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Microsoft Vista Info Leaked
slashnutt writes to tell us Yahoo News is reporting that Microsoft accidentally released information about Windows Vista earlier than originally planned. From the article: "Microsoft disclosed information about a plan to release eight different editions of the new operating system on a company help page that was under development. The company has not made any official statements about the different versions of Windows Vista it plans to offer. The company has since taken down the Web site and declined to confirm the information and said it will offer more details about the Vista launch, targeted for the second half of 2006, in the coming weeks. Microsoft spokesman said in a statement 'This page has since been removed as it was posted prematurely and was for testing purposes only.'"
Windows Vista Starter (designed to combat piracy of Windows overseas; probably won't go on sale in US)
Windows Vista Home Basic
Windows Vista Home Premium
Windows Vista Business Basic
Windows Vista Business Premium
Windows Vista Corporate Basic
Windows Vista Corporate Premium
Windows Vista Ultimate
While I'd really like to believe otherwise, I cannot help but think that this will turn into a nightmare for application support. The ones that worry the most are the two at either end of the line: Starter and Ultimate. Will you need Ultimate to run top-of-the-line games or use top-of-the-line hardware? Will people with Starter not be able to use your program because they're missing certain functionality? Will you be able to burn DVDs with Home Basic, or does that functionality only come with Premium and Ultimate?
Sure, each version will be tailored to that particular end user's most likely needs. You can bet, however, that there'll be all sorts of "incentives" to bump yourself up to the next level of functionality in the form of "well, that functionality only comes with version X"...
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
Too bad Microsoft didn't put Allah on the page. Then Yahoo would be censoring this report too.
There will be several different versions such as Windows Vista Red and Blue. They are all pretty much the same, but if you want to complete the game you'll need some friends with the other versions, and some link cables.
My Greatest Heist - Muisc partly inspired by the unbeatable Qwantz
'This page has since been removed as it was posted prematurely and was for testing purposes only.'"
Testing what, the waters?
-- Alastair
I'm sorry to hear that Microsoft is the latest sufferer of this common problem. I'd like to help them out; I get a number of advertisements in my inbox each day offering various treatments for premature release. Perhaps someone can forward these emails to Microsoft?
From the MS spokesman: "We are known for giving our users choice, this is what's great about capitalism!"
Someday we'll look fondly upon the days when you could just ask if someone is running "98" or "XP," maybe with "SP2." Very soon the abbreviations alone will take up several alphabets.
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
Have they leaked which of these versions will run Halo 2?
Or will it be included as a pack in?
There is no spork.
FP
Uh..to get the first post?
http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/19/which-windows-
"Windows Starter 2007 - Vista without Aero, probably meant for developing nations.
Windows Vista Home Basic - Basic Windows Vista for your single PC fam, doesn't sound like much going on here. Analagous to XP Home.
Windows Vista Home Basic N - European version of the same, but without Media Player (because of antitrust rulings against MS in the EU).
Windows Vista Home Premium - This is the one we're all probably gonna own. It's got Media Center functionality, Cable Card support, the whole home-media shebang.
Windows Vista Business - Think of it as XP Pro, but Vista.
Windows Vista Business N - Think of it as XP Pro, but Vista, but Euro.
Windows Vista Enterprise - Business version of Vista with numerous enterprise features, like Virtual PC, volume encryption, etc.
Windows Vista Ultimate - Love that name. This one does all of the above (and more); what else do you need to know? It's ultimate Windows.."
More choices are rarely a bad idea. I dislike bundled crapola that I'll never need or want.
It's true, but none of those thousands of versions of linux are intentionaly crippled. Ops. No you cannot run a 'server' with this version or no you can not setup this or that without the premium version.
:-D
Sure, Linux is still strugling with the packaging since there is no standard. But it is getting better and better, everyday.
[]'s Victor Bogado da Silva Lins
^[:wq
Windows Vista for Developing Nations Windows Vista for Dummies Windows Vista for Planned Obsolence Edition Windows Vista for Virtual Vista Deployment Edition - Professional Windows Vista for your Inner Fast(tm) Edition Windows Vista with Digital Rights Management Media Edition Windows Vista Corporate *Windows Vista for Secure Computing * please note this edition will be released at a future unannounced date.
