Windows Vista: The 'Huh?' starts now

There is a widely published work-around that enables users to install Upgrade versions of Vista without XP. It involves, essentially, installing Vista twice. You can find the work-around in Computerworld's comprehensive Vista Upgrade Guide. Whether this work-around is considered by Microsoft as legitimate or a form of piracy -- like so much about Vista -- is still unknown.

Too many versions

When Bill Gates launched Windows 95 a dozen years ago, consumers understood what they were getting. It was a brand-new Windows, vastly superior to Windows 3.x, and came in exactly one version. PC users could just go to the store and buy it, take it home and install it, and they didn't need a doctorate to figure out how to do all this.

Fast forward to this week. Windows Vista launched with 10 -- count 'em, 10 -- versions. Instead of giving us a simple new upgrade path to the future, they instead gave us a homework assignment. Here are the versions:

1. Windows Vista Starter Edition
2. Windows Vista Home Basic
3. Windows Vista Home Basic Upgrade
4. Windows Vista Home Premium
5. Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade
6. Windows Vista Business
7. Windows Vista Business Upgrade
8. Windows Vista Ultimate
9. Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade
10. Windows Vista Enterprise Edition

Faced with this list, consumers are scratching their heads and asking: Which one should I buy? What's the difference? Why should I bother?

What you need to know

What is the proof requirement for Upgrade versions of Vista? XP or 2000 needs to be installed. Regarding whether or not a "clean" installation is possible, the answer is a resounding maybe -- it's not always up to you. Vista requires a clean install in some cases, depending on which Upgrade version of Vista you're installing, and which version of Windows you're upgrading from (Again, see our Upgrade Guide for specifics).

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Don't buy Vista yet. But if you really must, consider only two of the 10 versions: Nontechnical consumers should buy the full version of Windows Vista Home Premium, and power users should buy the full version of Windows Vista Ultimate.

(Windows Vista Starter Edition is for Third World countries. The Enterprise Edition is for big companies. The Business Edition doesn't have any of the cool multimedia stuff you want from Vista. Home Basic versions are crippled. The Upgrade versions are poison.)

Here's what you need to know about actually performing the installation of Windows Vista in Hands On: The Essential Vista Upgrade Guide.

It's obvious that Microsoft decided to extract maximum cash from consumers by micro-segmenting the market and trying to provide a different version for each. But they may end up with the opposite result. All this confusion over versions and upgrade policies will motivate unknown millions of consumers to simply stick with Windows XP or move to a Mac.