Differences between Windows Vista Versions - Home Basic, Home Premium and Business

Can anyone tell me what are the differences between Windows Vista Versions - Home Basic, Home Premium and Business.

I am going to buy a laptop with Windows Vista. So just wanted to know differences between various versions.

Also one of the main problem is that.. Windows Vista Home Premium and Business needs atleast 2 GB RAM for smooth working. But thats really expensive.

Dell Charges Rs. 3972 (US$ 88) for upgrading to a 1 GB from 512 MB and charges Rs. 13504 (US$ 300) for upgrading to a 2 GB RAM from 512 MB.

Microsoft Resommends minimum 512 MB RAM. So Vista Home Basic Runs smoothly on a 512 MB RAM Isnt?

Ya I found this page http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/choose.mspx

After reading that comparison I think one must go for Home Premium... its better than busines too.

They Recommend Vista (Except Home Basic) as the Best choice for laptops

 

Well, think about it this way -

Windows Vista Home Basic = Windows XP Home
Windows Vista Home Premium = Windows Media Center
Windows Vista Business = Windows XP Pro

I just bought a Dell 640m with 1gb RAM and Windows Vista Home Basic and so far it does have all that I need. The Home Basic basically does not have the AERO interface and is not as resource hungry. If you want the fanciful transparent AERO interface then the Home Premium would be the way to go.

Although they tell you that the mobility thingy is not available in the Home Basic, I actually saw it in it. Dell itself has its own power management system which is cool.

VISTA in itself is quite resource hungry so going to 1gb RAM is indeed helpful. If you can do away with the AERO Interface and like the XP interface, the Home Basic is good enough.

 

Home Basics lacks the features which I need they are... Scheduled Backup
to automatically backup your files, and the AERO.

But Home Basic can be compared with Business Edition. I need AERO but I dont want to Play Games or Watch Movies on my Laptop.

I just want to browse net, and also want to run some softwares for my Business.

 

IMHO, Aero is just over-rated. It is after all just an interface.

The reason why I went with the Home Basic was because I do not think it is worth paying for 2gb of RAM just to have a fancy interface. I just wanted to do some emails, surf the web and run some business applications.

The Home Basic requires 512mb minimum to run and thus the 1gb that I got for the system makes it runs pretty much what I was expecting on an XP system.

Vista is already quite resource hungry to begin with and AERO just adds to the load. With Vista Home 1gb RAM quite okay. With Aero, I would definitely suggest 2gb RAM for the interface and be able to run some application at the same time.

The Home Basic does comes with the Backup and Restore but it has to be done manually as it does not come with a scheduler.

I guess in the end, it is based on your personal perference.

 

OK thanks for that info. Well as I told you am also using the PC for checking emails, surf the web and for running applications necessary for business.

So Vista with AERO doest work well with 1 GB RAM? If that the case then I will probably go for Home Basic.

Also can you post some screen shots (my computer, start menu, application and all) of your OS? Let me see its interface.

 

Also one more thing.. I think I have read some where that you can turn OFF the AERO feature in Home Premium so that it becomes Home Basic. Thats Cool.

 

Let me see what I can do. The Vista Laptop is still pretty new. I am still getting the hang of Vista.

Which model of Dell do you intend to get ?

 

Here are some of the screen shots on Vista Home Basic


Vista Home Windows with Internet Explorer and Paint in the Background


Paint and The Save As Directory


Vista Home Basic Main Screen with Start Menu

 

Does ultimate also needs 2gb ram?

 

Yes ultimate also needs 2gb ram

 

Hey agnivo007 thanks for that image.

 

Well, is the start menu and the my computer view and all for home basic same as with Premium (except with a 3D Effect)?

 

Well now am thinking about COMPAQ Powered by AMD Turionâ„¢ 64 (The AMD's answer to Core Due 2). It costs US$1000 with 1 GB RAM and Home Basic, with Web cam, 120 GB HDD, NVIDIA GeForce (128 MB)


By the way does a Laptop needs a UPS when connected directly to AC?

 

No, I do not think that a Laptop requires a UPS because if you have the battery on and if there is a power failure, it will switch from AC to battery so you do not lose power. However, if where you are gets a lot of power surges or fluctuating current, a surge protector and a voltage regulator may be needed.

Some notebook uses the AC to charge the battery which in turn power the laptop but others does the charging and also power the laptop directly. The Dell is the latter as in you can remove the battery and the laptop can still operate via AC. There was an old HP which I had which does not work without the battery.

Well, if you do not want the UPS, you can always charge the laptop when it is off and then use the battery power when it is on. That way what happens to the AC does not affect the laptop.

The Dell 640mb uses shared memory for Video RAM and takes out about 224mb from the RAM for that purpose. I have not found any way to change that figure and the plain jane 512mb system only has 288mb of RAM which is pitiful.

Oh, one thing I like about Vista although I have not fully tested it yet is ReadyBoost. You can buy one of those higher end Thumbdrive say a 1gb or 2gb Thumbdrive (for some weird reasons they are cheaper than RAM) and plug it in and Vista will ask if you want to use it as ReadyBoost Memory. Basically what it does is it would use the Thumbdrive as RAM. It probably is slower than the DDR2 RAM but faster than using the harddisk as the virtual memory. So it can be helpful for those moments you need more memory but it probably isn't a long term solution but a nice solution nevertheless.

 

Hy,
In windows vista homebasic version requires only 512 ram and your processor is upto or above 800hz ,and minimum 20 gb free hardisk space there is no need of external graphics card if you have this much facility than your vista is run as smoothly as xp provided it doesn't get you 3D effect.

If you buy a Home Premium and Business than you require minimum 2GB RAM
64 bit graphics card and 80 gb hardisk to run good in that you get the 3D effect of the vista,thaks