Wal-Mart: Microsoft should kill Vista Home Basic

[Mr. Gibs]

No, if the price is right. Most of the stuff in Windows Vista Premium people don't use. It would be a standard for all OS. If someone need to do something on a computer that did only comes with the higher version then that person is out of luck. Your have no grounds and that is way Microsoft release Vista Basic with that mind set. Thanks Razorfold!

Theres actually 50 billion posts on this forum itself about home premium being too expensive, and ultimate being even more expensive, and about vista being "bloated" with stuff they don't need. Need more proof of complaints?

[ACTIONpack]

Did you forget about "if the price is right". I just said that.

[LittleNeutrino Veteran]

i know a few people that like to have the basic version for lower end computers that still want to have vista in some form on their computers so i am not sure why they would want to not sell that version even if they just keep at least one copy of the software on the shelf at a time.

[imis]

Well i honestly don't think theres anything wrong with vistas marketing.

Capable does not mean it can run every feature. It means that something will run but without any optional features.

Ready means that it can run every feature. [Though this is slightly ambiguous]

---

I really do not see how people expect capable to mean it can run everything....for the "Vista Ready" thing maybe if they wrote windows vista home premium ready or something i guess.

Microsoft and their supporter can give 100 excuses but they know are wrong.

Everyone knows Microsoft Marketing.

[spenser.d]

MS should just fire their marketing department to start with... they are the ones that keep pushing multiple versions of stuff....

Yes, and then they should buy Apple's marketing department out so we have ads that bash the competition and don't actually tell us anything about the product being advertised.

-Spenser

[Ayepecks]

You must have missed the irony of applying a high-end name to your your low-end product.

Starbucks' smallest size is "tall"

Vista's most low-end version is "premium"

See the strangeness in that now?

I'm sorry, but why does a naming system matter in the context I was using it?

If you have something that's "premium"... don't you think "ultimate" would be a step up from that? How on earth does the naming scheme matter. You clearly were only attempting to make a silly point out of my post because I thought Premium should have been the starting point of Vista and Basic shouldn't have existed.

Nowhere did I even imply that the names should stay the same or anything like that. Please don't construe my post as being something it's clearly not.

[Mr. Gibs]

Did you forget about "if the price is right". I just said that.

And you just said before that they should sell vista for 200usd.....which is...wait for it....omfg the price for vista home premium!

[toadeater]

They should just have two versions. WinME II & WinME II Professional. :p

[Miuku.]

Yes, and then they should buy Apple's marketing department out so we have ads that bash the competition and don't actually tell us anything about the product being advertised.

At least they have the decency to sell only one product instead of spreading whether you get the "Blackjack" into the Home or the Ultimate version.

[Brandon Live Veteran]

"Start at Premium"? Is that like how Starbucks coffee starts as "tall" for their smallest glass?

Umm... you can order a "short" as well.

[Brandon Live Veteran]

At least they have the decency to sell only one product instead of spreading whether you get the "Blackjack" into the Home or the Ultimate version.

Apple doesn't have a reason to sell an Ultimate version. Their marketshare is tiny, and there's a huge market out there for them to expand into. So they focus on selling new copies (and new computers), that's the most effective way for them to expand their business.

That's not true for Microsoft. Expanding the PC market has become pretty difficult at this point. So the best way for Microsoft to enlarge the Windows business is to offer "premium" editions, and offer enough value in them that people are willing to pay more. The trick is to offer that value, while still making the non-premium (or non-Ultimate) editions be a good value.

Right now the model is very simple to understand. There's Home Premium (formerly called Media Center Edition), for home users. There's Business (formerly called Professional) for business users.

Then there's Ultimate which includes the features of both (plus some extras).

Those are the three main versions. There are also Home Basic (formerly Home) which is the "budget" version, and Enterprise which is specific to whatever they call those enterprise agreement thingies.

[-Hiroshi-]

Apple could even make bad of the situation and release a version of OS X for PC. That would seriously hurt Microsoft at this point since Vista isn't being received well AT ALL, and OS that everyone loves (including me.. I LOVE XP) is outdated, but I know that'll never happen, but just think of the damage.

[bobbytomorow]

Since Walmart and Walmart shoppers are the definite authority on good software and good software purchases, I'm sure Microsoft will be sure to listen to them. :rolleyes:

They would be stupid not to. Consumers are consumers and Wal Mart has its fair share. Wasn't it Wal Mart who basically hammered the final nail in HD DVD's coffin by announcing they were dropping them from their shelves? Oh right :rolleyes:

[markwolfe Veteran]

Umm... you can order a "short" as well.

But that is a non-standard order, not listed on their board. Maybe the equivalent of the "Starter Edition"? :unsure: :p

[WarStorm]

My laptop was given the Windows Vista Capable Sticker when I brought it...yet the Wireless is not compatible with Windows Vista.

How does that work?

[Martog]

Apple could even make bad of the situation and release a version of OS X for PC. That would seriously hurt Microsoft at this point since Vista isn't being received well AT ALL, and OS that everyone loves (including me.. I LOVE XP) is outdated, but I know that'll never happen, but just think of the damage.

Apple would crumble if they took off the hardware restrictions on OS X. They are a hardware company, not software. They'd plumet off the face of the tech world as we know it pretty fast. Apple likes control over the hardware to an extent, at least the base hardware, causes less headaches for drivers as they do not support an extreme range of configurations that Windows does. In the end, it would only help MS as a competitor would be knocked out.

[Neil]

Apple would crumble if they took off the hardware restrictions on OS X. They are a hardware company, not software. They'd plumet off the face of the tech world as we know it pretty fast. Apple likes control over the hardware to an extent, at least the base hardware, causes less headaches for drivers as they do not support an extreme range of configurations that Windows does. In the end, it would only help MS as a competitor would be knocked out.

