Windows Vista Home Premium Strawberry-Vanilla Swirl Edition, anyone?

All joking aside, Windows Vista will come in a wide variety of flavors when it ships, Microsoft announced earlier today. While not equal to the 31 flavors of Baskin-Robbins ice cream, there will still be a number of versions available. In all there will be eight versions: Windows Vista Starter Edition, Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Basic N, Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Business N, Windows Vista Enterprise, and Windows Vista Ultimate. Windows Vista is expected to be released in late 2006. Curious? Visit Microsoft’s Windows Vista site. CNet News.com has a useful chart which explains the differences between the versions.

OK, so one could make the snide remark “bringing clarity to your world, indeed.” However, most users may never see some of the versions of Vista. The “N” versions, which lack Windows Media Player, are only intended for Europe. Windows Vista Starter will only be available in developing countries and Windows Vista Enterprise will only be available to large businesses and others with volume licenses. Many users, therefore, will only see four versions, six in the EU (and the difference between the N and regular editions is simple enough to comprehend). Still, I’m sure Microsoft could have streamlined a bit more, like offer only one home edition. And offer the more advanced graphics capabilities to all versions.

UPDATE 27 Feb minor fixes.