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Which version of Vista should I buy?

D

drjay128

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 7, 2006
19
0
Have a 20" iMac which we bought a few months ago, which is great. Still have an older Dell desktop which came with Windows ME, subsequently upgraded to XP with SP2.

I don't have a full version of XP o set up on the iMac, so am thinking of buying Vista so we can continue to use old Windows programs. Will Home Premium suffice?

We have four family users set up on the iMac. Will the licensing restrictions on Vista sub-Ultimate affect our ability to use Vista through four desktop accounts? I think we should be able to make do with BootCamp, rather than parallels, so we wouldn't have multiple virtual machines.

Thanks for any help.
 
For Bootcamp you should be fine without ultimate, but if you ever want to use parallels or other similar software you will need ultimate.
 
Not to sound rude, but you really would be better off not spending your money on it. There is nothing special with Vista that you can not get with XP.

XP = Win 2k fisher price addition

Vista = a dark version of OS X with all functionality stripped away.
 
Thanks. Should I assume that I would be looking for a 32-bit version (iMac running C2D)?
 
synth3tik said:
Not to sound rude, but you really would be better off not spending your money on it. There is nothing special with Vista that you can not get with XP.

XP = Win 2k fisher price addition

Vista = a dark version of OS X with all functionality stripped away.
Click to expand...

Not rude (just direct!). Isn't Vista supposed to be more secure and stable?
 
I agree with synth3tik. Depending on what you want to run in Windows, I'd choose the lowest form of Windows life you can get away with.

A "simple" XP with SP2 should be sufficient for most purposes. If you have access to a legal version of either XP or Windows 2000 I would not spend the extra money on Vista at all as there will be no functional advantage.

I run my Navman software on XP - that's really all I need XP for as the rest of my needs are catered for with OSX.
 
mrkramer said:
For Bootcamp you should be fine without ultimate, but if you ever want to use parallels or other similar software you will need ultimate.
Click to expand...

If I buy a full version of XP instead, will I be OK with multiple users in Parallels?
 
synth3tik said:
Not to sound rude, but you really would be better off not spending your money on it. There is nothing special with Vista that you can not get with XP.

XP = Win 2k fisher price addition

Vista = a dark version of OS X with all functionality stripped away.
Click to expand...

agreed, especially if your goal is to have greater software compatibility. i am tempted to get vista ultimate 64 cos i can't wait for the "WOW to start now." however, from DOT to cornell, everyone seems to say wait indefinitely or at least till vista sp1 is released. if you are still interested in vista; however, the cornell site does provide a brief comment about each edition.
 
Good info guys! I have been trying to determine whether I should go with Vista or XP. I don't like the idea of dropping $140 (if you go with an OEM) only to have Vista working smoother in the next few months.

My darn Garmin GPS only has an .exe file on the cd so it has to run under windows if I want to update my Streetpilot.

So I am looking at getting it for this issue and any others I might have later on.

Thanks for the thread. :apple:
 
As stated by other members as well, there doesn't seem to be a compelling reason for Mac users to goto vista just get.

All the software that you need to run in windows will work in XP, and perhaps better than vista as well!

Licensing wise, home consumers would probably be satisfied with Home Premium. However this is a bootcamp only option, since technically you are not allowed to run Vista Home and HP under a VM, only vista business and ultimate are licensed to run under parallels or VMware VM's.
 
slicedbread said:
As stated by other members as well, there doesn't seem to be a compelling reason for Mac users to goto vista just get.

All the software that you need to run in windows will work in XP, and perhaps better than vista as well!

Licensing wise, home consumers would probably be satisfied with Home Premium. However this is a bootcamp only option, since technically you are not allowed to run Vista Home and HP under a VM, only vista business and ultimate are licensed to run under parallels or VMware VM's.
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks everybody for the responses. So should I assume that there are no VM limits in the XP license?
 
drjay128 said:
Hey, thanks everybody for the responses. So should I assume that there are no VM limits in the XP license?
Click to expand...

heh, this is where it gets confusing. XP came out in an era when VM's weren't popular and no one expected consumers to want to play with them - thus in the XP EULA there is no mention of VM's! Technically you can use the same XP license on the same computer - so your iMac that you're gonna run it on is technically the same computer whether in bootcamp or parallels.

Anecdotal evidence from users is that XP can be activated twice (in parallels and bootcamp), you just need to call MS and explain you are running it in a parallels mac VM. Also in the latest versions of parallels you are able to activate the BC partition when its under a parallels VM, and it should work within both BC and parallels without further activation.
 
slicedbread said:
heh, this is where it gets confusing. XP came out in an era when VM's weren't popular and no one expected consumers to want to play with them - thus in the XP EULA there is no mention of VM's! Technically you can use the same XP license on the same computer - so your iMac that you're gonna run it on is technically the same computer whether in bootcamp or parallels.

Anecdotal evidence from users is that XP can be activated twice (in parallels and bootcamp), you just need to call MS and explain you are running it in a parallels mac VM. Also in the latest versions of parallels you are able to activate the BC partition when its under a parallels VM, and it should work within both BC and parallels without further activation.
Click to expand...

Sorry to be such a novice at this stuff, but I am. Does it matter whether I've got multiple family sers, each with their own account/desktop?

Thanks again!
 
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