Windows 8 SKUs Announced: MS Makes Things Even More Confusing

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
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Microsoft has finally announced the SKUs for Win8:

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/.../04/16/announcing-the-windows-8-editions.aspx

Windows 8: The successor to Win7 Home Premium, so this is the base version of Windows 8.

Windows 8 Pro: The professional edition, all of Win8's features except Media Center, plus all the other features you'd expect in a Pro SKU. If you want Media Center you have to buy the DLC.

Windows 8 Enterprise: The enterprise/volume license edition. Effectively Win8 Pro + additional features

Unnamed Windows 8 for emerging markets: Language locked to only the emerging markets it's published in. No idea whether it's the replacement for Starter or a really cheap version of Win8.

Windows RT: The OS formerly known as Windows on ARM. This is the ARM edition of Win8. The RT stands for Windows Runtime, which means that WinRT is the abbreviation for both the OS and the runtime.
 

Dominato3r

Diamond Member
Aug 15, 2008
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So if I go to bestbuy to buy a copy of Windows, I will only see two... how is this confusing?
 

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
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So if I go to bestbuy to buy a copy of Windows, I will only see two... how is this confusing?
Because there's still 5 different editions, including an edition of Windows 8 that doesn't have a suffix, and an edition of Windows 8 that isn't even Windows 8.
 

QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
22,757
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While I don't like WMC, not including it in the pro version's crazy. Even if they only end up charging $4.49 for it. It should be free.
 
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VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,570
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If you have to pay for WMC, it had damn well better play CDs, DVDs, AND Blu-rays.

Edit: Wait, you have to pay extra for WMC, AND you have to pay extra for the "Pro" version, as a prerequisite for paying extra for WMC? Major fail.

If WMC is DLC, it should be available for the same price, for both Standard and Pro users, IMHO.
 
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xSauronx

Lifer
Jul 14, 2000
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i would take it to mean that media center is part of windows 8, except pro. its part of windows 7, except for the basic/starter editions

not sure why youd need it for pro/business level pcs in general.
 

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
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i would take it to mean that media center is part of windows 8, except pro. its part of windows 7, except for the basic/starter editions

not sure why youd need it for pro/business level pcs in general.
You probably don't, but Pro not being a proper superset of Home is maddening. MS did this exact thing in Vista, and thankfully they corrected it with Win7. So I have no idea why they're going back to stripping WMC out of Win8 Pro.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
58,539
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You probably don't, but Pro not being a proper superset of Home is maddening. MS did this exact thing in Vista, and thankfully they corrected it with Win7. So I have no idea why they're going back to stripping WMC out of Win8 Pro.

Picking a Vista edition was terrible. If you had needs that didn't fit exactly in their niche provided, you had to get Ultimate at an inflated price which had a bunch of crap most didn't need to get everything covered.
 

JackMDS

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 25, 1999
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+1 to these :thumbsup:

So if I go to bestbuy to buy a copy of Windows, I will only see two... how is this confusing?

i would take it to mean that media center is part of windows 8, except pro. its part of windows 7, except for the basic/starter editions

not sure why youd need it for pro/business level pcs in general.


:cool:
 

Anteaus

Platinum Member
Oct 28, 2010
2,448
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After reading the title, how is it confusing? Looks pretty straightforward. I actually like that they got rid of ultimate and simplified things down to two choices as either "for personal use" (non-pro) or "for business use" (pro).
 

Chiefcrowe

Diamond Member
Sep 15, 2008
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I actually like this. For most people it won't matter and will make the choice easier. I'm not even sure if there are a huge number using Media Center which is probably one reason why they did this.
 

arod

Diamond Member
Sep 26, 2000
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I actually like this. For most people it won't matter and will make the choice easier. I'm not even sure if there are a huge number using Media Center which is probably one reason why they did this.

The media center part is odd though.... if anything it should have been an option on both versions. That said media center has been a dead platform for a few years now in favor of xbox... not really that surprising they are doing their best to marginalize it.

I still think they should have just made the pro version the only version. Doesn't really seem like any of the pro features added any significant cost to be worthy of a separate version.
 

