About Windows Vista

Released to the public on January 30th 2007
Based on Windows XP/SP2 and Windows Server 2003/SP1 with deep-seated security

About Vista Service Pack 1

So, what is SP1 for Vista supposed to Fix?

Improve by 25 percent local file copying on the same disk on the same machine

Improve by 45 percent the speed of copying files from a remote non-Windows Vista system to a SP1 system

Speed up by 50 percent the rate of copying files from a remote SP1 system to a local SP1 system

Improve the reading time for large images by roughly 50 percent

Improve the time to resume from standby for a “certain class” of USB hubs by about 18 percent

Improve the performance of user login on corporate PCs outside of the corporate environment so that it is comparable with login inside companies

Reduction of the number of User Account Control (UAC) prompts from four to one when creating or renaming a folder at a protected location

Improvement of compatibility with third-party diagnostic tools that rely on raw sockets

Addition of a password hint during the initial set up of Vista SP1

Resolution of many of the most common causes of crashes and hangs in Vista, especially those involving Windows Calendar, Windows, Media Player and a number of other drivers included with Vista

Reports of up to 300 percent increase in network file transfer speeds

Support for creating a single DVD media that boots on PCs with either BIOS or EFI - small point but very useful.

Addressing of the most common causes of crashes and hangs in Windows Vista, as reported by Windows Error Reporting - Improved stability for all?

Improved the speed of adding and extracting files to and from a zipped folder - While I use 7-Zip a lot, the in-built support for ZIP is useful.

New compression algorithm for RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) reduces network bandwidth by as much as 25-60% - I remote desktop to several system simultaneously so this will be appreciated.

Hotpatching reduced the number of reboots when updating - it’ll be interesting to see how this works out.

SP1 will report the amount of system memory installed rather than report the amount of system memory available to the OS on 32-bit systems - an end to the “where did my RAM go” cries!

Are there any visible changes? Most of the changes in SP1 are under the hood. The handful of visible changes include the following:

The Search menu option is no longer on the Start menu, and when you kick off a search from the Search box on the Start menu, the text at the bottom of the results has changed

There’s also a new Pause button on the Indexing Options dialog box, which allows you to suspend indexing for 15 minutes.]

The Remote Desktop client has a redesigned user interface.

The disk defragmenter command allows you to specify a volume to defrag.

There’s a new version number in the About box. SP1 uses the same kernel and has the same version number as the newly released Windows Server 2008.

If you have a copy of Windows that was activated using the Grace Timer or OEM Bios exploits, you’ll be asked to activate, presumably within three days. If you can’t supply a valid product key and activate online or over the phone, you’ll be unable to continue using Windows Vista.
If you have a system that fails a WGA validation check, you’ll see a black background instead of your regular desktop wallpaper. You’ll also see some messages warning you that your copy of Windows Vista is “not genuine.” You will lose no functionality. From Ed Bott / ZDNet Tech Update Today

Fixes Category
75 Internet Explorer
41 Sleep/Hibernation & Power Management
38 Storage
35 Hardware and Drivers
35 Networking
28 Desktop and Shell
25 Printing & Scanning Technologies
25 .NET Framework, Data Components, Development Tools
24 Setup, Deployment, Backup, and Activation
24 Windows Media Center
23 International/Localization
20 Computer Management, Administration, and Tools
19 Application Compatibility
19 Multimedia
16 Performance and Reliability
16 Startup/Shutdown
13 Time Zone/Daylight Saving Time
13 Windows Media Player and Related Technologies
12 Security
12 Remote Access, VPN
  8   IIS and WebDAV issues
7   Wireless Networking
7   Offline Files
6 Windows Mail and Web-based Software
5   Windows Sidebar and SideShow
5 Windows Portable Devices

Vista Security 4-3-08

Well, there's good news and bad news when it comes to Vista's security level compared to other operating systems. A recent security showdown surprised some folks when Vista proved to be more secure than Mac OS X, but Ubuntu Linux beat them both. Well, sort of. It wasn't the Vista OS itself that was Vista's downfall - it was the Adobe Flash software installed on it. Read all about it here:

