Vista - Confused over which copy to buy

Hi i run windows xp pro at the moment and now i've come round to the idea
that i'll take the plunge and buy vista,but i just cant work out which copy i
need to buy (i want the home premium) do i buy the full retial box or the
upgrade version?
Any advice would be more than welcome ,many thanks in advance all.

In order to upgrade to Windows Vista from Windows XP Professional,
you would need to purchase either an upgrade edition of Vista Business
or Ultimate edition, not Vista home Premium.

Download and run the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...deadvisor.mspx

How to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista by using
the upgrade version of Windows Vista:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931226/en-us

Installation choices for consumer versions of Windows Vista:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932616/en-us

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience -
Windows Vista Enthusiast

---------------------------------------------------------------

"afosty" <afosty@xxxxxx> wrote in message news:60AFF138-5914-42E6-9807-5AAECA7CC26F@xxxxxx
Hi i run windows xp pro at the moment and now i've come round to the idea
that i'll take the plunge and buy vista,but i just cant work out which copy i
need to buy (i want the home premium) do i buy the full retial box or the
upgrade version?
Any advice would be more than welcome ,many thanks in advance all.

"afosty" <afosty@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:60AFF138-5914-42E6-9807-5AAECA7CC26F@xxxxxx
You may buy either the upgrade or standard edition.

Keep in mind that the word "upgrade" on the box means "upgrade license" but
not necessarily "upgrade the software".

You can only upgrade the software (not have to reinstall your apps) if you
upgrade to Business or Ultimate. However you may still use an upgrade
license to "upgrade" to Home Premium, but you will have to reinstall your
apps and restore your files and settings. I know this sounds confusing, but
it works. See the upgrade table at:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...radepaths.mspx

The green dots are where you can upgrade the software(upgrade install). The
yellow dots are where you have to do a custom install. As you can see in
the line for XP Pro, you can use an upgrade edition of Vista Home Premium to
save some money but you will have reinstall your apps and files afterwards.

You need to run the Vista Upgrade Advisor to see what you need to do before
upgrading to Vista.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...deadvisor.mspx

"afosty" <afosty@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:60AFF138-5914-42E6-9807-5AAECA7CC26F@xxxxxx
Home Premium won't give you the same functionality as XP Pro. Unless you
really need the Media Center, I'd recommend Vista Business. It does
everything XP Pro does.

Buy the Upgrade package. Regardless of what you'll be told, it can do a
"Clean Install" without XP being on the machine. Cheaper still, buy an OEM
package.

"Sinner" wrote:

Hey Sinner, not to doubt you, but also being new to Vista your comment
confuses me a little.
You say that the business version will also do a "Clean Install" without XP
being on the machine.
I thought an 'upgrade' was exactly that. So how do you do an 'upgrade' on an
empty harddrive?


Mickey





"Sinner" <sinner@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:vKUdk.24749$3F5.17799@xxxxxx

There is a widely known but unsupported way to make this happen. A
cursory Google search will tell you how. I won't because I can't guarantee
that at some future date it will be terminated.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] rgharper@xxxxxx
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/


"Mickey Mouse" <mickey@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:unVFJYH5IHA.5012@xxxxxx