The Little Things: there are only two versions of Mac OS X

There is no difference in functionality between OS X Single and OS X Family. They are the same, just a difference in the number of licenses.
Same as OS X Server 10 User versus OS X Server Unlimited. So there really is only one version of OS X.
Windows XP started as XP Home vs. XP Pro then they added XP Media. Now they are going for six versions in Vista?!

Let's just face it, Windows (any flavour) and the cut-price, unstylish machines that people buy to run it on are rubbish and always have been.

Don't forget Microsoft Vista "Oh crap I got a false positive on Windows 'Genuine Advantage' and I can only surf in Internet Explorer for an hour" edition.

Lots of people are going to get that one, even after paying for a license.

VISTA WILL BE SHIPPED IN 468 VERSIONS

As I stated in a post in my blog, a few weeks ago, in fact Vista will be shipped in 468 versions (Yes, you read correctly!), as you guys are forgetting the server versions and flavours designed specially to demands of European Union and Korean directives. Let's do some math. The versions released will be 22:

1. Vista Starter
2. Vista Home Basic
3. Vista Home Premium
4. Vista Ultimate
5. Vista Business
6. Vista Enterprise
7. Longhorn Server Itanium Edition
8. Longhorn Server Web
9. Longhorn Server Computer Cluster
10. Windows Midmarket Server
11. Windows Midmarket Server Premium
12. Longhorn Server Standard/Standard Core
13. Longhorn Server Enterprise/Enterprise Core
14. Longhorn Server Datacenter/Datacenter Core
15. Windows Vista Mobile
16. Windows Vista Media Center
17. Windows Vista TabletPC
18. Vista Home Basic N (special version for EU)
19. Vista Business N (special version for EU, without Media Player)
20. Vista Business K (special version for Korea, bundled with third party links)
21. Vista Business KN (special version for Korea, without Media Player and Messenger)
22. Vista Enterprise K (special version for Korea, bundled with third party links)

The first 17 versions will be produced in 25 languages, so: 17 x 25 = 425 different producs.

Items 18 and 19 will be produced in 20 languages (number of languages in the EU). So, 2 x 20 = 40 products.

So, 425 + 40 + 3 (items 20 thru 22) = 468 different products.

On the other side of the galaxy, Apple will produce 2 packages that will work in 15 languages each.

MacOS X code is independent of language, that's why Apple can do magic. Windows is a legacy OS and has to be built and recompiled for each language.

The post is in my blog
http://www.efeitosvisuais.com/blog/2006/10/09/548-versoes-diferentes-do-windows-vista/
for those who can read portuguese.

The difference is Apple's naming explain it all - FAMILY & SERVER as an addedum pretty much tell you what it is - what is really the premium versus office edition? And on top of that, there are stickers that say VISTA READY & VISTA CAPABLE - aagin, all fine for the hreprise market but home market, I can see a class action lawsuit happening because the Vista Ready $499 Pc they bought this winter cannot run all of features of Vista Premium (OSX like Aqua) or is it Vista Ultimate?

From an article at our (currently on hiatus) blog at macinquirer.com:

Windows Vista Home Basic: described as providing a simple setup for users who want to surf the web and retrieve email, but want added protection against viruses and spyware. Home Basic will avoid viruses and spyware by being unable to actually connect to the internet.

Windows Vista Home Premium: this one is Home Basic with added functionality, though Microsoft's idea of "functionality" normally consists of convincing people they need to buy additional Microsoft products to make the ones they already own work properly. The "Premium" refers to the fact that it will cost 50 bucks more than Home Basic.

Windows Vista Starter: designed to give users in "emerging technology countries" an affordable easy to learn and use computing experience. If this sounds like a tall order, keep in mind that approximately none of the computers in those countries will meet the minimum system requirements to actually run the OS, so Microsoft will never have to deliver this version at all.

Windows Vista Business: the functionality of Vista Home Premium, but requires a full-time IT staff to maintain. Will be used by all the bad guys on the 2007 season of 24.

Windows Vista Enterprise: operates on Microsoft's new "V'ger" software platform, and comes packaged in a glowing cloud that has eaten entire solar systems and is now on a direct course for Earth. Can be prevented from destroying humanity only by feeding it a member of the IT staff, who will become one with the machine forever. Director's Cut version contains 20 minutes of additional footage.

Windows Vista Ultimate: For those who want the most capable and reliable OS available, with built-in security and state-of-the-art media capabilities. Will consist of a Mac mini and a copy of Mac OS X version 10.6.

There's one more BIG benefit of OS X: it is all language versions wrapped up into one, from Japanese to Chinese to Arabic and English, with nothing left out. If you want to think about agony, consider what it was like to be a Japanese-using Mac user during the OS 6.x-OS 7 changeover. It took Apple a year or more to bring out the Japanese version of OS X, so everyone came up with these silly hacks to install parts of OS 6.x in OS 7 to make it work in Japanese as needed. Wow, that brings back memories. Now every version of Apple's OS are the same all over the world. Correct me if I'm wrong (I may be), but Windows will probably still not offer full support for changing the entire OS to other languages since they wouldn't then be able to tack on 25% or more to the Japanese version over the U.S. version. (Note, apologies if I'm wrong on this feature in Visata.)

It is not mind-blowing, but is it smart? You are paying to use an intellectual property: what would you say if you had to buy a 300 page book and pay a price if you wanted to use only the first 100 pages, a higher price to use 200 pages and an even higher price to use all the pages? Doesn't the model itself create an incentive for piracy? Aren't you asking people to break the seal of the second half of the book? As in the case of the single price for songs on itunes, simple and clear rules are the best way to create honest and happy customers. Why Microsoft doesn't think so? What do they know that we don't?

#3: Touché, and I've edited the post accordingly to have a bit more of a descriptive joke about Premium's networking (though after that Get a Mac commercial, I'm questioning my use of 'touché' here).

All the different versions of Windows Vista ship on the same DVD, so I don't know what the big deal is. Most consumers will be looking at either Home Basic or Premium, so I'm not sure where the mind-blowing confusion is coming from.