Все печатные материалы выполнены на дорогой мелованной бумаге. На обратной стороне лотка приклеена наклейка с ключом для активации системы.
Коробка из прозрачного пластика содержит внутри картонную вставку. Эта картонная вставка заполняет все видимые плоскости коробки. Но дизайнерам Microsoft не хватило места для размещения необходимой информации, и они создали интересное конструкторское решение, которое не встречалось в предыдущих и последующих коробках операционных систем. Листы картона соединяются у левого заднего ребра и выходят через специальные отверстия на заднюю часть коробки, образуя как бы обложку книги. Таким образом мы получаем коробку из прозрачного пластика, у которой сзади есть картонная часть, как задняя переплетная крышка у обычной книги. Внутри коробки картон белого цвета и не имеет надписей.
На верхнем торце коробки размещена наклейка. На передней части коробки на богатом зеленом фоне красуется логотип и заявление о том, что это лучший выпуск Windows для домашних настольных и переносных ПК. Задняя часть коробки и внутренняя сторона переплета содержат изображения новых программ и галереи открытых окон, которая называется режимом Flip 3D. Он сохранился в Windows 7, а в последующих версиях Windows его выпилили.
Внешняя часть переплета содержит сравнительную таблицу, по которой можно понять, что есть, а чего нет в каждой редакции Windows Vista. Видно, что самая бедная версия – Home Basic, а самая полная — Ultimate.
В листовке сказано, что 64-разрядную версию на DVD, если она вам нужна, можно заказать за дополнительную плату. На момент выхода Vista большинство процессоров на ПК в мире не поддерживали 64-разрядные системы, поэтому Microsoft решила, что 64-разрядную систему купят только очень богатые, и по умолчанию положила ее только в коробку Ultimate.
Краткое руководство содержит 42 страницы. Я не буду переписывать все, что там написано, текст можно посмотреть в прилагаемой галерее. Хочу отметить высокое качество полиграфии. Каждый абзац текста иллюстрируется красивой иконкой, выполненной в стеклянном стиле Aero Glass. Буклет рассказывает о том, как начать работать с новой системой. Описан Центр начальной настройки, который запускается сразу после установки Windows Vista. Этой программы больше не будет в следующих версиях Windows.
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На 17 странице рассказывается о ключевой особенности интерфейса – Windows Aero. Процитирую: «Интерфейс в данной версии Windows Vista обеспечивает визуальные эффекты высочайшего качества. Он содержит эффект прозрачного стекла с изящной анимацией окон и эргономичное пролистывание окон с представлением открытых окон в трехмерных стопках.» После Microsoft пошла по пути деградации дизайна и перешла на плоский стиль окон. В Windows 11 вернули скругленные края приложений. Я думаю, что не далек тот день, когда вернут прозрачность окон. Microsoft ничего лучше интерфейса Aero создать не удалось. Я думаю, что чем больше будет в сети материалов про Vista и 7, тем быстрее Microsoft вернется к этой идее.
На странице 18 описан видеоредактор Windows Movie Maker. Это бесплатный видеоредактор, входящий в состав Vista редакций Home Premium и Ultimate. Начиная с Windows 7 его выпилили. Так что имея только ОС Vista вы могли сразу заняться видеомонтажом. Жаль, что Microsoft отказались развивать эту программу, возможно сейчас никто не пользовался бы DaVinci Resolve и Vegas, если бы с каждой новой версией Windows выходила новая версия Movie Maker.
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На странице 25 показаны возможности Боковой панели. Она еще была в составе Windows 7, а потом была удалена. Полезность ее может быть спорной, кому-то она нравилась, кому-то нет. Мне кажется, она была приятной, но Microsoft решила, что пользователям она не понравилась. Вместо гаджетов боковой панели в Windows 10 нам предложили богомерзкие плитки в меню Пуск, которые под влиянием разъяренной общественности выпилили из последних релизов Windows 10 и в Windows 11 никаких живых плиток уже не было.
Подводя итог можно сказать, что коробка Windows Vista, выполненная в стеклянном дизайне Aero, вполне может стать неплохим украшением интерьера.