About Vista
Will your computer take full advantage of Windows Vista? Go here to download and run the Vista Upgrade Advisor
Vista Features
Windows Internet Explorer 7 Windows Vista enhances the Internet Explorer experience. The release of Internet Explorer 7 not only adds important new security and privacy features, but makes everyday tasks easier through features such as tabbed browsing, inline search, and shrink-to-fit printing.	Security Windows Vista is engineered to be the most secure version of Windows yet. User Account Control When you want to perform an administrative task, like installing a new program, Windows Vista prompts you to verify that you want to install the program before allowing that administrative task to run. Better protection from malware Vista contains many security features that help prevent malware from installing, and that help find and remove malware if it has already been installed.
Speech Recognition Speech Recognition in Windows Vista empowers you to interact with your computer by voice. It allows you to significantly limit your use of mouse and keyboard while maintaining or increasing productivity. You can dictate documents and e-mail messages in mainstream applications, fill out forms on the web using voice commands, and seamlessly manage Windows Vista and applications by saying what you see.
Windows Sidebar and Gadgets As you use your computer to access more information, perform more tasks, and interact with more software applications, you increasingly face information overload. You open a web browser just to check the weather, open an application to view your calendar, and open a calculator program to simply add numbers. You need simple, specialized, and lightweight mini-applications that put information and tasks at your fingertips—no matter what you're doing. Windows Sidebar boosts your personal productivity by providing instant access to gadgets—a wide variety of engaging, easy-to-use, and customizable mini-applications that offer information at a glance and provide easy access to frequently used tools.	Windows ReadyBoost Extend system memory with Windows Vista's EMD flash drive feature Windows Vista offers several new ways to enhance system performance. A particularly interesting new technique lets you use a USB flash drive as an External Memory Device (EMD). Vista uses the memory provided by the EMD to extend the machine's existing system memory (RAM). When you place a USB flash key in a USB 2.0 slot, you are presented with the following 2 options: Open folder...., and Speed up my system... Note: Pick a fast flash 256m or larger flash drive that is enhanced for ReadyBoost. Works best with 1gb or less memory.
The New Graphical Interface: Aero Glass Aero works best with fast graphics accelerators, as it takes hardware acceleration deep into the heart of the Windows rendering system (better leveraging of DirectX / Direct3D). With Aero, the whole windowing system relies heavily on hardware acceleration to enable rapid construction of dynamically-generated and complex user interfaces. Windows Aero Windows Vista is the first Windows operating system that has a user experience that can gracefully scale to the hardware capabilities of the computer it is installed on. All computers that meet minimal hardware requirements will see the Windows Vista Basic user experience, which provides the benefits of the refined interface features. Windows Vista Aero provides spectacular visual effects such as glass-like interface elements that you can see through. Windows Aero is an environment with an additional level of visual sophistication, one that is even more responsive and manageable, providing a further level of clarity. Long Zheng has put together an excellent page that shows the different interface options - Aero, Windows Vista Standard, Windows Vista Basic, and Windows Classic.) Here	Windows Backup Windows Vista provides valuable new innovations to help ensure you never lose information that is important to you. Windows Vista offers multiple layers of backup and restore protection from hardware failure, user error, or other issues. These innovations include system restore enhancements, a new feature called Windows Backup, and a related feature: Volume Shadow Copy, which was first introduced with the Windows Server product family and is now available for PCs. System Image Backup (Available in Windows Vista Business and Ultimate) This kind of backup basically captures a snapshot of all the applications, system settings, and files on your computer and saves them so you can restore your computer should you experience a major failure like a hard drive failure. System Image Backup is different from ordinary backups because it is a sector- and block-based operation instead of file-based operation. Furthermore, System Image Backup backs up your boot volume, system volume, and optionally other volumes on your computer.
	Restart Manager Microsoft Windows Vista contains a feature called the Restart Manager, that enables applications to be restored to their last viable state after a user logs off the system, after placing a system on standby, or following a system crash. This will dramatically improve the reliability of the operating system.

