Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows Vista, has been done for a while, but the time has finally come that the average consumer can get their hands on it. This means that all new computers sold from this point onwards, will most likely feature a ready-to-go installation of the highly anticipated operating system.

All versions of Vista will ship on a single DVD. Once a choice is made as to the correct version, users will have the ability to upgrade to any other mainstream version (Premium, Business and Ultimate).

As now seems to be the norm, there are multiple versions of Vista available, much like there are for Windows XP. Officially, there are six versions available for purchase:

Windows Vista Starter

– US$ N/A

This version is by far the least interesting. Much like the Starter version of XP, this edition of Vista will be aimed at developing markets, in order to offer a cheap, very basic, and legal alternative to pirating the software. Precisely because of its intended market, Windows Vista Starter will not be offered for sale within North America, Europe and Australia. This version is purposely very limited: a user cannot launch and run more than three applications at once, cannot accept incoming network connections and, amongst other things, is limited to a mere 256MB of RAM – can Vista even be run properly with this little memory? This version is also the only one that does not support 64-bit computing.

Windows Vista Home Basic

– US$199.00

This next version of Windows Vista is mainly intended for casual home users, much like the Home Edition of XP. The fancy, much-hyped Windows Aero Theme with all the nice translucencies will not be available in this version. Apparently, Home Basic isn’t really intended for those who enjoy heavy media use; for that kind of support you might want to look towards getting the next version.

Windows Vista Home Premium

– US$239.00

Vista Home Premium is comparable to Windows XP Media Center Edition in that it supports a far wider variety of multimedia playback and creation support. This version has HDTV support, allows for the authoring of DVDs, enables connectivity with an Xbox 360, and is the cheapest version to support the “Aero desktop experience.” The version also comes equipped with native Tablet PC support, as well as expanded networking abilities in comparison to Home Basic. If you’re a home user, than this is about as low as you can go without having to comprise on too many features.

Windows Vista Business

– US$299.00

This version is, quite obviously, intended for the business market, and as such is comparable to Windows XP Professional. To get a grasp on this version, imagine Premium without all of the Media Center functionality. It does, however, add better security features to Vista, such as file system encryption, a full version of Remote Desktop, Rights Management Services (RMS), and a bunch of other “security” benefits. One neat features that I am excited about, however, is dubbed ShadowCopy, which basically lets the operating system revert back to previous versions of the document – much like System Restore, but then on an individual file level. This version is geared towards small to medium sized businesses that have little need beyond the basic computing and security abilities that XP Professional provided for them.

Windows Vista Enterprise

– US$ N/A

One step up from Business is Enterprise, aimed at large enterprises in need of multilingual user interfaces, UNIX application support, and hardcore disk encryption, amongst other things. This version is not as easy to obtain as most of the aforementioned ones, since it only ships through the Microsoft Software Assurance program and not through retail or OEM channels. This version, much like Starter, is probably of little interest to the average consumer…so, next!

Windows Vista Ultimate

– US$399.00

Besides being pricey, the Ultimate version of Vista has quite a few extras to offer. Here is Microsoft’s explanation of Ultimate:

Windows Vista Ultimate offers all of the features found in Windows Vista Home Premium, including Windows Media Center, Windows Movie Maker with high-definition support, and Windows DVD Maker. It also offers all of the features found in Windows Vista Business, including business networking, centralized management tools, and advanced system backup features. And Windows Vista Ultimate has all of the new security and data protection features that help take Windows Vista to a whole new level of dependability.

And if you’re a gamer, you might be happy to hear that Microsoft has chosen to include a game performance tweaker (WinSAT), designed to maximize the performance of your machine for the torturous strain that upcoming DirectX 10.0 games will certainly put it under. As an added bonus, Ultimate users are also entitled to the “Ultimate Extras,” which are basically nothing more than a series of semi-useful tools and add-ons to enhance the Vista experience. These include the ability to show video desktop backgrounds with DreamScene, merge multiple bad group pictures into a single good one, with GroupShot; and, of course, the obligatory card game: Hold ‘Em Poker.

In short, if you want the most out of Vista, this is the version to get – but, as to whether it’s worth the price, is for you to decide.

For more information: Microsoft’s Vista Overview