Jodell88

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2007
8,762
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Why does Microsoft insist on giving emerging markets the crappy versions of windows? I always order my copy from Amazon because of this very reason. I also get it cheaper than if I buy the gimped version here. :/
 

JackMDS

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 25, 1999
29,516
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Why does Microsoft insist on giving emerging markets the crappy versions of windows?/

This is almost done as form of charity this versions of Windows are less expensive in their country of need than what you are paying for "Happy Meal". :colbert:


:cool:
 

Jodell88

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2007
8,762
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This is almost done as form of charity this versions of Windows are less expensive in their country of need than what you are paying for "Happy Meal". :colbert:


:cool:
It's cheaper to buy a better version in America and ship it to Trinidad and Tobago than to buy it here. :|
 

sm625

Diamond Member
May 6, 2011
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When I first got windows 7 I used WMC all the time. Now I dont use it at all and wonder wtf I was thinking for ever using it. It is just painfully slow, like surfing the web on a PS3. Why would anyone do it?
 

ussfletcher

Platinum Member
Apr 16, 2005
2,569
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When I first got windows 7 I used WMC all the time. Now I dont use it at all and wonder wtf I was thinking for ever using it. It is just painfully slow, like surfing the web on a PS3. Why would anyone do it?
Because its amazingly easy to use for what it is, and it supports a vast number of TV tuners. I use it for TV recording/live watching.
 

Geofram

Member
Jan 20, 2010
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i would take it to mean that media center is part of windows 8, except pro. its part of windows 7, except for the basic/starter editions

not sure why youd need it for pro/business level pcs in general.

I'm an oddity, but I'd want it. I use Windows 7 Pro on all my computers, because I have a domain at home, and you need Pro to join a domain. My HTPC is based around WMC because I like MyMovies, and it integrates with it very well. Also, as was previously noted, it handles recording TV really simply and easily.

If they charged me for it, it would be annoying, and I'd probably move to XBMC or MediaPortal or something.
 

WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
32,143
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When I first got windows 7 I used WMC all the time. Now I dont use it at all and wonder wtf I was thinking for ever using it. It is just painfully slow, like surfing the web on a PS3. Why would anyone do it?


Works really well with a TVtuner card, I've not found a better alternative.
 
Oct 19, 2000
17,860
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The versions of Windows 8 are official:

Windows 8: The successor to Win7 Home Premium, so this is the base version of Windows 8.

Windows 8 Pro: The professional edition, all of Win8's features except Media Center, plus all the other features you'd expect in a Pro SKU. If you want Media Center you have to buy the DLC.

FTFY

We already discussed this in an earlier thread from a couple of months ago. Yes there are multiple versions of Windows products, but some of us in the tech world like to troll and list every single version number whether or not it is applicable to our market and whether or not we'll even see it on a store shelf. Let's be real here, quit trying to sensationalize thread titles.
 

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
31,516
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FTFY

We already discussed this in an earlier thread from a couple of months ago. Yes there are multiple versions of Windows products, but some of us in the tech world like to troll and list every single version number whether or not it is applicable to our market and whether or not we'll even see it on a store shelf. Let's be real here, quit trying to sensationalize thread titles.
There is no sensationalism here. Microsoft is going back to the bad old days of Windows Vista style naming, and throwing in a few additional curveballs in the process. There are 5 SKUs of Windows; you may not be able to buy all of them but you sure as heck have to support all of them.
 

WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
32,143
10,163
136
There is no sensationalism here. Microsoft is going back to the bad old days of Windows Vista style naming, and throwing in a few additional curveballs in the process. There are 5 SKUs of Windows; you may not be able to buy all of them but you sure as heck have to support all of them.

Thats Microsofts problem though isnt it?

As said, the choices look pretty sensible for consumers, a home edition for most people and a pro edition for the geeks.
 

Anteaus

Platinum Member
Oct 28, 2010
2,448
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There are 5 SKUs of Windows; you may not be able to buy all of them but you sure as heck have to support all of them.

You say "5 SKUs" like it's some kind of large number. Microsoft juggles far more than that when you consider all the various enterprise/server implimentations. Of all the things to criticize MS about, IMO this is really low on the list.
 
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