Built in Calendar

One brand new feature for Windows Vista is a built-in calendaring application, called - appropriately enough - Windows Calendar. It provides similar functionality to Outlook's calendar feature, but it's a separate application from Windows Mail. You'll find it in the All Programs menu. As with Outlook, you can share your calendar with others, and you can create multiple calendars for different purposes and publish the calendars for others to subscribe to. Calendar items are color coded and there's a search box for finding specific appointments and tasks. You can set up recurring events or add reminders so you'll be notified prior to an appointment.

It's a pretty full featured little application, and for those who don't have Outlook, makes a valuable addition to the functionality of Windows. For more info and to see screenshots, see=> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/features/forhome/calendar.mspx

Aero Glass - Flip 3D
Cycle through your open applications

More about Vista from Microsoft

A radically revamped Windows Explorer with integrated Desktop Search capabilities
A completely rewritten networking stack that supports IPv6
A two-way firewall that increases protection for many existing Windows services
New audio, display, and power management architectures
User Account Control, IE7 Protected Mode, and Bitlocker Drive Encryption
Windows Photo Gallery, with industry-standard support for saving metadata in image files
SuperFetch, ReadyBoost, and other memory performance-enhancing innovations
Excellent backup tools, including the ability to recover previous versions of a file
Vista's Disk Management console includes the capability to shrink, extend, and clone a hard disk partition. Available in Windows Vista Business and Ultimate. In all previous Windows versions, this required third-party tools.

Some discounts will probably be available in the retail channel. OEM prices will be lower.

Price Cuts - Posted 2-29-08
The price cut goes hand in hand with the release of SP1.
The price of the full retail version of Windows Vista Ultimate will drop from $399 to $319.
The price of the upgrade version of Windows Vista Ultimate will drop from $259 to $219.
The upgrade version of Vista Home Premium will drop from $159 from $129.

Vista is designed to dramatically improve the computing experience of every kind of PC user—from people at home who use their PCs for simple web browsing, to business people who must organize and act on large volumes of data, to scientists who routinely perform complex mathematical analysis. To make sure that everyone has an offering tailored to meet their specific needs, Microsoft delivers five different versions of Windows Vista. Each version is focused on the needs of a specific type of person.

Microsoft delivered five different versions of the Windows XP operating system, but these different versions were aligned with specific types of PC hardware instead of with the different ways people use their PCs. For instance, Windows XP Professional Tablet PC Edition is designed for mobile PCs and supports handwriting recognition. Windows XP Media Center Edition serves as a hub for your home entertainment system. And Windows XP Professional x64 Edition enables the use of cutting-edge 64-bit processors. But what if you're looking for a single operating system that can connect to your TV, run on a mobile PC that supports handwriting recognition, serve as the hub of your home entertainment system, and take advantage of 64-bit performance and security? With Windows XP there is no offering that gives you this much flexibility.

The five different versions of Windows Vista are designed to fit the way you intend to use your PC:

Windows Vista Home Basic
Windows Vista Home Basic is designed to deliver improved reliability, security, and usability to home PC users who just want to do the basics with their PCs. No Aero interface + (Very Windows 2000 looking and lacking many features )

Windows Vista Home Premium
Whether you choose to use your PC to write e-mail and surf the Internet, for home entertainment, or to track your household expenses, Windows Vista Home Premium delivers a more complete and satisfying computing experience. (Probably best bang for the buck)

Windows Vista Business
Regardless of the size of your organization, Windows Vista Business will help you lower your PC management costs, improve your security, enhance your productivity, and help you stay better connected.

Windows Vista Ultimate
If you want all of the best business features, all of the best mobility features, and all of the best home entertainment features that Windows Vista has to offer, Windows Vista Ultimate is the solution for you. With Windows Vista Ultimate you don't have to compromise.

Windows Vista Enterprise
Windows Vista Enterprise is designed to meet the needs of large global organizations with highly complex IT infrastructures. Windows Vista Enterprise can help you lower your IT costs while providing additional layers of protection for your sensitive data.

Features Breakdown
Comparing the product editions feature-by-feature
In the following tables, logically divided by category, you can see which Vista features are available in which Vista product editions.