Telegram-канал @overclockers_news — теперь в новом формате. Подписывайся, чтобы быть в курсе всех новостей!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Windows Vista—a major release of the Microsoft Windows operating system—was available in six different product editions: Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate.[1][2] On September 5, 2006, Microsoft announced the USD pricing for editions available through retail channels;[3] the operating system was later made available to retail on January 30, 2007.[4] Microsoft also made Windows Vista available for purchase and download from Windows Marketplace; it is the first version of Windows to be distributed through a digital distribution platform.[5] Editions sold at retail were available in both Full and Upgrade versions and later included Service Pack 1 (SP1).[6]
Microsoft characterized the retail packaging for Windows Vista as «designed to be user-friendly, a small, hard, plastic container designed to protect the software inside for life-long use»;[7] it opens sideways to reveal the Windows Vista DVD suspended in a clear plastic case.[8][9] Windows Vista optical media use a holographic design with vibrant colors.[10]
With the exception of Windows Vista Starter, all editions support both IA-32 (32-bit) and x64 (64-bit) processor architectures.[11] Microsoft ceased distribution of retail copies of Windows Vista in October 2010; OEM distribution of Windows Vista ended in October 2011.[12]
Editions for personal computers
[edit]
- Windows Vista Starter
- Much like its predecessor, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Vista Starter was available in emerging markets; it was sold across 139 developing countries in 70 different languages. Microsoft did not make it available in developed technology markets such as the United States, Canada, the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, or other high income markets as defined by the World Bank.[13] Windows Vista Starter has significant limitations; it disallows the concurrent operation of more than three programs (although an unlimited number of windows can be opened for each program unlike in Windows XP Starter); disallows users from sharing files or printers over a home network (or sharing a connection with other computers); does not support Windows Media Player media streaming or sharing; displays a permanent watermark in the bottom right corner of the screen,[13] does not support Windows Aero, and imposes a maximum amount of 120 GB hard disk space and a physical memory limit of 1 GB.[14] However, the memory limit is not actually enforced.[15] Peer-to-peer networking is also disabled, and there is no support for simultaneous SMB connections.[15]
- Consumer-oriented features such as Games Explorer, Parental Controls, Windows Calendar, Windows Mail, Windows Movie Maker (without support for high-definition video), Windows Photo Gallery (without support for sharing photos or themed slideshows), Windows Speech Recognition, and Windows Sidebar are included.[15]
- Windows Vista Starter is licensed to run only on PCs with AMD’s Athlon XP, Duron, Sempron and Geode processors, Intel’s Celeron, Pentium III processors, and certain models of Pentium 4. Windows Vista Starter can be installed from optical media including those belonging to other editions of the operating system.[16]
- Windows Vista Starter includes a different set of desktop wallpapers not found in other editions.[17]
- Windows Vista Home Basic
- Similar to Windows XP Home Edition, the Home Basic edition targets budget-conscious users not requiring advanced multimedia support for home use. The Windows Aero graphical user interface with translucent glass and lighting effects is absent from this edition; however, desktop composition—albeit without Flip 3D or Live Thumbnails—is supported. Home Basic does not include Windows DVD Maker or Windows Media Center (or support for Extenders). Premium games including Chess Titans, Inkball, Mahjong Titans are not included. Windows HotStart is also available.[11]
- Home Basic supports one physical CPU, but with multiple cores,[18] and the 64-bit version supports up to 8 GB of RAM.[19]
- Windows Vista Home Premium
- Containing all features from Home Basic and similar to Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows Vista Home Premium includes additional features dedicated to the home market segment. Full Windows Aero and desktop composition is available. Multimedia features include DVD burning with Windows DVD Maker, and HDTV and Xbox 360 support with Windows Media Center. Premium games (Chess Titans, InkBall, and Mahjong Titans) are available. Enhanced networking features include ad hoc support, projectors, and up to 10 simultaneous SMB connections (compared to 5 in Home Basic);[20] Windows Meeting Space, while included in Home Basic, only allowed users to join meetings—in Home Premium, users may either create new meetings or join existing ones.[21][22] Home Premium also introduces Windows Mobility Center, Windows SideShow, and Windows Tablet PC and Touch features such as support for capacitive touchscreens, flick gestures, Snipping Tool, and Tablet PC Input Panel (which has been updated since Windows XP to include AutoComplete, as well as handwriting personalization and training features). Backup and Restore additionally supports backup schedules, backup to network devices, and incremental backups.
- Windows Vista Home Premium—like Home Basic—supports only one physical CPU, but it additionally supports multiple cores.[18] The 64-bit version supports up to 16 GB of RAM.[19]
- Windows Vista Business
- Comparable to Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista Business Edition targets the business market. It includes all the features of Home Basic with the exception of Parental Controls and can join a Windows Server domain. It includes Encrypting File System, Internet Information Services, Offline Files, Remote Desktop, Rights Management Services, Shadow Copy, and Windows Fax and Scan. Backup and Restore also allows users to create disk images of operating system installations.
