Windows Vista Ultimate

[ozymandious]

I'm in the Market for a new laptop and most seem to come with Vista Home Premium.

For it to connect to my work network and use other special functions (VPN) I need to have Vista Business or better.

2 questions:

1. Can Buy Vista Ultimate in Thailand? I asked a friend and he said it wasn't released here yet. Can I buy an Upgrade disk.

2. Can I upgrade over the internet? Do they send you a disk? If it ever crashes out and i have to restore with rescue disks how do i go back to Business/Ultimate from Home Premium?

[Kyosuken]

Actually all Vista Editions (Ultimate Included) are on the same DvD : you can see it here. The only difference is the serial key provided when installing (or after installing as Vista allows a grace period (to get a valid key) of some days if you didn't put a serial number.

The upgrade will give you a new serial number wich will unlock features from Vista itself and in the case of Ultimate even give you access to the "Extras" download. If you have to reinstall Windows Vista you will just need to provide the correct key (so the ultima key you bought when "upgrading" or Vista will fall back in a semi lock down mode.

[ozymandious]

Actually all Vista Editions (Ultimate Included) are on the same DvD : you can see it here. The only difference is the serial key provided when installing (or after installing as Vista allows a grace period (to get a valid key) of some days if you didn't put a serial number.

The upgrade will give you a new serial number wich will unlock features from Vista itself and in the case of Ultimate even give you access to the "Extras" download. If you have to reinstall Windows Vista you will just need to provide the correct key (so the ultima key you bought when "upgrading" or Vista will fall back in a semi lock down mode.

does this bode the same for 'branded OS installations' like on a Toshiba or HP laptop? And what if the computer didn't come with disks, but with the partition that you burn your own rescue disks off of?

So i found out that you can 'upgrade' on line using MS's upgrade anytime tool thingy. Do you just have to write down your serial # and retain it forever if your computer takes a dump and you need to reformat?

Lastly is there a price difference in going up in vista version? Is a vista ultimate upgrade the same across the board?

Oris there a price difference going from vista home priemun to ultimate VS going form Business to Ultimate.

Lot's of questions I know, but i need answers to guide me. I appreciate any help given.

[Jimmy in Bangkok]

Hi ozymandious,

The branded OS you're talking about is called an OEM copy and is pre-installed on the computer. These use a special OEM key that are all exactly the same (for that particular brand of computer) and are activated when you first connect to the internet using a combination of the OEM key, software licensing table in the BIOS and digitally embedded license. As to upgrading it should be the same as the normal DVD version.

The serial number is extremely important to hang onto as well as the information regarding purchase etc as the key can only be used (for an online registration) once and once only. If your computer takes a dump as you put it and you need to reinstall Vista the same key you purchased will NOT work a second time for online activation and you will have to speak to M$, answer some questions and explain why you are using the same key again i.e. hard drive failure etc. You can also have a look at your current key using command line. This does not apply to a phone activation.

As to the pricing, as far as I'm aware there is a set cost for an upgrade to Vista no matter what version of Vista you currently have. I may be wrong here but that's what I believe is the setup at present. I hope this has been of some help.

Cheers

Jimmy

[A_Traveller]

does this bode the same for 'branded OS installations' like on a Toshiba or HP laptop? And what if the computer didn't come with disks, but with the partition that you burn your own rescue disks off of? Unclear at this stage, however OEM versions that is to say those pre-installed may not be moved but could be upgraded, probably only via the net

So i found out that you can 'upgrade' on line using MS's upgrade anytime tool thingy. Do you just have to write down your serial # and retain it forever if your computer takes a dump and you need to reformat? Yes

Lastly is there a price difference in going up in vista version? Is a vista ultimate upgrade the same across the board? No, the present upgrade path is unclear, from XP home upgrade to Vista Home versions only, not ultimate, though presumably one could do this is two steps {There are upgrade options via the net in the US from MS}, from XP Pro upgrade to Vista Business and Ultimate. Upgrade within Vista range was originally not fully clear, but there is now an indication that home versions to ultimate will be available as an upgrade via the net.

Oris there a price difference going from vista home premium to ultimate VS going from Business to Ultimate. In the US I think the difference is about 20 dollars

Lot's of questions I know, but i need answers to guide me. I appreciate any help given.

The above can only be guidance since at this stage there is some indication from MS re the upgrade policy within Vista, which is also subject to regional differences, there is also the whole OEM and Retail 'confusion' which has changed at least twice during the last few months. Of course someone here may know more and have a link to more recent data.

Regards

/edit amendment to upgrade data //

[Crushdepth]

You can buy Vista Ultimate off the shelf now.

Having played with it for a while I'd have to say that the business version is probably a better buy - the 'media centre' is pretty much the same functionality as Media Player, just with a prettier but more annoying and bug-ridden interface.

[ozymandious]

Like I said before I NEED Business or better to work on my company network. but just for fun ( i could take or leave media center) i want some of the multimedia stuff that's in home Premium and Ultimate that's not in Business.

It's nice to have some of the features like windows movie maker and other stuff. I know there are more professional video programs out there but for some quick and light editing it's fine.

[Kyosuken]

I was speaking about Vista Retail (the full box you buy standalone in a shop) against oem.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/...gradepaths.mspx There is what is possible from XP and other versions of Windows.

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/e...b81033.mspx#ELD And this one explains from what Vista to Vista edition can be "updated" or not (ed: click the "

What installation choices are available to you?" for the information needed)

I would advice to buy a Vista retail box (oem packages aren't to be acquired alone, but this is another matter) Retail will allow in most case to either upgrade or full install. Where as Update will only allow to... Update from a previous windows installation (unless they changed lateley Windows Vista Update Boxes are note "bootable" and can only installed from within the previous OS - it made a bunch of people angry because well... this is retard and backward from what MS did before).

Vista Retail offer you the possibility to install a couple of time (if i Recall similar to windows XP retail 4 activations by Internet, before you have to call MS center to activate windows by phone) but you are tied to one computer only, vista "may activate" if 2 copies are running at the same time, but it's a matter of time before one of them goes back to lock down mode.