Home Basic for the no frills (Windows 98 or 2000) look. Good for the basic low end PC.
Home Premium is the most logical choice for the average home user for a medium to high end PC.
Vista Business for the home and office / medium to high end PC.
Ultimate for power user / High end PC.

Windows Aero
Windows Aero is built on the new desktop, adding support for 3D graphics, translucency, window animation and other visual effects. Intended for mainstream and high-end graphics cards.
Note: Any card that supports Direct X9 and/or 10 and 128 meg (plus) of video memory should do fine.
Run the Upgrade Adviser here.

Adobe Audition and Windows Vista SP1 don't mix
The problem is caused by a conflict between Audition and the way Vista SP1 implements a Windows security feature known as Data Execution Prevention.

Known Problem Drivers with the installation Vista Service Pack 1 (as of 3-19-08)
Audio drivers
Realtek AC’97 (Alcxwdm.sys and Alcwdm64.sys - version 6.0.1.6242 or earlier)
SigmaTel (Sthda.sys and Sthda64.sys - version 5.10.5762.0 or earlier)
SigmaTel (Stwrt.sys Stwrt64.sys - version 6.10.5511.0 or earlier)
Creative Audigy (Ctaud2k.sys - version 6.0.1.1242 or earlier; P17.sys – all versions)
Conexant HD Audio (Chdart.sys and Chdart64.sys - version 4.32.0.0 or earlier)

Biometric (Fingerprint) Sensors
AuthenTec Fingerprint Sensor (Atswpdrv.sys – version 7.7.1.7 or earlier)
UPEK Fingerprint Sensor (Tcusb.sys driver file – version 1.9.2.99 or earlier)

Display drivers
Intel Display (Igdkmd32.sys and Igdkmd64.sys – versions between and including driver 7.14.10.1322 and 7.14.10.1403)

Other drivers
Texas Instruments Smart Card Controller (GTIPCI21.sys – version 1.0.1.19 or earlier)
Sierra Wireless AirCard 580 with the Watcher.exe application – version 3.4.0.9 or earlier
Symantec software driver for Symantec Endpoint Protection and for Symantec Network Access Control clients (Wgx.sys and Wgx64.sys – versions 11.0.1000.1091 or earlier)

Application & Hardware Compatibility Issues 5-2007 (most of these issues will be fixed with updates and upgrades.)

Installing Vista:
In the past, Microsoft allowed upgrade versions of Windows to install on a fresh machine so long as the customer could provide proof of possession of the old software. Vista Upgrade DVDs will lack the ability to install on a system unless Windows XP or 2000 was present. This means anyone looking to do a fresh install for any reason will not be able to. Someone who is doing disaster recovery after a hard drive failure or a virus infection won't be able to wipe their hard drive and install Vista, they'll have to install XP first and then install Vista on top of XP.
Note: There are some work arounds.

Still waiting for a few hardware vendors to get their driver act together. This isn't Microsoft's fault, but it's a problem for Vista. Now that all new PCs are beginning to be sold with only Vista, hardware vendors will have no choice but to support Vista and new drivers are coming onboard every week.

• Office XP(2002), 2003, 2007 - Reports of many Outlook Issues (Slow - Hangs...). Earlier Office versions not supported. (Office 97 & 2000)
Note: Officially only Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007 are supported to run on Windows Vista.
Office 2002: Outlook forgets password. No work around yet.
Office 2007: Works OK, but Outlook is Slow loading and responding! Typing displayed is behind keyboard input.

Check Windows Update
To make sure you receive patches and updates for Office applications, change Windows Update to Microsoft Update. To do this start Windows Update by clicking “Check for updates” in Control Panel and in the left pane click “Change Settings.” At the bottom make sure your Update service is set to Use Microsoft Update.

Updated 2-2008

• QuickBooks 2006 - Some software like QuickBooks 2006 and before won't work. 2007 works fine.

• Quicken 2007 Install – During installation, the update seemed to stall and reported not responding, so I killed the application. Quicken did not work and could not be uninstalled or reinstalled at this point. I checked their website and found that this is a common problem in Vista and even if update appears to stall you have to wait up to 2 hours for it to complete. So I had to download Quickens uninstall program and ran a Windows installer repair utility to get me back to being able to reinstall Quicken.