I like the comment that was made on Blue's News about the Vista line when the story first broke.
Vista DOS
Vista WFW
Vista 95
Vista 98
Vista ME
Vista XP
Vista la Vista
Cheap shot even by Slashdot standards, I know.
EvilCON - Made Famous by
I found a pretty good analysis of the various editions.
Well, how many versions of XP are there?
XP Home
XP Pro
Server 2003
XP "Lite" for Asia
XP Home without Media Player
XP Pro without Media Player
XP Media Edition
Not including SP2 and whatever.
More like 'How can we see how people will react to this idea but maintain deniability if they hate it?' If it's liked, fine. If it isn't the story will be 'oh that was an old plan - here's what we're really doing.'
R: That voice. Where have I heard that voice before? B: In about 365 other episodes. But I don't know who it is either.
And, once I have a version I like. I don't have to fork out another $400 just because I decide to upgrade my motherboard.
And a lot of the so-called 4000 versions of Linux are specific versions that people have built for their preferred application. An example would be my netboot CD that allows net-booting Knoppix from a CD -- which I designed so that I can give students in a classroom their own Linux box (without touching their hard drives), and also a way to do semi-automated backups and restore for public Windows boxes.
That's something that I (as a hobbyist) could never create with Windows (much less distribute).
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
1) Whoever pirates Windows won't bother pirating anything but the "Ultimate" version, whatever that will be.
2) Legit users will get frustrated when they find out feature X is not included in their version of Vista. They will want to know why and will become angry. This anger will soon make them want to change to something more simple.
3) Something more simple will eventually win the hearts of legit users.
4) Whoever pirates Windows will follow whatever is the most popular/compatible OS.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
All functionality is available or is installable with one command-line (even if it's "tar xzvf some.tgz; cd some-versin; make; sudo make install" in most (all?) linux distros; nobody is hiding anything nor making anything incompatible on purpose. So, no, the 2000 different linux distros will be actually less confusing than the eight Windows Vistas.
It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
Actually, it isn't true. "Linux" is the kernel, which is now available in two versions: 2.4 and 2.6 (and all prior versions of course). There are many distributions, but they all use one of those two kernels.
And I've got a bridge you really need to look at.
Seriously, Voxel even specified "distributions". You are discussing kernel versions a completely different topic.
Jesus Fucking Christ man. Don't be such a zealot that you can't comprehend a valid point in opposition to your cherished perspective.
anon so the fan boys don't slit my karma's throat
(;-{)}
bamph
You forgot XP Tablet Edition. On the other hand, Server 2003 is not XP.
If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
>> "anon so the fan boys don't slit my karma's throat"
;)
Just mildly anonymous, eh?
Cheers,
Bill
bamph
Darnit, just eight versions? What about Embedded Home, Embedded Automotive, Embedded for Point of Service, Mobile, Workstation, Media Center Edition, Datacenter Edition, Server, Server System Home, Storage Server, Small Business Server Edition, and Compute Cluster Server edition?!?!? I feel shortchanged already!
And Yahoo!, I hope you don't really think that this was an accidental blunder on MS's part. If so, then I have a bridge in San Francisco I'd like to sell you...
Flying is easy, just throw yourself at the ground and miss. -Douglas Adams
Jesus fucking christ, don't be so ignorant. The only limitation to a Linux installation is the kernel. Anything else can be added without even rebooting.
But that's besides the point. The point is that there is no company or other entity telling someone what they can and can't do with their Linux installation just because they didn't pay enough money. Unlike this case with Windows where people will have to make trade offs between how much they want to spend and what they want to do with their OS.
So complaining and comparing the many Linux distros to these 8 Windows versions is fucking retarded. I can choose any of the top 8 Linux distros and be able to do anything in the Linux world easily.
But if I choose the budget version of Windows and find that it won't let me do something, well then I'm shit out of luck.
it terminates your license and removes your computers hard drive with a 12 guage. It's then known as "Hasta-la-VISTA", babee.
Soko
"Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
"More choices are rarely a bad idea. I dislike bundled crapola that I'll never need or want."