- Windows Vista Business supports up to two physical CPUs,[18] and the 64-bit version supports 128 GB of RAM.[19]
- Windows Vista Enterprise
- This edition targets the enterprise segment of the market: it comprises a superset of the Vista Business edition. Additional features include BitLocker, Multilingual User Interface (MUI), and UNIX application support. Windows Vista Enterprise was not available through retail or OEM channels, but was instead distributed through Microsoft Software Assurance (SA), with license terms that conferred the right to operate up to four virtual machines with various Windows Vista editions installed, access to Virtual PC Express, and activation via volume licensing.[23][24]
- Windows Vista Enterprise supports up to two physical CPUs,[18] and the 64-bit version supports up to 128 GB of RAM.[19]
- Windows Vista Ultimate
- Windows Vista Ultimate includes all features of the Home Premium and Business editions, as well as BitLocker and MUI; it also provides access to optional «Ultimate Extras.» Windows Vista Ultimate supports up to two physical CPUs,[18] and the 64-bit version supports up to 128 GB of RAM.[19]
- Microsoft released two special edition variants of Windows Vista Ultimate: Windows Vista Ultimate Signature Edition featured a unique production number alongside the signature of Bill Gates on the front of the packaging; the edition was limited to 25,000 copies.[25] Windows Vista Product Red was produced as part of the Product Red program, with a portion of sales supporting The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The edition was originally distributed as pre-loaded software on a line of Product Red-branded Dell PCs,[26] but was later released at retail. Besides including an additional desktop theme with wallpapers and other content, it is otherwise identical to the main Windows Vista Ultimate SKU.[27][28][29][30]
- Internally, Microsoft released a Windows Vista Handcrafted variant of the Windows Vista Ultimate SKU for employees involved with the development of Windows Vista; it features a custom box alongside a note to employees, but is otherwise identical to the Ultimate SKU.[31]
Users could purchase and download Windows Vista directly from Microsoft through the Windows Marketplace before the service’s discontinuation.[32][33]
Optical media distributed through retail or through OEMs for Windows Vista are identical; Microsoft refers to this as «CD unification.» Before Windows Vista, versions of Windows for OEMs and retail were maintained separately.[34][35] All editions of Windows Vista—excluding Enterprise—are stored on the same optical media; a license key for the edition purchased determines which version on the disc is eligible for installation.[36] To upgrade to a higher edition from a lower edition (such as from Home Basic to Ultimate) Windows Vista includes Windows Anytime Upgrade to facilitate an upgrade.[37][38][39] For computers with optical disc drives that supported CDs but not DVDs, Microsoft offered CDs for Windows Vista that could be purchased from its website.[36][40] The company would later release alternative media for Windows Vista SP1.[41]
A Windows Vista Family Discount program enabled United States and Canada customers who purchased the Ultimate edition before June 30, 2007 to purchase additional licenses for Windows Vista Home Premium at a cost of $49.99 each. Microsoft sold these licenses online through its website.[32][42] In addition, eligible students in qualifying regions had the option to purchase the upgrade version of the Home Premium edition at a reduced price.[43] A similar offer was later available for Windows Vista Ultimate.[44]
To support x64 platforms such as Intel Xeon, Intel Core 2, AMD Opteron and AMD Athlon 64, Microsoft released x64 versions of every edition of Windows Vista except for the Starter edition.[11] These editions can run 32-bit programs within the WOW64 subsystem. Most 32-bit programs can run natively, though applications that rely on device drivers will not run unless those device drivers have been written for x64 platforms.[45][46] Reviewers have reported that the x64 editions of Windows Vista outperform their IA-32 counterparts in benchmarks such as PassMark.[47]
All 32-bit editions of Windows Vista, excluding Starter, support up to 4 GB of RAM. The 64-bit edition of Home Basic supports 8 GB of RAM, Home Premium supports 16 GB, and Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate support 128 GB of RAM.[19]
All 64-bit versions of Microsoft operating systems impose a 16 TB limit on address space. Processes created on the 64-bit editions of Windows Vista can have 8 TB in virtual memory for user processes and 8 TB for kernel processes to create a virtual memory of 16 TB.[48]
Editions for specific markets
[edit]
In March 2004, the European Commission fined Microsoft for €497 million (about US$603 million) and ordered the company to provide a version of Windows without Windows Media Player. The Commission concluded that Microsoft «broke European Union competition law by leveraging its near monopoly in the market for PC operating systems onto the markets for work group server operating systems and for media players.»[49] Microsoft reached an agreement with the Commission where it would release a court-compliant version, Windows XP Edition N, that does not include the company’s Windows Media Player but instead encourages users to download and install their preferred media player.[50]
Similarly, in December 2005, the Korean Fair Trade Commission ordered Microsoft to make available editions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 that do not contain Windows Media Player or Windows Messenger.[51] Similar to the European Commission, this decision was based on the grounds that Microsoft had abused its dominant position in the market to push other products onto consumers. Unlike that decision, however, Microsoft was also forced to withdraw the non-compliant versions of Windows from the South Korean market. This decision resulted in Microsoft’s releasing «K» and «KN» variants of the Home and Professional editions of Windows XP in August 2006.[52]
As a continuance of these requirements, Microsoft released «N» variants of some editions of Windows Vista that exclude Windows Media Player, as well as «K» and «KN» editions that include links to third-party media player and instant messaging software. «N» editions of Windows Vista require third-party software (or a separate installation of Windows Media Player) to play audio CDs and other media formats such as MPEG-4.[53]
Editions for embedded systems
[edit]
Two additional editions of Windows Vista have been released for use by developers of embedded devices. These are binary identical editions to those available in retail, but licensed exclusively for use in embedded devices.[54]
- Windows Vista Business for Embedded Systems
- This edition mirrors the feature set of the Business edition of Windows Vista.