• WinFax - Symantec WinFax won't work at all and no new versions (shame on you Symantec)!
Software vendors are refusing to fix these issues to force you to upgrade to their latest or different software (if available at all).

• Nero 6 - CD/DVD burner version 6, many issues if works at all. Version 7 has it's problems too (7 works with a patch from Nero). Version 8 is OK.

• Internet Explorer 7 DVD Playback embedded widescreen Windows Media video still not corrected.
Default DVD playback has interlacing issues with widescreen video (not film based) content. Users will have to run their own DVD playback software and I used the free OEM PowerDVD software that came with the DVD burner.

• Adobe Acrobat issues finding it's PDF printer. Install issues (running in compatibility mode for XP sp2 works for some). Adobe says has download fix.

• iTunes can be unstable. iTunes can cause Windows Vista Aero effects to be disabled. New release OK.

• Microsoft Money works with Vista but there are some issues with updates.

• Paint Shop Pro Version XI Not compatible with Vista unless you install a Corel service pack. Here
PSP7 works OK.
PSP8 works, but with some reported registry errors.

• RealPlayer works with Vista, but has issues. Vendor has a Vista compatible version.

• HP Photosmart Printer – No Vista drivers available yet, but HP had a work around to be able to just print to it without some features.

• HP Photosmart 2610 All-in-one – No Vista drivers yet, but HP had a work around to be able to just print. Quick buttons on printer do not work but you can use Windows Fax and Scan (Not available on Vista Basic) to force it to scan.

• HP V90 All-in-one Printer – No Vista drivers yet, but HP had a work around to be able to print. Quick buttons on printer do not work but you can use Windows Fax and Scan (Not on Vista Basic) to force it to scan.

• Handspring Visor PDA – Could not get it to Sync. Fix available.

• Palm Z22 PDA – Could not get it to sync. (Update below)
Palm sync software is finally compatible with Vista 1-17-2008
Although it has lost market share to Windows Mobile devices and Blackberries, the Palm OS is still popular with many PDA users. If you're one of them, now you'll be able to synchronize your Palm with your Vista computer. The newly released Palm Desktop version 6.2, which has been in beta testing since last summer, is now available. To read more about it and for a link to download it, see
http://www.vistanews.com/V6RO9Y/080117-Palm-Software

• Canon Rebel XT Camera – Vista Compatible Software not available for working with Raw format as yet.

• Sony USB thumb Drive – Would not install and Vista could not find drivers for it. Another brand worked fine.

• FoxPro-based software like SBT Database Accounting - The software doesn't work under Vista.

• Creative Labs' Soundblaster Live! series sound cards and earlier PCI- and ISA-bus sound cards. No Vista Drivers at all!

• AOL - If you use America Online (AOL), update AOL by downloading Windows Vista-capable AOL Software (AOL VR) from www.aol.com, and then use the new version to connect to the Internet.

• Ad-Aware SE Professional Version: 1.06r1 - Ad-Aware is incompatible with Vista. Ad-Aware 7 should fix this.

• Adobe Acrobat Version: 7.0, 8.0 - Adobe Acrobat works with Vista but there are issues with installing updates

• Microsoft ActiveSync Version: 4.2 ActiveSync is incompatible with Vista. It has been replaced with Windows Mobile Device Center.

• Microsoft Money Version 2007 - works with Vista but there are some issues with updates.

• Linksys USB Wireless Adapter – No Drivers from Linksys for this model, so I installed new internal PCI Wireless Adapter that did have Vista Drivers.

• Belkin PCI Wireless Card Ver 5100 – No Vista drivers for this version of this card, I had to replace the Bekin card with a Linksys Card and download new Vista Drivers.

• Sonic Solutions - Brand New Dell with Errors – 3 brand new Dell’s all had Sonic Solutions driver errors on boot right out of the box. I had to download patches from Roxio to correct the problem.

• Epson Perfection 1650 scanner – No Drivers for Vista as yet. I have not found a work around as yet.

