Major new versions of Microsoft Windows only come along every five years or so, and the next one — Vista — gets its consumer launch next week. There’s no doubt that it’s going to become ubiquitous: the cumulative sales of more than 10 000 PC manufacturers will see to that. But will the changeover go as smoothly as before?
The first problem is that there are five different versions of Vista, instead of two. Should you choose Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate? There’s also Enterprise, sold to big companies, and a cheap Starter Edition for countries such as India.
All have different features and some have different hardware requirements. In particular, the semi-transparent effects of the Aero Glass user interface need a reasonably powerful graphics card with at least 64MB of memory. Such cards may be common in newish desktop PCs, but Cynthia Crossley, who runs the Windows client division at Microsoft United Kingdom, rejects the idea that users could be confused by having too much choice. Either you’re a home user or a business user, and either you want the ordinary or the premium version, she says.
Limited edition
That’s true, but plenty of home users paid extra for Windows XP Pro — the business version — and the Ultimate edition (ie Business Premium) appeals to both camps. Vista Ultimate has everything, including a limited edition “signed” by Bill Gates.
Still, the choice isn’t too hard if you look at the three areas where Vista hopes to appeal. The main one is security: Vista has far more security features and code-hardening than any previous version of Windows. While Vista will no doubt have some holes — everything does — the extra security should make it more attractive than Windows XP.
The good news is that all versions of Vista have the security features, including the Security Centre, User Account Control, Windows Defender and the firewall. The main exceptions are BitLocker drive encryption, which is only included in the Enterprise and Ultimate editions, and the parental controls, which are not in the business versions.
What about Vista’s new features such as the Sidebar, RSS support, instant search, and the Calendar, Contacts, Mail, Photo Gallery, Windows Media Player 11 and backup programs? Again, all of those and more are included in all the main versions of Vista, including Home Basic.
However, the Home Premium version has extra features, mostly taken from the Windows Media Centre and Tablet PC editions of XP. These include support for HDTV, projectors and touch screens, plus Windows Movie Maker and Windows DVD Maker software.
Home Premium also has Sideshow, which supports auxiliary screens (such as on the outside of a notebook PC) and Xbox 360 extender software (for sending stuff to a TV set via an Xbox).
The business versions of Vista have backup and recovery programs that Home Premium lacks, plus web server software, and the ability to join Windows Server domains. But they don’t have the DVD and movie software. That should stop home users buying business versions.
Some of Vista’s new features are nice to have, such as Windows Meeting Space, which lets you form an ad hoc wireless network with two or more colleagues. However, there are alternatives to most programs, and some can already be downloaded for Windows XP. Examples include Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7, Windows Media Player, Windows Defender and Windows Movie Maker. You don’t have to buy Vista to get them.
So in the end it comes down to eye candy. Home Basic does the job, but it doesn’t offer the Aero Glass user interface, with live thumbnails on the taskbar, and so on. Using it makes you look like a second class citizen.
I asked Crossley which versions would sell best. She says: “We’re starting to get early indications from the distributors, and the premium SKUs [stock keeping units] are quite popular. To be fair, that is our strategy, but it is nice to see it come through.”
But if more people buy the more expensive versions, that will increase the average selling price. Isn’t that tantamount to a price increase? “We’re offering a lot of features that weren’t there before,” Crossley replies, “so arguably we’ve put more value into the different releases. If people see value, they will purchase. If they don’t, they will vote with their wallets.”
Crossley says that Microsoft really wants the PC manufacturers to come up with exciting new systems that exploit the features in Home Premium, including PCs that are “fashion accessories”. She says: “There’s quite a diverse set of machines coming out. It takes time for something like this to come to fruition, but when you have a broad ecosystem of PC manufacturers, everyone can get what they want.”
In the end, of course, it’s the PC manufacturers who really need Vista: most users have been managing perfectly well without it. The launch is the manufacturers’ main chance to attract attention and tempt people to buy new PCs rather than, say, new TVs. Vista could kick off a whole new upgrade cycle.
Which brings us to the fundamental question about Vista: how is that upgrade cycle likely to go? Earlier upgrades were obvious enough. With Windows 3 in 1990, we moved from DOS to a cheap, optional graphical user interface. With Windows 95, we got what amounted to a new 32-bit operating system with a vastly improved user interface. With Windows XP, which launched in 2001, consumers finally left DOS/Windows behind and moved to a reliable, multitasking new technology operating system that was also more secure — though, as it turned out, far from secure enough.
Bit of an upgrade
So what about Vista? It’s the first Windows to include both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Most PCs now run32-bit Windows XP on 32-bit chips. In five years or so, most should be running the superior 64-bit Vista on 64-bit multi-core processors. But how do we get there from here?
How many of today’s programs will need to be converted for 64-bit operation, and how soon? How many of the billions of printers and other devices will be supported with new drivers? Old 16-bit applications and 32-bit drivers will not work.
The shift from XP to 32-bit Vista should go smoothly, simply because most people eventually junk their old PCs and buy new ones. But the move to 64-bit Vista: is that one upgrade or two?
One of Windows’ greatest benefits is backwards compatibility with old programs and peripherals, but that also acts as a huge drag on progress. The new 64-bit Vista could be a triumph — or a victim. – Guardian Unlimited Â