- Windows Vista Ultimate for Embedded Systems
- This edition mirrors the feature set of the Ultimate edition of Windows Vista. Accordingly, it includes capabilities not found in Vista Business for Embedded Systems such as BitLocker Drive Encryption, the Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications, and Virtual PC Express.[55]
Upgrade paths from Windows XP and between different Vista editions. Dotted lines indicate the need for a «clean install.»
Unlike previous versions of Windows, Windows Vista does not support compliance checking during installation; compliance checking previously allowed users to insert a disc as evidence that the operating system was being upgraded over a previous version, which would allow users to enter an upgrade license to perform a clean install.[56] As a result, Upgrade versions of Windows Vista will not install unless a previous version of Windows is already installed on the machine to be upgraded.[57][58][59] A workaround for this limitation was reported by Paul Thurrott, who stated that users should be able to perform a full installation of Windows Vista through Upgrade media by bypassing the prompt to enter a license during setup, and then, once installed, reinstall the operating system over the previous installation—this essentially allows users who purchased the Upgrade version to perform a full retail installation.[60][61] While the workaround is indeed possible,[62] Microsoft has cautioned that users who perform a full installation of the operating system through this method without a genuine license for a previous version would be in violation of the Windows Vista end-user license agreement.[63]
Users can upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista, or upgrade from one edition of Windows Vista to another. However, upgrading from a 32-bit edition to a 64-bit edition or downgrading from 64-bit edition to a 32-bit edition requires a clean install.[45][64][65] In addition, not all potential upgrade combinations are supported. The following chart indicates the possible upgrade paths:
Upgrade path to Windows Vista, showing which original products can perform an in-place upgrade to which editions of Windows Vista
Version and its specific edition of Windows to upgrade from |
Edition of Windows Vista to upgrade to | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Starter | Home Basic |
Home Premium |
Business | Ultimate | Enterprise | |
XP Starter | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
XP Home | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
XP Professional | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
XP Media Center 2005 | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
XP Media Center 2004 | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
XP Media Center 2002 | No | No | No | No | No | No |
XP Tablet PC | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
XP Professional x64 | No | No | No | No | No | No |
XP Embedded | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Vista Starter | — | No | No | No | Yes | No |
Vista Home Basic | No | — | Yes | No | Yes | No |
Vista Home Premium | No | No | — | No | Yes | No |
Vista Business | No | No | No | — | Yes | Yes |
Vista Ultimate | No | No | No | No | — | No |
Vista Enterprise | No | No | No | No | Yes | — |
Notes:
- Only Windows XP can be upgraded to Windows Vista; a clean install is required for PCs running Windows 2000 or earlier versions.[66]
- While it is possible to upgrade from Windows XP Media Center Edition to Windows Vista Home Premium if the computer was joined to an Active Directory Domain at the time of upgrade, the computer will remain joined to the domain but no users will be able to log into the computer through the domain controller. Windows Vista Home Premium does not support joining an Active Directory Domain.