I agree, but I think eight baseline distributions will be a nightmare for them to support, and a nightmare for us to choose and upgrade between. One baseline "Windows Vista" would be sufficient, plus something like apt-get (ms-get media-player) or a nice little entry on the Microsoft Update page to "Install Cable Card Support", or "Install Media Player Support". You could even be guided through a shopping cart type environment, so they could charge for the "upgrades".
Why sell 8 distinct versions? Maybe better answered with another question - if I buy "Windows Home Premium", can I "upgrade" to "Windows Vista Business" for a reduced cost?
10b||~10b -- aah, what a question!
Because there is no -1 Fucking Moron.
I always find it amusing that on every Dell ad, they show off how cheap you can buy a Dell box, and thus show a Dell with Windows XP Home. Then in the fine print, it says "Dell recommends Windows XP Pro". So Dell recommends I don't buy this Dell computer? OK...
Well, the thing to note here is that the eight distributions of Vista cost more than all 8,000 distributions of linux. When its free to upgrade/change your OS, there is no problem. But when you have to pay $$ to upgrade, just to use that one new application, then it hurts.
It has been said that 63% of all statistics are made up
Its not so retarded. Imagine you are a decision maker. Do you roll your own distribution? Or choose one off the shelf? If so which one? The guys argument may not have been delicately articulated, but its still a valid point. "Linux advocates" can hardly make negative comment about MS product range when in the Linux world the choice is even broader. Whether more choice is bad, or product ranges having missing features is a discussion on value which Linux may well win in terms of price/features (I mean how do you beat free? if not for total cost of onwership) is another matter. But he is right. I too would rather for general office automation at work choose an XP flavour from 8, than a Linux distribution from many many more (even if there are only a handful of serious choices)
So either you are misinformed, lying, or intentionally spreading FUD.
If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
Didn't it occur to anyone that Microsoft wanted this information to get out so that they could see what the reaction of the marketplace would be? My guess is there is will 4-6 versions of Vista max (Starter, Home, Pro, Europe, Ultimate, and possibly Media).
Likewise, I'll bet all 8 versions of Vista use the same "kernel". It's not the kernel that makes things work or not work (for the most part), it's the user-level software on top.
-- Your comment has too few characters per line (currently 8.2).
The 'N' versions of Windows (Europe-only) will be simply ignored by the vast majority of buyers and retailers. Some retailers (maybe most) will not even stock the 'N' versions. Source:
Vista Enterprise Edition will only be available through volume licensing, so retail buyers won't see this version either. The IT folks who can buy Enterprise Edition are knowledgable enough not to be confused.So far, that leaves:
Since Vista Ultimate Edition is probably only for the uber-geek, most retail buyers will probably only need to choose from three versions: (1) Home Basic, (2) Home Premium, and (3) Business. For buyers of Windows PCs, that choice is similar today: XP Home, XP Media Center Edition, and XP Pro.TO START
PRESS ANY KEY
Where's the 'ANY' key? I see Esk, Kitarl, and Pig-Up...
Two versions:
OS X
OS X Server.
You choose what you want installed, plus they include developer tools with the regular version, and you get the full capability of the OS. Not only that, but any computer you buy includes the full install CD's, not just some "restore" CD's.
I don't see why Microsoft can't do that.
Well, what you say is more understandable. But still, it doesn't take much research to learn that if you need to pick a distro for a company you can't really go wrong with Redhat or SUSE.
But really, saying that there's too many Linux distros isn't what gets zealots like me all in a knot. What is really irritating about these Windows versions is that capability was taken out of some versions on purpose. Instead of making the product better, some "developers" have been paid to actaully make the product worse. Such insanity would never happen in the open source world. If I pick the 'wrong' distro at least it's functionality isn't being limited on purpose.
What does that mean? It's true that code compiled on one distro may not run on another distro--but then again it might (though certainly not between architectures). I've often found it does. But it depends on things like the relevant libs being the same or similar (or there at all), things being in places where the compiled code expects to find them, etc. It certainly is a crapshoot.
But one of the things I like about a (typical) Linux-based OS is that if all else fails, one can just grab a tarball of the source and compile away. The tools are already there, if not easily available. That is true for pretty much any standard "distro". I rather doubt that will be true of most, if any, of the various flavors of Vista, assuming that's how it is released.