Yep the real reason they don't release is because of driver problems, which is one of the reasons that makes Windows unstable, badly written drivers.

To the posters that say people are idiots for buying basic, my laptop my sister got at her school had basic, didn't have anyway say in it.

2 Versions is what it should of been. Home and Business, not hard is it Microsoft? Why makes things difficult...

[PGHammer]

My understanding is that the information now available was only added after all the confusion. It's all very well saying it's very clear now but it wasn't back when the initiative was first launched. Also, Aero was pretty much THE main feature of Vista and to find it wasn't available on Home Basic annoyed a lot of people. The Home Basic package was completely unnecessary and should never have been released.

Remember, we enthusiasts (which includes practically all of Neowin) were *not* consulted by Vista's marketing flacks. Another part of the problem is that three (not two) versions of XP were also being sold (Home, Professional, and Media Center Edition). Even worse, even in developing markets, how many copies of Starter Edition got sold? (Throw in the N Editions, which were created solely to satisfy the EU, and the marketing miasma, especially in Europe, was murkier than a magic eight-ball at the bottom of the Dead Sea.) Back before Windows Vista had even gone into beta, I was pushing for the death of XP Home Edition for reasons having nothing to do with marketing (and, surprisingly, everything to do with security). Microsoft was also up against it because of something that large enterprises wanted: control of seat licenses. This was something that XP really didn't have designed into the operating system (not even Professional Edition): this explains the built-for corporate-use Vista Business and Vista Enterprise. However, neither Business or Enterprise included any of the all-too-useful presentation tools included with Windows Media Center (which was only included with the *consumer* flavors of Vista, namely Home Premium and Ultimate). The difference between what the inside folks wanted, and what the business users *really* wanted continued to get lost in the shuffle (just as it had previously with Windows XP). Between that mess, and the EU's sticking their oar in, it became a case of "too many cooks". That's the real reason why Vista has seemingly failed: things became even more muddled than the XP situation (which wasn't that clear to begin with).

[PGHammer]

Yep the real reason they don't release is because of driver problems, which is one of the reasons that makes Windows unstable, badly written drivers.

To the posters that say people are idiots for buying basic, my laptop my sister got at her school had basic, didn't have anyway say in it.

2 Versions is what it should of been. Home and Business, not hard is it Microsoft? Why makes things difficult...

Because even Enterprise lacks certain features that Home Premium has (Windows Media Center and Movie Maker are utterly absent from Enterprise). The big advantages of Business and Enterprise is that their licensing can be controlled without having to *phone home* back to Redmond (as they were designed with centralized non-Microsoft seat/client-licensing-control in mind, which XP lacks). And what business computers most likely get loaded with Home Premium, or worse, Ultimate? Desktop-replacement and other high-end notebooks, which are more likely to be found in companies than typical home users' homes. The notebook marketplace, especially the corporate notebook marketplace, has only grown more fractured in the past three years. In fact, what notebooks are the *most* likely to see Vista Home Basic (more likely than even desktop PCs)? Bottom-end notebooks (the sub-$500 notebook especially). You simply *don't* find Vista Home Basic on a *desktop* PC in North America today (except for the hypercheap brand-X specials occaisionally carried by Wal-mart.com; no name-brand desktop, not even one sold via Wal-mart, will carry Vista Basic). However, even notebook buyers are moving towards Vista Home Premium at the low end; however, it isn't because graphical capabilities have gotten any better in low-end notebooks (in fact, they mostly haven't), but because the rest of the notebook has gotten more powerful. It isn't Aero that's driving sales of Home Premium in the notebook market.

[Simon Veteran]

The real question should be what idiot or idiots actually BOUGHT home basic.

Someone who isn't a geek and saw a good deal on a computer in store that ran "Vista". They don't know the features. They don't know the hardware. They just see something cheap. They aren't idiots, they're innocent people who don't have a full understanding of how a computer works, or how Microsoft markets its products.

[Brandon Live Veteran]

Someone who isn't a geek and saw a good deal on a computer in store that ran "Vista". They don't know the features. They don't know the hardware. They just see something cheap. They aren't idiots, they're innocent people who don't have a full understanding of how a computer works, or how Microsoft markets its products.

Or maybe they did understand but didn't need Media Center and other premium features and wanted to save money? I think Home Basic is a better deal than XP Home was. There are plenty of people for whom Home Basic is just fine.

What about it makes you feel it is so crippled?

[soldier1st]

home basic is garbage it should not have been released,who would run such a rundown version of vista? and the vista version thing for a capable pc and ready pc that was for more money,indeed there should have been alot less versions of vista,home premium yes for home users,vista business for small-medium corps and enterprise for those big corps and ultimate for those who want the best of both worlds but at least reduced the price my gawd they want a fortune for vista but thankfuly i got mine free.

[.tony]

Two editions would have been preferable like XP, but even 3 could work.

Vista Home Edition

Vista Business Edition

Vista Ultimate Edition

That could have worked. Instead we have Enterprise and Home Basic too, which makes it confusing for consumers who don't do their research.

Doesn't really apply much to me either way, I'm waiting on Seven before I consider a new PC.

[gianboy]

i guess everyone prefers 100000000000000000000000000 xp instead of vista home-basic (whats the point of getting a new os with almost non of its new features)

so they should change the name of vista home-basic to vista homeless

[Dick Montage]

My parents are using home basic and it suits them just fine. They have no interest in wizzy graphics or such.

Their computer is easy to use and stable. This is what Home Basic provides. It probably represents a larger sector of the market than many would realise.