• Logitech QuickCam Pro 4000 – No Vista drivers yet, Logitech suggests purchasing a new Vista ready webcam. (What a Surprise)

• Sidekick 99 PIM - Sidekick 98 PIM works good under Vista and Vista SP1. Just don't install Truesync!

Programs Blocked from Starting 2-2008 After SP1
• BitDefender AV or Internet Security, version 10

• Fujitsu Shock Sensor 2.1.0.0

• Jiangmin KV Antivirus 10

• Jiangmin KV Antivirus 2008

• Trend Micro Internet Security 2008

• ZoneAlarm Security Suite 7.1

Vista Application Compatibility Update

The July 2007 Windows Vista Application Compatibility Update is a package of software updates that address common application compatibility issues in Windows Vista. (Available through Windows Update)

• ACDSee 8
• Adobe Creative Suite CS2
• Adobe Photoshop 7.0.1
• Adobe Photoshop CS 8.0
• Adobe Photoshop Elements Version 4.0
• Adobe Premiere Elements 3
• AOL 9.0 - x64
• AOL Safety and Security Center 2.5.4.1
• ArcSoft PhotoImpression 5
• Auslogics Disk Defrag 1.0.3
• AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5.0.47
• Azureus 1.0
• Battlefield 2 Deluxe
• BeatJam 2006 SE
• BitLord 1.1.5.6
• Bitvise Tunnelier 4.20
• Calyx Point 5.3
• Crystal Player Professional 1.97
• CyberLink PowerCinema 4.0
• Delphi 7 Professional
• Digital Zenkoku Map Townpage Database 7
• Doranet Kids Nyugaku Jyunbi Taikenban
• Doranet Shogaku Ichinensei Taikenban
• EasyRecovery Professional Version 6.04
• Family Feud Online Party
• Google Desktop 4.2006.1008
• HD Tach 3
• HD Tune 2.5.1
• IBM Rescue and Recovery with Rapid Restore 3.00
• IBM SmartSuite Millennium Edition - Freelance Graphics 9.8
• Justsystems Ichitaro 2006
• Jv16 Power Tools
• Label Mighty 6
• LEGO Star Wars
• Lenovo Presentation Director 1.0.0.1
• LimeWire 4.12
• Macromedia ColdFusion MX 7 Enterprise Edition
• Macromedia Fireworks MX2004 7.0.2.295
• Microsoft Age of Empires III : The WarChiefs Expansion Pack
• Microsoft Age of Empires III
• Microsoft DevStudio 9.0
• Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006
• Microsoft Dungeon Siege II
• Microsoft Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna
• Microsoft Encarta Standard 2007
• Microsoft Fable: The Lost Chapters
• Microsoft Flight Simulator X
• Microsoft Money 2005
• Microsoft Money 2006
• Microsoft Office 2003 Web Folders
• Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
• Microsoft Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Administration Tools Pack
• Microsoft Zoo Tycoon 2: African Adventure Expansion Pack
• Microsoft Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species Expansion Pack
• Microsoft Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania Expansion Pack
• Microsoft Zoo Tycoon 2: Zookeeper Collection Expansion Pack
• Microsoft Zoo Tycoon 2
• Minna de TV Denwa Starter
• Minna de TV Phone Starter 2.1.0.1
• MotionDV STUDIO 5.8J for FUJITSU
• Opera 9.02
• Palm Desktop 6.0
• Power Utility - Remote administration 3.1.0.0
• RealNetworks RealPlayer 6.0.12
• Rosetta Stone 2.1.3
• Roxio Easy Media Creator 7.5
• SG TCP Optimizer 2.0.3
• SmartInstall 2.16
• Softex OmniPass 1.0.0.1
• Sony FeliCa Port (PaSoRi) 3.0.0.0
• SpeedFan 4.31
• Sun Microsystems J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 9
• Sun Microsystems Java Control Panel
• The Weather Channel Desktop 5.0.1
• Toshiba Tecra M7 1.70
• Total Commander 6.55
• Trend Micro Internet Security 2006 (PC-cillin) 14.0 – 14.59
• Trend Micro Internet Security 2007 (PC-cillin) 15.0 – 15.19
• TweakNow PowerPack 2006
• Ulead DVD MovieFactory 5 Plus
• Virtual CD 8

This is from a blog on ZDNet defending Vista Ultimate prices compared to Home Premium
Posted by: AnthonySPT on ZDNet: 02/10/08

There is more to Ultimate than the freaking Extras
Ultimate is more than Extras.