It is true that to compile for one distro or another, one might need to pass a couple flags to ./configure or make a change or to to the makefile or something similar. These aren't things any newbie rolling off the turnip truck is going to know, but in most cases that doesn't matter, since most major distros have plenty of ready-made, packaged apps for their fan^Wuser base. It's very nice to have the additional capability (without jumping through major hoops), though. And IMO the ready availability of source is one of the really nice effects of the whole Open Source/Free Software thing.
fD
You are discussing kernel versions a completely different topic.
You've got to be kidding.
That's like saying that Dell and HP and IBM and etc. all sell different versions of windows because they all come prepackaged with different crippling spyware.
FanFictionRecs.net
There are always trade-offs.
Red Hat dropped out of the consumer market. Linspire is anchored there.
The uber-Geek might be able to bend any randomly chosen Linux distro to his will. The reality is that most of us have to make choices.
Choices in hardware. Choices in software. Choices in technical support.
Time and money.
Distros of Linux are, in many ways, packaging the same OS with a different face for people. Much like Dell computers come with different preloaded software than HP computers, different distros of Linux have different software packages.
What you are doing is essentially berrating Linux because it allows the vendor more prepackaging options than Windows, not less, and obfuscating a point that is moot: that no core functionality is ever lost between distros, and that only the ways in which it deals with software, not which software it can use, is changed.
FanFictionRecs.net
SLOW adoption. Even slower than WindowsXP. But in the end, as long as the industry chokehold lasts, people will buy the hardware so they can run the software because at some point there will be no choice. But let me tell you -- people are really starting to notice. Businesses are really starting to resent. At my company, we have an ambiguous goal to get off of Microsoft software. Server stuff is easy, but the desktop is simply unimaginable at the moment. But when the budgets start being examined after the question of replacing thousands of desktops is raised, they'll weigh their options once again and likely put more effort into a Linux desktop standard. I know my company isn't alone.
"Leak" a "test" website, and gauge the potential customer response.
Quite clever.
http://pcblues.com - Digits and Wood
fedora, ubuntu, suse, debian, rhel, slackware.... the list goes on and on ... let's not be hypocritical.
Oh really, so all those Linux distro producers are also creating artificial market segmentation in order to practice price discrimination in different markets with different points of elasticity?
No??
Then STFU, because the two situations really are completely different, and hence, nothing hypocritical about it at all.
Market segmentation (with rate fences and aimed at price discrimination) is not the same as substitute competition. The latter is actually good for you.
The guys argument may not have been delicately articulated, but its still a valid point. "Linux advocates" can hardly make negative comment about MS product range when in the Linux world the choice is even broader.
I think the reason that this is being debated as a valid point, is because with Linux you have options, with Microsoft versions, you just have limitations. OSS and MS are different paradigms, and Microsoft's paradigm is to cripple their products built-in functionality to offer something a little bit more cost competitive.
JWall: GUI client for IPTables
"Free software discussions aside, do you think that is also unfair that one must pay more for a nicer car over a basic car? They both get you from point A to point B, but one has more amenities that some people want."
So if I got this right you are bitching that there is too much choice in Linux? If so, then here goes my rant...
All of Microsoft's problems with security as well as stability are rooted in the fact that they are homogeneous. Every Windows system is exactly like the next. The lack of diversity is what will always make them vulnerable regardless of the scheme they try next to patch it. It is a problem of their own doing.
Let me illustrate why diversity is not only preferrable but necessary...
Let's say you have a "managed forrest" of oaks. What do you think will happen when an oak disease breaks out in that forrest? you got it. They all get infected. Now, lets run the same scenario in a diverse forrest. That same oak disease won't affect the pines, maples, etc..In fact, if you have isolated pockets of oak a disease is less likely to spread. That is what diversity does.
Now, back to this topic. The diversity in Linux makes it stronger, not weaker. Regardless of the "version" of Windows you get it is still going to have the same features, structure, and vulnerabilities if the base is homogeneous.
B.
This is a sig. This is only a sig. Had this been an actual sig you would have been informed where to tune for more sigs.
