Windows Vista Primer

Windows Vista Primer

We try to ease the choosing process with
a quick guide to the differences and features of Microsoft’s
latest OS.

Manufacturer:
Price:
With Windows Vista out there already, some folks will be running Microsoft’s latest edition to the Windows family, however the majority of you will be waiting for the end of January 2007 release date. Over the past few months and even years, there has been a lot of information and changes to the OS and it has become quite a confusing mess in regards to the different versions and licences. Should I get Home Basic? What’s so special about Vista Ultimate? Only 2 reactivations before I need to buy a new copy? Should I go 64bit? As much information as there is about Vista, there is also as much misinformation currently floating around, so lets see if we can sort through it all and help you make an informed decision on what to get. Should you get Vista if you already have XP? That’s a bit out of the scope of this article and worthy of an Editorial all of it’s own. This article is a quick and dirty look at the different versions of Vista and will assume you have decided you have an interest in purchasing Vista.	{mosmodule module=AdsenseContent}

Heinz 57 – The many flavours of Vista

Unlike
Windows XP, Vista is available in many different flavours to cater
for the differing needs (and wallets) of all end users, as well
as to comply with international rulings. Each of them have differing
features that may or may not be available in other versions. At
first it can be quite confusing, but the majority of you really
only have to concentrate on 4 versions.

There
are also the N (and K) versions of Vista designed
to satisfy European and South Korean rulings. The N versions
basically remove all the Windows Media Player, Movie Maker and
other Windows Media related features. Ironically, the XP N
versions are not very popular and I’ve no doubt that it will be
the same for Vista N.

To
whittle it down some more from our main 4 versions, well Vista
Business is designed to be used by small businesses who have no
need for the larger scale of Vista Enterprise. Vista business,
unlike XP Professional doesn’t include any of the ‘cool’ features
so that will really cut it down to just 3 versions. Vista Basic
will also likely not be as popular among your average end user;
it’s called basic for a reason (as the table above shows). That
leaves us with 2 versions; Home Premium and Ultimate. But before
you make a decision on those two or any of the others, read on
to see what other information might affect your choice.

OEM, Upgrade or Retail Licence?

As
many of you may be aware, their have been licence changes made
from those we are used to with Windows XP, although Microsoft
prefer to call it a redefining or clarification. Either way, it’s
information you should be aware of before purchasing as different
versions have different rules.

OEM

OEM
installations and licences are designed for Original Equipment
Manufacturers and while it is possible to buy an OEM copy (quite
cheaply in fact) of Vista without being an OEM, there are restrictions
that apply you should be aware of. The main one that will be of
interest to enthusiasts is that an OEM licence is designed to
install on the one machine and stay on that machine for the duration
of that machines operating life; it is not designed to be transferred
to a new machine if you upgrade. The same applies if you buy a
machine pre-installed with Vista; it will almost certainly be
an OEM copy and not transferable. I know that many of you are
thinking “Well, that’s no different from Windows XP, and
I’ve had no trouble transferring that before”, but it IS
different. While time will inevitably tell, Microsoft intend to
enforce the OEM licence this time around. The same rules for activation
apply as with XP, although Microsoft have said that what constitutes
the need for reactivation will be more flexible. Bottom line;
if you plan on making multiple upgrades or transferring your OS
to a new machine often, you should probably steer clear of an
OEM licence despite the appealing price. If on the other hand
you rarely change the major components in your PC (motherboards
or hard drive for example) and don’t expect you will change your
current PC for a new machine then a cheap OEM copy will suit you.

Upgrade

Upgrade
disks can be quite confusing, and have their own rules to follow
as to what can and can’t be upgraded from. If you purchase an
upgrade disk it will only upgrade from a Windows XP or Windows
2000 installation and only to a corresponding (or better) version
of Windows Vista. Windows versions before 2000 will not upgrade
and you will need to purchase a full version of Vista. If the
edition of Windows Vista that you choose to install will result
in a loss of functionality over your current edition of Windows,
a clean install must be done or the installation must be completed
to a new partition on your PC. There are two ways to go about
upgrading.

Upgrade
In-place: you install Windows Vista over your current Windows
installation and retain your applications, files, and settings
as they were in your previous install of Windows.

Clean
Install: Upgrading to Windows Vista with a clean install
means that you can use Windows Easy Transfer to automatically
copy all your files and settings to an extra hard drive, another
partition or some other storage device, and then install Windows
Vista. After the installation is complete, Windows Easy Transfer
reloads your files and settings on your upgraded PC. You will
then need to reinstall your applications.

Just
to make it clear here, you will need a qualifying OS installed
to use an upgrade key; If you boot with the DVD and enter an Upgrade
Edition product key, you will be directed to restart the computer
and start Setup from the desktop.

So,
Clean Install or In-place Upgrade? Obvious answer is to do a Clean
Install as this traditionally leads to far fewer problems in the
long run. However, the Vista installation process is quite different
from previous versions of Windows. Still, if you are unsure, do
a Clean Install. Should you wish to do an In-place Upgrade, you
will need to refer to the following table to see if it’s possible.

Orange
= Clean Install Only, Blue
= In-place Upgrade Available

Retail

Retail
editions can perform either a Clean install or an In-place Upgrade
as you wish. The setup process may be started by booting the DVD
in your DVD drive regardless of any previous installations, or
from the Windows desktop. Originally the Retail Licence was no
different from the OEM licence, but Microsoft heard the outcry
of enthusiasts and changed the EULA. Now the Retail licence, unlike
an OEM licence, is also transferable from one machine to another
but can only be used on one machine at a time. If you, like me,
plan on altering your machine extensively and often then this
is the version for you.

