Windows Vista Ultimate Vs Home Premium

[Nightmare225]

I have decided to upgrade to Windows Vista but am having problems choosing between the Ultimate and Home Premium versions. I am a high school student who uses my computer mostly for doing schoolwork and playing games. Are there any notable features in Ultimate that are worth it and I would want over Home Premium? Would the Ultimate extras offer anything to me as a gamer, student?

Thanks for any replies.

 

[Aikouka]

Only issue you may ever have with home premium is the limit on networking and possibly remote connections, but this would be later on after you head to college, I'd suspect.

 

[VIAN]

Originally posted by: Nightmare225
I have decided to upgrade to Windows Vista but am having problems choosing between the Ultimate and Home Premium versions. I am a high school student who uses my computer mostly for doing schoolwork and playing games. Are there any notable features in Ultimate that are worth it and I would want over Home Premium? Would the Ultimate extras offer anything to me as a gamer, student?

Thanks for any replies.

Home Basic would be fine. But I guess you want that Flip 3D GUI.

Business and Ultimate are worthless for you.

 

[slpaulson]

Since you're a student, I'd get the home premium upgrade for ~$70.

I can't think of anything you'd likely miss from Ultimate.

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: cRazYdood
Since you're a student, I'd get the home premium upgrade for ~$70.

I can't think of anything you'd likely miss from Ultimate.

Texas Hold'em!!

 

[zodder]

If you have no need to ever join a domain, Home Premium sounds like the best route.

 

[Nightmare225]

Originally posted by: cRazYdood
Since you're a student, I'd get the home premium upgrade for ~$70.

I can't think of anything you'd likely miss from Ultimate.

Where could I get a Student Copy?

 

[Frintin]

I used Academic Superstore for my copy of Vista Home Premium Upgrade.

Great price, easy email or fax eligibility determination, fast shipping to California.

 

[Nightmare225]

Originally posted by: Frintin
I used Academic Superstore for my copy of Vista Home Premium Upgrade.

Great price, easy email or fax eligibility determination, fast shipping to California.

Did it include a 64-bit version? Also, how do you qualify for their academic program?

They have a list of documents on the site:

* The student's most recent Report Card (K-12)
* Current semester/school year Student ID
* Registration Receipt for this semester
* An official copy of the student's Class Schedule (Hi-ed)
* A Letter of Enrollment on school letterhead

Do I have to give in all of those or just one for proof?

 

[VIAN]

IIRC it includes it in the price, but you have to order the disc seperately and pay for shipping.

But by the time 64-bit will be acceptable to use, the next windows will be here.

 

[Nightmare225]

Originally posted by: VIAN
IIRC it includes it in the price, but you have to order the disc seperately and pay for shipping.

But by the time 64-bit will be acceptable to use, the next windows will be here.

So you get a form to order a 64-bit copy or something?

 

[Nightmare225]

Bump. Sorry, but I really need to know how to upgrade ASAP.

 

[dguy6789]

A vote for Home Premium here. It has pretty much everything Ultimate has that the average enthusiast on these boards would need. You would have to have very specialized needs for it not to meet them. Home Premium is just fine for even the greatest of power users.

I do not know much about the whole student discount deal, but I can tell you about the upgrade. Simply, if you purchase an upgrade edition of Vista, it requires you to already have a Windows XP installation on your hard drive for you to be able to install Vista. It will end up formatting your drive anyway, but it has that little requirement it has to check before hand. This is different from old upgrade versions of windows as they used to require you to have an install disc from a previous OS. With Vista, the old disc is not necessary, but you have to have XP installed and activated on your current machine.

 

[VIAN]

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/64bit.mspx

 

[Nightmare225]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
A vote for Home Premium here. It has pretty much everything Ultimate has that the average enthusiast on these boards would need. You would have to have very specialized needs for it not to meet them. Home Premium is just fine for even the greatest of power users.

I do not know much about the whole student discount deal, but I can tell you about the upgrade. Simply, if you purchase an upgrade edition of Vista, it requires you to already have a Windows XP installation on your hard drive for you to be able to install Vista. It will end up formatting your drive anyway, but it has that little requirement it has to check before hand. This is different from old upgrade versions of windows as they used to require you to have an install disc from a previous OS. With Vista, the old disc is not necessary, but you have to have XP installed and activated on your current machine.

Seems like everyone is saying that Home Premium is the way to go. I personally am leaning that way now, especially since I can get it discounted at $70.

Originally posted by: VIAN
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/64bit.mspx

Thanks, its seems that the Ultimate is the only version which ships with both disks.

 

[Gunther]

I have both Ultimate and Home Premium and I vote Home Premium. There really isn't anything to justify the extra cost for Ultimate unless you take advantage of the Ultimate licensing deal where you get 2 Home Premium licenses for $50 each. Also this is only worth it if you are not a student because if you are a student you can just get 3 Home Premium licenses for $210.

Also just get the upgrade, there is a work around where you can actually install a Vista Upgrade on top of a Vista "trial" installation. So you don't even need a valid XP license.

 

[LouPoir]

Home premium is the best -

 

[Jaxidian]

With Home Premium, you lose out on remote desktop and the robust backup solutions.

 

[slpaulson]

Originally posted by: Nightmare225

Originally posted by: VIAN
IIRC it includes it in the price, but you have to order the disc seperately and pay for shipping.

But by the time 64-bit will be acceptable to use, the next windows will be here.

So you get a form to order a 64-bit copy or something?

There is an insert which tells you what page to go to for the 64-bit DVD. I think the 64-bit media costs $10.