Its chosen for them, by the whoever sold them the PC.
So if Dell chooses to go with Home Premium, or whatever its called, then thats what ~70% of the people who buy Dell will use. Chances are, with no questions asked.
Each version of Windows has a different license saying what you can and cannot do with it. The home versions will probably have licenses telling you that you can't run a server on them. Linux distros do not have such licensing.
It's mostly about LICENSING and EULAs on Windows, not just included apps.
Microsoft-free since March 28, 2004
"do you think that is also unfair that one must pay more for a nicer car over a basic car? They both get you from point A to point B, but one has more amenities that some people want."
Yes, you are right. But what about distros like Mepis? or Lindows (R.I.P)?
Mepis comes with hundreds of apps and games and utilities, ready to run.
The point here is also marketing. Microsoft are good at that. Its imaginable that Apple's OS is heading towards competing with Windows. There are also a few distros of that too.
Historically, Microsoft have been against piracy from the start. They have cleverly engineered old VLMs out of the registration-activation-update processes, they support FULL DRM and will in the future pursue technologies to defeat piracy.
I for one, welcome the 8 versions of Vista!
There are so many 'users' out there that find computers complicated, that a simple operating system is all they want, visually, minimum options, easy to navigate, install and run apps.
The first OS that can do that will be very popular with many people, including Linnux GUI, Apple OS for Intel etc.
Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
"The WPA system checks ten categories of hardware:
* Display Adapter
* SCSI Adapter
* IDE Adapter (effectively the motherboard)
* Network Adapter (NIC) and its MAC Address
* RAM Amount Range (i.e., 0-64mb, 64-128mb, etc.)
* Processor Type
* Processor Serial Number
* Hard Drive Device
* Hard Drive Volume Serial Number (VSN)
* CD-ROM / CD-RW / DVD-ROM
It then calculates and records a number based on the first device of each type that was found during setup, and stores this number on your hard drive. Initially, this is sent to Microsoft in an automatic dial-up, together with the Product ID number derived from the 25-character unique Product Key used in setting up Windows.
If Service Pack 1 has been installed, the entire Product Key is also transmitted: This can then be checked against a list of known pirated keys
The hardware is checked each time Windows boots, to ensure that it is still on the same machine. Also, if you subsequently perform a complete format and reinstall of Windows, Microsoft's activation center will have to be contacted again because the information held on the machine itself (the number previously written to your hard drive) will have been wiped out by reformatting the hard drive. If your hardware is substantially the same, this will be done by an automated call without your needing to talk to anyone.
What does 'substantially the same' mean? WPA asks for 'votes' from each of these ten categories: 'Is the same device still around, or has there never been one?' Seven Yes votes means all is well -- and a NIC, present originally and not changed, counts for three yes votes! Minor cards, like sound cards, don't come into the mix at all. If you keep the motherboard, with the same amount of RAM and processor, and an always present cheap NIC (available for $10 or less), you can change everything else as much as you like.
If you change the device in any category, you have lost that Yes vote -- but will not lose it any more thereafter if you make changes in that category again. So, for example, you can install a new video display card every month for as long as you like.
Note that it appears that if you boot with a device disabled (disabled -- not removed), the device is not found in the enumeration -- so if, say, you disable a network connection which uses the NIC and then reboot, you may be missing its three votes and find that a new activation is needed."
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.php
I would suggest you look at z/OS, where I am currently running a module that a predecessor wrote back in 1975 (way before I was born).
Not to mention the iSeries lot, where they have changed the hardware architecture twice (ala the PPC to x86 mac change) without any recompiles, let alone source changes.
And again, OpenVMS where I can run stuff written for VMS 2.0 on VMS 7.3.
The software industry is more than just Microsoft.
Linux is a kernel that typically uses GNU userland.
Windows is an operating system, including a kernel and userland.
I don't know about you, but when every single person I know says "Linux", they're using it as a short-cut for "Linux distribution" - ie the kernel, userland tools, everything. Similarly, when people say "NT" they mean "Windows NT", not the NT kernel and subsystems (which techincally is all that NT is - Windows runs on top of NT).
It's official. Most of you are morons.