None
of the above licences (unfortunately) cater for separate Virtual
PC installations; you will need a separate licence to activate
a Virtual PC installation.

32bit and/or 64bit?

Yet
another choice to make, although in some situations you won’t
need to make that decision right away. Unlike Windows XP 64bit,
Windows Vista 64bit has been designed to be as close as possible
to the 32bit Vista version. What you will gain from 64bit is mainly
the ability to use more than 4GB of system memory as well as the
more obvious ability to run 64bit applications. Generally speaking,
the 64bit versions of applications run faster than 32bit, but
don’t expect a huge increase from your favourite video or CAD
programs right away; it is still quite early days for the majority
of 64bit applications. The majority also increase performance
by utilizing more memory, something that is a capability of 64bit
Vista as mentioned earlier.

The
drawbacks are that you will require 64bit drivers for your hardware,
and these are currently few and far between. These drivers will
need to be Digitally Signed drivers as well. Also, it’s likely
that most people will be running 32bit applications on their 64bit
OS (yes, this is possible) and therefore will see little benefit.
Another drawback is that 64bit Vista will not be able to run older
16bit applications, although this drawback will not affect a great
many people.

So
back to the choice. Well, if you buy a Retail Licence of Vista,
you will get both the 32bit and 64bit available to you. This means
you can install the safer bet (32bit) now, and update to 64bit
when it becomes more mainstream (eventually it will happen). If
however you go for an OEM licence, then you will need to choose
which you want. Which is right for you? If you don’t know, then
I would say go for 32bit; you’ll know if 64bit is the right choice
for you.

F.A.Q

I’m
still confused, what if I make the wrong choice?

Should
you buy the version of Vista that currently appeals to you but
decide later on that you wish you had got a ‘higher’ version,
then don’t panic. Enter Windows Anytime Upgrade. For a fee, you
can electronically upgrade your licence to a higher version of
Vista, and unlock the features for that higher version. Since
the supplied DVD will be the same regardless of the version you
buy (the Licensing Key determines the features available to you,
not the disk) you likely won’t need to download anything extra
as it will already be on the disk you previously purchased. This
should save you money over buying a whole new copy.

I
have heard that 32bit versions of Vista won’t allow for playback
of High Definition Content, is this true?

No,
it isn’t. Vista doesn’t support playback of High Definition Content
out-of-the-box (although it does support DVD playback) but can
play back High Definition Content such as that found on Blu-Ray
or HD-DVD via third party software such as Cyberlinks PowerDVD.
Vista does support HDCP to allow for playback of Protected High
Definition Content.

So
what about DRM and Vista?

Yes
Vista contains DRM code, but if it didn’t, you wouldn’t be playing
back protected media. HDCP is one example of content protection,
and without it you wouldn’t be playing HD-DVD’s or Blu-Ray Disks
that are protected. Yes, to view/listen to such protected content
you will need HDCP compliant hardware as well (monitor and graphics
card) but this is no different than a stand alone HD-DVD or Blu-Ray
player; they need to support HDCP and you would need a HDCP supporting
TV as well. This and other forms of DRM protection have been featured
in previous Windows or their Service Packs, some date back to
Windows ME. Do I agree with DRM? Hardly, seems more effort/cost
than it’s worth and I despise being treated like a criminal before
I’ve even purchased anything, but the bottom line is without the
content protection support in Vista you wouldn’t be playing protected
content in Vista at all. Unprotected content won’t be affected.

Will
my current PC run Vista?

That
is entirely dependant on the hardware you are running. Microsoft
say you will need at least an 800MHz CPU, a DirectX 9 capable
graphics card with WDDM support for Aero, Minimum of 512MB of
system memory, 40GB of Hard Drive space and a DVD-Rom drive. My
experience is that you will get much better performance
need at least a 1.6GHz CPU and preferably 1GB of System Memory.
A Dual Core CPU while not a must would be preferable. Otherwise
you may find performance will suffer in comparison with Windows
XP on the same hardware. Microsoft have created a software tool
to check your system which you can get here.

If
I buy a new PC, will it come with Vista installed?

The
likelihood will increase with the age of this article, but should
be a yes by now. If not, chances are you will be given an Upgrade
Coupon which will allow you to update to a comparable Vista for
free. The version of Vista you will get will depend on the version
of XP you have; XP Home will get you Vista Home Basic, XP Media
Center Edition will get you Vista Home Premium, and XP Professional
will get you Vista Business. Vista Ultimate has no XP equivalent.
Don’t forget about Windows Anytime Upgrade either; You have XP
Home and a coupon, get Vista Home Basic and then you can Anytime
Update to Home Premium.

I
decided to give 64bit a try but now I want to go back to 32bit.
I own a Retail licence.

Not
a problem, simply reinstall as 32bit. The Retail versions of Vista
have both 32bit and 64bit versions of Vista in the box. As long
as the hardware stays the same, while you will need to reactivate
your copy, it won’t go against your activation counter. And no,
you can’t have a dual boot scenario with one 32bit and one 64bit
running at once, one or the other at any given time only.

I
have a RAID setup; when I install Vista, will I still need to
press F6 and load drivers via floppy disk?

No,
Vista uses a slightly different method. During Setup, look for
the Load Drivers button. From here you can load your RAID drivers
from any connected device including a USB Flash Drive. If you
don’t use your floppy drive for anything else except loading RAID
drivers, you can finally ditch it once and for all. At time of
writing, RAID drivers for Vista are not so proliferate, but you
may find that Vista contains the needed drivers anyway.

Can
I dual boot with my Windows XP disk?

Yes,
just remember the golden rule; Always install the older OS first.

Final
Words

Hopefully,
this article will have cleared up a few of the somewhat grey areas
about the differing Vista versions and allow you to make an informed
decision about what to purchase.