Windows Vista edition comparison chart[11][67][68]
Features | Starter | Home Basic1,2 | Home Premium2 | Business1,2,3 | Enterprise1,2 | Ultimate2 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Licensing scheme | OEM licensing in emerging markets[13] | Retail and OEM | Retail, OEM and volume | Volume | Retail and OEM | |
Maximum RAM on IA-32[15] | 4 GB, license allows for 1 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB |
Maximum RAM on x64[19] | — | 8 GB | 16 GB | 128 GB | 128 GB | 128 GB |
Maximum physical CPUs[18] | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Simultaneous SMB peer network connections | — | 5 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
Number of running applications | 3 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Windows Movie Maker | Partial (no support for HD content creation) | Partial (no support for HD content creation) | Yes | Partial (no support for HD content creation)4 | Partial (no support for HD content creation) | Yes |
Windows Mobility Center5 | Partial | Partial6 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Games Explorer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Accessibility Settings and Ease of Access Center | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Instant Search | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Windows ReadyDrive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Windows Speech Recognition | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Application Compatibility features | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Improved VPN support | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Improved power management | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Windows HotStart[69] | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Network Diagnostics and troubleshooting | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Improved wireless networking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Parental Controls[70] | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Universal game controller support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Disabled by default | Disabled by default | Yes |
Sync Center | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Network and Sharing Center | No Share center | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Improved peer networking | No P2P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Network Access Protection Client Agent | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Desktop Window Manager | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Ad hoc backup and recovery of user files and folders | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Pluggable logon authentication architecture | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Windows Aero | No | Partial (desktop composition only) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Windows Meeting Space | No P2P meeting | View only | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Scheduled backup of user files | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Windows Tablet PC with integrated pen and digital ink input | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Windows Tablet PC touch screen support | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Windows Tablet PC handwriting recognition improvements | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Windows Tablet PC usability and navigation improvements | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Windows SideShow | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Premium games7 | No | No | Yes | Disabled by default | Disabled by default | Yes |
Windows Media Center | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Windows DVD Maker | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Themed slide shows | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Native DVD playback | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Complete PC Backup | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Small Business Resources | No | No | No | Yes | Yes (optional) | Yes |
Joining Windows Server domains | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Windows Fax and Scan | No | No | No | Yes | Yes (optional) | Yes (optional) |
Remote Desktop Services | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Group Policy | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Encrypting File System | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (Enhancements available in Windows Ultimate Extras) |
Wireless network provisioning | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Desktop deployment tools for managed networks | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Policy-based quality of service for networking | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Windows Rights Management Services (RMS) Client | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Control over installation of device | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Remote Server Administration Tools support (requires Service Pack 1) | No | No | No | With update (KB941314) | With update (KB941314) | With update (KB941314) |
BitLocker | No | No | No | No | Requires TPM 1.2 or USB Flash drive | Requires TPM 1.2 or USB Flash drive |
Multilingual User Interface | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Subsystem for UNIX-based applications | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
DirectAccess | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Windows Ultimate Extras | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
Features | Starter | Home Basic1,2 | Home Premium2 | Business1,2,3 | Enterprise1,2 | Ultimate2 |
Notes:
- Home Basic, Business and Enterprise editions are available in the South Korean and European markets as «KN» and «N» editions, respectively, which exclude Windows Media Player and HD components of Windows Movie Maker.[71]
- All editions except Starter are available in the Korean market as «K» editions, which are sold in place of the standard editions of Windows Vista. Unlike the «KN» editions, the «K» editions do include Windows Media Player and its related components, and also include links to web sites which list third-party media player and instant messaging software.[53]
- Windows Vista Business N is available in the European market. By default, it does not include Windows Media Player and its related components, or Windows Movie Maker.[71]
- Windows Movie Maker is not available in Windows Vista Business KN.[71]
- Windows Mobility Center is available on mobile PCs (notebook PCs, Tablet PCs, and Ultra-mobile PCs) but not on desktop PCs. The rotate screen functionality is offered only on Tablet PCs with an appropriate driver.
- Presentation settings on Windows Mobility Center are not available on Home Basic.
- Premium Windows Vista games, including Chess Titans, InkBall, and Mahjong Titans, are available in Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate. Windows Vista games are also available as optional components in the Business and Enterprise editions, but are not installed by default.[72]
- Windows Anytime Upgrade
- Windows Ultimate Extras
- Windows 2000 editions
- Windows 7 editions
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The Good
Windows Vista Home Premium does improve some features within Windows XP; fewer system crashes than Windows XP; and Windows Vista offers better built-in support options.
