I know many members were running the betas..i am debating if I should get Vista...I kind of want to wait until like 6 months when some updates are released...

I am wondering too, I know they sell the upgrade version, which just means you have windows xp right? Its quite a difference in price: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...?CampaignID=37

and also newegg has it OEM for less money...but it says its for system builders?
http://promotions.newegg.com/msvista..._Products.html . Surely this is the best route for less $, I dont need the oem boxes.

Also I am trying to figure which version I would get if I get Vista. First instinct is Home Premium, but then it makes me wonder what I am missing Ultimate?

Please discuss your experiences with Vista beta, etc.

Thanks!
-Ryan

 

Mac OS X

Seriously though... I'm clearly not the best person to give Vista advice, however, MS has a comparison chart that I've linked below. It looks like Home Premium would likely be your best choice. There's not really that much added in Ultimate according to the chart. I'm sure someone would be better suited to help you out. Good luck.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...ns/choose.mspx

 

you can only upgrade your hardware in your computer so many times before you have to buy a new version of vista

thats just a waste of money

 

Sorry, but your question also reminded me of this: http://www.joyoftech.com/joyoftech/joyimages/915.gif

 

I agree that Microsoft's practice of authorizing their software is a bit extreme.
Hmm, that sentence looks like there should be a "but..."
There isn't though, it's just a silly business practice.

 

It depends on what you are going to be doing with your new system. If it is for high end gaming, you might need vista in the future as all Direct X 10 games will require it. If you aren't going to be gaming, don't waste money on microsoft or apple. Just get linux. It's totally free (includes browsers, excellent hardware support, mp3 and video players, mock MS Office and Adobe programs: openoffice (Word, Powerpoint, Excel), gimp (Photoshop)), more secure, and just as easy to use as windows. Ubuntu is really simple and straightforward.

 

I will be using it on my pc that I frequently game on. But I want all the required features for the best experience I can, but I dont know if I need to get ultimate.

So the upgrade only lets you really upgrade so many times? Then it locks you out if you try to reformat? The difference in the upgrade price seems pretty big.

 

The difference between the OEM Vista and the Retail Vista is that, on OEM Vista, you're only allowed to install the OS into 1(one) pc and the license is not transferable. With Retail Vista you can install and transfer the license into another pc provided that you uninstall from the previous pc.

 

pinoy tC, how would they know if you transfered it to another pc? If say I get the oem and in a year I upgrade and get a new pc. I could reformat that pc to xp home and put the oem disc into my new pc couldnt i?

I have a 2.66ghz Pentium D with 2gb ram, and a nvidia 6500 256mb card. I got a dell xps 600 because I had no financing for like 2 years...otherwise i'd of built my own probably. I dont see me needing to upgrade to a different pc for awhile?

 

My understanding of Windows activation is that when you install Windows, it takes note of several pieces of hardware installed. If too many of them change, the software must be reactivated.

So, at that point, you generally have to get on the phone to MS and make them believe that you do have a legitimate copy of Vista, but you just made a change to your hardware.

I think you are able to reactivate three times before you need MS to come in and do it for you. At least that's how I remember XP being. So, if you're one to change hardware frequently, or put in new hard drives, you might have some frustration coming your way.

It should still work fine, it's just kind of an unnecessary pain.

 

Eventually we will all have it (everyone with a Windows PC that is). I mean seriously, how many of you are still running Windows '98? Yet when XP was released, message forums were filled with these same topics.."should I upgrade to XP or not".
I don't need Vista yet and I don't want to be one of the first fools...er, I mean customers to try it out. I'll wait a while but yeah, I'll have it sooner or later. We all will.

 

Unless you're a software engineer, russian mathmatician, or 12 year old wunder kid that seems to have some symbiotic relationship with your pc, it's probably best to wait.

 

There's no need to buy it now. You can wait... save your money and just save up for a computer upgrade, so that you can go ahead and buy that OEM version if you still want.

The OEM copy for sysem builders only means that you have just have to buy other computer hardware with the OEM copy... basically, its to keep people who aren't building new computers from getting an OEM copy. I'm sure its some dumb stipulation by M$.

But yea, eventually I will upgrade to Vista, but probably only when I decide to upgrade my mobo, processor, video card, etc. - to most people that would mean a new computer.

 

Wait! Lets see what goes on before you buy it. Let the hackers take some cracks at it and also watch how the first batch will fail.

 

There's actually a crack out there for Vista...
After a serial number is entered, you have 14 days to activate it with MS. The crack constantly resets the countdown so it doesn't need to be activated. So yea, if you have the means...

 

i guess im just a sucker for wanting the latest, and knowing that one day i'll upgrade anyways...I just am concerned about compatiblity with software/hardware...but dont forsee any problems too hard to not get around...

 

if you get vista, expect to be smashin your head into your keyboard. ive played around with the betas and the OEM system builder copies and all it is is xp with a different GUI, no performance increase, its actually more confusin to navigate.

NO ON VISTA@!

 

I thought that was a built in "feature" with all of the MS OS's?

 

ohh yeah, that and the ability to understand tech support from half way around the world. now that i think about it, getting out of the computer repair business was probably a good idea.

 

wait for the next generation of apple computers.