Lets count just a few features from perspective of a Home Premium User:

• Complete PC Backup - A full recover system that boots from the DVD.
• Integrated Previous Versions (Volume and Backup Level) - This is just like Apple's Holy Grail Time Machine, but has more features and works better, as it not only works from backups on external media, but even volume level snapshots of files you are saved throughout the day.
• Remote Desktop Access, and yes home users use this. Setup a free DyDNS and setup a couple of ports on your firewall and you can get to every computer at home from any browser in the world.
• The ability to use it as your personal OS and still hook into Domains and VPN into work.
• Bitlocker - Yes this is a 'good' feature for people that have corporate data on their laptop. In some industries this type of protection is mandatory, like insurance. This is why people have used PGP volume encryption in the past, and Vista Ultimate provides this for everyone. (Next time you read about the FBI losing a laptop or people losing SSNs from a stolen laptop, think BitLocker.)
• Fax and Scan sharing and support. Turns your laptop into a quick fax machine for sending receiving, and also has an updated scan ocr module that allows for you to search for test in an image.
• 64bit version can see 128GB of RAM, Home Premium is locked at 16GB
• Has dual CPU (Socket) support, in addition to multi-core, so even today you can buy a dual CPU main board with Quad cores, and have 8 CPUs via Ultimate and stack in 32GB of RAM for a computer that is beyond most servers and mini/mainframes.
• File Encryption - you can encrypt files on NTFS just as you can compress files, and these are locked to the Admin or User account that cannot be broken. So if you share a computer and want to make sure even if another co-worker level Admin wants to get into your data, it is locked from them no matter what.
• Offline file support (improved from XP even) so you can always have access to network files even if you are on a plane, and they reintegrate and sync when reconnected flawlessly.
• Built in entry level web server, for development, but also nice for building a home intranet.

All the features of Home Premium, all the features of Business, and several that neither have.

Now lets look at Ultimate from the perspective of a Business Edition User:

• DVD creation and editing
• Movie Making software
• Windows Media Center (supports multiple tuners, analog, digital, cable card, etc.)

Also Ultimate is great for tech and multi-lingual people, as the binaries are language agnostic, and you can flip your desktop from English to German to French to Chinese at a moment's notice.

Ultimate also has some other 'under' the hood features available, but it would make this post even more ridiculously long.

But also remember that Ultimate combines several XP SKUs into one product as well. In the XP world if you wanted Media Center, it was a separate version than XP Home or XP Professional, and it would work in business environments like Pro would. And then there are the Tablet PC users (and people with Wacom/desktop Tablets) they could install Tablet PC, but then couldn't use XP as a Media Center, etc.

Ultimate is the step that brings EVERYTHING together so you don't have to choose features, while still leaving lower cost options for people that only need a select set of features.

I too would like to see MS abandon the 'home' version of Vista and especially by the time Windows 7 is here, have this down to Business and Everything versions, that only differ in their default set of installed software.

So if you think by not getting any more 'Extras' you were cheated, then you don't realize all the features you have that others don't have already. In addition that even some companies like StarDock and other are giving you free software that complements the Ultimate features.

Also remember that if you JUST factor in the Complete PC Backup features of Ultimate, it more than makes up the difference in cost between Home Premium and Ultimate, and lots of people ran out and bought equivalent software for XP without batting an eye.

(PS. I also know that the Ultimate 'Extras' are not going away, and there are several things still to be released as soon as MS gets SP1 and Windows2008 Server out the door and can start addressing cleaning up and finishing the Extra software. (There have been 'Plus' features for every version of Windows since Win95, Vista will be no different, and Ultimate users get the 'Plus' features for free, not only the included ones, but the upcoming ones as well.)