The Bad
Windows Vista Home Premium does not put Search on the desktop (it’s buried within applications, within the Start Menu); no new software yet written exclusively for Windows Vista; optimized only for the Microsoft Windows ecosystem (for example, RSS feeds from Internet Explorer 7 get preferential treatment); Tablet PC support unnecessary; fax and scan support missing; and there are too many editions of Windows Vista.
The Bottom Line
Windows Vista Home Premium is essentially warmed-over Windows XP Home Edition. If you’re currently happy with Windows XP SP2, we see no compelling reason to upgrade. On the other hand, if you need a new computer right now, Windows Vista Home Premium is stable enough for everyday use.
For a side-by-side comparison chart of Windows Vista editions, click below.
/4520-13111_1-6687520-1.html»>Windows Vista is Microsoft’s first new operating system in more than five years and the successor to Windows XP. However, it is not worth rushing out to purchase. If you desperately need to buy a new PC (if your old one died or you’ve been waiting and waiting for Vista to be released), then by all means do so; there’s nothing wrong with Windows Vista. But there’s no one compelling feature within Windows Vista that cries out to switch over, neither the enhanced graphic capabilities (Aero) nor the improved system performance features (truthfully, our Windows XP doesn’t crash). As for security, Microsoft’s biggest improvements in Windows Vista are within the Enterprise or 64-bit editions, editions most home users will not be running. Windows Vista is not the Apple Mac OS X 10.4 killer one hoped for (or feared). Nor are there specific big-name software packages written exclusively for Windows Vista—most software available today is compatible with both Windows XP and Windows Vista. But the extensive tie-ins to Microsoft.com and Live.com, and the many, many interdependences upon Internet Explorer 7 left us desperately wanting more (and often best-of-breed) alternatives. Hard core Microsofties who live and breathe within the MSN, Live.com, and Microsoft desktop software ecosystem will rejoice with the release of Windows Vista, but for the rest of us who are product agnostic, who use Firefox, Google Desktop, ZoneAlarm, GMail, and Corel WordPerfect, Windows XP SP2 will suffice nicely until some killer program necessitates that we all upgrade to Windows Vista.
There are six major editions of Windows Vista; we’re reviewing four. We chose not to review Windows Vista Enterprise (available only to volume license customers) and Windows Vista Starter (available only outside the United States). Windows Vista Ultimate includes everything, and this is the edition getting the most promotion from Microsoft. It is not the edition most people will find packaged on their shiny new PCs or will end up with after an upgrade of existing hardware. See our feature comparison chart to know which edition is right for your specific needs, and check the following individual reviews for more details:
Setup and installation
The Windows Vista DVD disc includes a Windows Imaging (WIM) format of the code, so whether you buy the Home Basic edition or the Ultimate edition, the code remains the same; only the product key unlocks your specific set of features. This means users who opt for the lesser editions can always upgrade (assuming they have the proper hardware) by downloading some additional code and securing a new product key online. However, all features—even if you paid for them—are dependent on specific hardware configurations being present; if you don’t have the proper graphics hardware, for example, you’ll simply never see the Aero graphic effects on that old Dell computer in your basement.
Hardware requirements for Windows Vista should not be taken lightly. In a controversial move to garner positive reviews, Microsoft sent hundreds of bloggers (not including CNET) free copies of Windows Vista Ultimate; Microsoft did not send boxed copies, rather the software giant sent top-of-the-line Acer Ferrari laptops with the operating system preinstalled. So even Microsoft seems to admit that the best performance is only available on top-of-the-line machines manufactured within the last year or so.
That said, many people will still want to upgrade their current Windows XP SP2. This will keep all your current data and applications, importing them directly into the new operating system. Most people will find either Windows Vista Home Basic or Windows Vista Home Premium to be their best choice. While Windows Vista does make a backup of your previous operating system before installing, it is always recommended that you backup your current Windows XP system yourself, just in case.
Rather than upgrade, we recommend you perform a clean installation. With a clean installation, you keep all your current on the Windows XP drive and install only the data and applications you want to run on Windows Vista. A clean install can be accomplished by buying a new PC with Windows Vista already installed, partitioning an existing Windows XP machine to dual-boot into Windows Vista, or adding a new hard drive to an existing Windows XP machine.
Our clean installations took anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on the hardware in the system. It’s pretty much an automated process, with the installer first copying the WIM image onto the new hard drive or partition then expanding that image. Once again, we experienced an uncomfortably long plateau at «Expanding: 27 percent»; as with previous builds, we waited between two and five minutes before the expansion continued. About halfway through, the installer reboots and continues the installation in Windows Vista.
During the installation, Windows Vista will load the drivers included within the installation image, but it will also download additional drivers from a much larger database at Microsoft. This assumes, however, that one has an always-on Internet connection; dial-up users may find that upon completion of the installation process some drivers are missing.
Once fully installed, Windows Vista first asks for your country or region, then time and currency, and, finally, the desired keyboard layout. Next, you’ll choose a username, a user icon, and a password. Then select your desktop wallpaper and security settings: Automatic, Install Important Updates Only, or Ask Me Later. After reviewing the computer’s time and date settings, there’s one more message: «Please wait while Windows checks your computer’s performance.» Here, Microsoft grades your computer on a five-point scale, with the overall rating based on your system’s lowest score (in our case, that was for the video card).
Windows Vista includes new musical tones written by veteran musician Robert Fripp. Compared to the familiar start-up tones of Windows XP, Windows Vista’s are lighter, almost spritely. The sounds for User Account Control and Log Off are also perkier than those found in similar security warnings within Windows XP.
New on the Windows Vista desktop is a Welcome Center which contains links to frequently asked questions such as, «How do you configure your printer?» and «How do you connect to your Internet service?» There is also room for some sales opportunities, either with manufacturer specials or online offers from Microsoft, such as the Windows Live OneCare service. Frankly, we think it is better for you to look beyond the Windows ecosystem for e-mail, Internet browsers, and security applications.
After closing the Welcome Center, you’ll notice to the far right there is a shaded sidebar populated with three example Gadgets («widgets» to everyone else), tiny desktop applets that display content, such as RSS feeds. In one Gadget, a slide show of images from the sample photo library display; in the next, the current time; finally, there’s a Gadget for subscribed RSS feeds. We downloaded and installed Firefox 2, made Firefox our default browser, and quickly set up a few RSS feed subscriptions. Guess what? The Windows Vista Gadget was unresponsive to our efforts, displaying only the default MSN feeds from Microsoft. Microsoft says the default RSS Gadget feeds off a common store of RSS feeds within Windows Vista, and Firefox hasn’t yet adopted the API for that store. You have to use Internet Explorer 7 or choose a Firefox-friendly Gadget instead. By clicking the + symbol atop the sidebar, you’ll see a panel of available Gadgets, with a link out to the Web to find even more. The Gadgets are not fixed to the sidebar; they can be dragged across the desktop. And even the sidebar itself can be disabled to allow for a full desktop view. An icon located within the taskbar will restore the sidebar at any time.
The familiar Start menu features some cosmetic changes for Windows Vista. Aside from the distinctive rounded icon, the Start menu now includes a built-in Search function. We would have preferred to have access to Search directly from the desktop rather than digging down a level or two. The All Programs list now displays as an expandable/collapsible directory tree, something Windows should have offered years ago. The new Start menu is divided in half, with access to documents, pictures, music, games, recent items, My Computer, network, Control Panel, default programs, and Help along the right-hand side.
Also new within Start is an Instant Off button. This button caches all your open files and processes, allowing you to turn off your laptop or desktop quickly without all the «cleaning up files» messages you see in previous versions. We like the feature, but on our Acer Travelmate 8200, Instant Off and closing the lid to hibernate sometimes produced limbo states where the laptop simply wouldn’t wake up again, forcing us to reboot.
In Windows Vista, files become unmoored from the traditional directory tree structure—kind of. The more ambitious plan of including a whole new file system was scrapped early on; instead, Windows Vista relies on metatags, which are keywords linked to files to make them searchable. With metatags, you can create virtual file folders based on a variety of search terms. Say you’re doing a report on mountains, any file that is keyword-enabled to include «mountains» will be grouped into a virtual folder without physically dragging that file to a new location. The downside is that older files (say you upgraded your system from Windows XP or imported data from an earlier version of Windows) will have to be retroactively metataged in order to be searched. Also different is the file path displayed within Windows Explorer. Gone are the backslashes, replaced with arrows that offer drop-down menus of alternative folders. We liked this efficient feature.
Finally, there’s a compatibility wizard buried deep within Windows Vista. Most Windows XP applications we loaded performed just fine. Operating under the hood, Windows Vista convinces native Windows XP applications that they’re running on Windows XP. Should you need to run an older application, say from Windows 95, the compatibility wizard allows you to tweak the display resolution and emulate Windows 95 for that program. For example, we were able to run a Windows 95-optimized game demo on our Windows Vista test system.
Features
Our gut feeling is that most of the significant bells and whistles are designed for the Enterprise-level customers, not the home user. Having a large number of features should not be confused with actually providing significant value to all users across the board. We would have preferred fewer features executed extremely well rather than an uneven mix of this and that, a one-size-fits-all operating system. And we disagree with Microsoft’s seemingly arbitrary division of features within individual editions.