Posted by: AnthonySPT on ZDNet: 02/10/08

Don Davidson Computer
	About Windows Vista
First a Caution about Vista	Vista Features Breakdown	Basics from Microsoft
	About Vista	Aero Glass and Video Cards
Installing Vista Service Pack 1	Gotchas - Compatibility Issues +	Defending Vista Ultimate prices
About Vista Service Pack 1	Version Prices	To Windows Vista Tips Page

Vista product edition	Compare with...	x64 version?	Type	Retail price	Upgrade price
Windows Home Basic	XP Home Edition	Yes	Retail	$199	$99.95
Windows Vista Home Premium	XP Media Center Edition	Yes	Retail	$239	$159
Windows Vista Business	XP Professional Edition	Yes	Retail	$299	$199
Windows Vista Enterprise	XP Professional Edition	Yes	Volume-license only	Can Cost Thousands	n/a
Windows Vista Ultimate	n/a	Yes	Retail	$399	$259

Performance features	Home Basic	Home Premium	Business	Enterprise	Ultimate
Windows ReadyDrive	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows ReadyBoost	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
64-bit processor support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Maximum RAM (32-bit version)	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB
Maximum RAM (64-bit version)	8 GB	16 GB	128+ GB	128+ GB	128+ GB
Physical processor support	1	2	2	2	2
Processor core support	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited

User interface features	Home Basic	Home Premium	Business	Enterprise	Ultimate
Windows Aero UI ("Glass")		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Flip 3D		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Live Taskbar Thumbnails		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Instant search	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Live content organization in Explorer windows	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Security features	Home Basic	Home Premium	Business	Enterprise	Ultimate
User Account Control (UAC)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Security Center	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Defender	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Firewall	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Internet Explorer 7 Protected Mode	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Phishing Filter (IE7 and Windows Mail)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Update (can access Microsoft Update)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Parental Controls	Yes	Yes			Yes

Reliability features	Home Basic	Home Premium	Business	Enterprise	Ultimate
Real-time backup and recovery	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Scheduled backup		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows ShadowCopy			Yes	Yes	Yes
System image backup and recovery			Yes	Yes	Yes
Encrypting File System (EFS)			Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows BitLocker Full Drive Encryption				Yes	Yes
Windows SuperFetch	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Automatic hard disk defragmentation	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Internet features	Home Basic	Home Premium	Business	Enterprise	Ultimate
Internet Explorer 7	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
RSS support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Mail	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Bundled applications	Home Basic	Home Premium	Business	Enterprise	Ultimate
Windows Calendar	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Contacts	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Sidebar	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Games Explorer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Premium games		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Digital media features	Home Basic	Home Premium	Business	Enterprise	Ultimate
Windows Photo Gallery	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Themed photo slide shows	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Media Player 11	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Media Center		Yes			Yes
Windows Media Center HDTV and CableCard support		Yes			Yes
Xbox 360 Media Center Extender compatibility		Yes			Yes
Windows Movie Maker		Yes	Yes		Yes
Windows Movie Maker HD format support		Yes	Yes		Yes
Windows DVD Maker		Yes			Yes

Networking features	Home Basic	Home Premium	Business	Enterprise	Ultimate
Network and Sharing Center	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Improved wireless networking	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Improved power management	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Number of supported simultaneous peer network connections	5	10	10	10	10
Windows Meeting Space	View only	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Improved file and folder sharing	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Network Projector support		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Presentation Settings		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Remote Desktop	Client only	Client only	Yes	Yes	Yes
Join domain (Windows Server/SBS)			Yes	Yes	Yes
Offline files and folder support			Yes	Yes	Yes
IIS Web Server			Yes	Yes	Yes

Mobility features	Home Basic	Home Premium	Business	Enterprise	Ultimate
Windows Mobility Center	Partial	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sync Center	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tablet PC functionality		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Touch screen support		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows SideShow (auxiliary display support)		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Other Vista features	Home Basic	Home Premium	Business	Enterprise	Ultimate
Windows Anytime Upgrade	Yes (to Home Premium or Ultimate)	Yes (to Ultimate)	Yes (to Ultimate)
Windows Ultimate Extras					Yes
Speech recognition support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Accessibility Settings and Ease of Access Center	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Welcome Center	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
XPS document support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Fax and Scan			Yes	Yes	Yes