Common to all editions of Windows Vista are ad hoc backup and recovery, instant Search, Internet Explorer 7 browser, Windows Media Player 11, Windows Mail e-mail client, Windows Calendar, Windows Photo Gallery, performance tuning and self-diagnostics, Internet protocol IPv6 and IPv4 support, Windows ReadyDrive, a maximum of 4GB RAM support on 32-bit editions (up to 128GB RAM on some 64-bit editions), Windows Sync Center for mobile devices, Windows Mobility Center for presentations on the road, User Account Control (UAC) security protection, Windows Security Center, Windows Defender antispyware, Windows Firewall, Windows Meeting Space for ad hoc wireless meetings, Remote Desktop for working from home, XPS document support for PDF-like files, improved peer-to-peer networking, improved VPN support, and improved power management.
Home Premium users have built-in Parental Controls that allow you to filter Web sites visited as well as limit a user’s Internet access by specific hours; there are also online gaming recommendations, with an easy-to-understand industry rating system. Also, Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate editions both give you Windows Media Center, which has been redesigned to better take advantage of online television subscription services and home theater systems. There’s also built-in DVD-burning software, but because most DVD players come with their own software, we don’t find this to be a significant plus.
We disagree with the exclusion of Windows Fax and Scan from Windows Vista Home Premium; you’ll now need to buy third-party fax software to send that occasional facsimile. And Home Premium users will have limited use of the built-in Tablet PC features; this feature seems better suited for the Business and Ultimate editions.
Performance
Upon installation, Windows Vista rates each system’s overall hardware performance, with the final score reflecting your system’s lowest individual score. This is handy. For example, if you suspect that everything’s running a little slow, you might find that your hard drive is returning the lowest score. Windows Vista will then recommend a faster hard drive or a drive with larger compatibility. Mostly, though, the video card will be the sore spot for most users. There’s also an event log viewer to show, for example, after a specific software install your system performance started to degrade, and that uninstalling the software may restore your overall performance.
Under the hood, Microsoft has moved device drivers for DVD burners and printers out of the system kernel; Microsoft says that a majority of system crashes can be traced to improperly installed third-party device drivers. Thus Windows Vista hopes to vanquish the dreaded Blue Screen of Death common to earlier releases of Windows. Indeed, after testing several early builds, we found Windows Vista to be remarkably stable and robust.
Support
Along with the diagnostic and performance monitors, Microsoft has improved the Help section considerably. There is a static FAQ, but it also links to Microsoft online and allows outreach to other users for help, either via a forum or direct PC-to-PC help. Of these, we really like a feature available on some, not all, FAQs that allows you to automate the solution by executing a script. This method doesn’t teach you how to do it in the future, but it will accomplish the task at hand. For example, if you choose to update a device driver, Windows Vista will darken the desktop; highlight and open the Start menu, the Control Panel, and the Device Manager; then pause to ask you what device you want to update. It’s like having a technician at your desktop, walking you though the process. There’s an increasing reliance on user-generated support forums, which leads us to believe that Microsoft is shying away from its own live technical support. At press time, Microsoft’s final support policy was unavailable.
Conclusion
Perhaps we’re spoiled, but after more than five years of development, there’s a definite «Is that all?» feeling about Windows Vista. Like cramming an info-dump into a book report the night before it’s due, there certainly are a lot of individual features within the operating system, but the real value lies in their execution—how the user experiences (or doesn’t experience) these—and like the info-dump, we came away shaking our heads, disappointed. Compared with Mac OS X 10.4, Windows Vista feels clunky and not very intuitive, almost as though it’s still based on DOS (or at least the internal logic that made up DOS). Despite the addition of a system-wide, built-in Search, and various efforts to break away from staidly old directory trees, you still need to drill down one level to even access Search. And there are far too many dependencies on Microsoft products; this is not a very objective operating system, as preference is always given to Microsoft products (of which there are many), from MSN search to RSS feeds only from Internet Explorer. But is Windows Vista a bad operating system? No. It’s just a disappointment for PC users who hoped that Microsoft would deliver something truly exciting to finally leapfrog ahead of Apple. They failed. But stick around; this is just Windows Vista 1.0. Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is due out sometime before the end of the year. Windows Vista SP1 promises to fix what’s known to be wrong within Windows Vista and should offer a few concrete reasons to switch.
Score Breakdown
Design 7Features 7Performance 8Support 7