Vista Home Premium loosed in the US, unboxed in Oz

Get yer Vista... red-hot, OEM flavor of Windows Vista right here folks! Not to be outdone by our colonial fathers, we Yanks can now go on-line and order our very own copy of the latest Microsoft OS. No wimpy Home Basic version here, Newegg instead is offering a single-pack DVD copy of the 32-Bit Home Premium (upgrade, we assume) for $119.99 plus another $5 for 3 business day shipping. So call your buddies, alert the neighbors, and put your order in today for your copy a full four-days ahead of the official January 30th consumer ship date. Hey, after a five-year development time, why should you wait another day? Aussie reader Adam didn't, having already peeled away the shrink wrap from his Academic Edition in the unboxing tizzy below.

Gallery: Vista Home Premium loosed in the US, unboxed in Oz

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[Thanks Brad and Adam]

[DudeinAmerica @ Jan 23rd 2007 7:14AM]

Do the smart thing and wait for the first service pack.

[JJ @ Jan 23rd 2007 11:32AM]

According to TheInquirer.net:
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37125

Microsoft is already readying Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) code-named "Fiji."

Now, that's sad. The OS isn't even out yet, save for the Home Premium edition, and there is already an SP1 in the works.

lolMicro$oft

[mike @ Jan 23rd 2007 7:21AM]

I still dont understand why Microsoft is pushing this aero thing so much. the first thing i did when installing vista was turn the damn thing off and its not a matter of performance... its just so damned ugly if i wanted my computer to look like a toy i would have bought an apple!!!

[George @ Jan 23rd 2007 9:02AM]

well said!

[Uberplum @ Jan 23rd 2007 7:42AM]

Can you upgrade from RC1 to Home Premium, or do you have to clean install again?

[Nick @ Jan 23rd 2007 8:13AM]

You have to do a fresh install.

[Matt Hebert @ Jan 23rd 2007 8:04AM]

Is it me or the boxes are big and made of hard plastics? You will see alot of Vista boxes in the forests for the next 200 years i guess...

[Jake @ Jan 23rd 2007 1:41PM]

I agree. Lot of packaging material for one small disc... multiply by a mere million and imagine the waste...

[Taco @ Jan 23rd 2007 8:06AM]

************GO APPLE!!*************

[Uberplum @ Jan 23rd 2007 8:16AM]

Damn! It took me ages to install all my programs and stuff on the RC... ah well.

[Spherehead @ Jan 23rd 2007 8:20AM]

That link on the fourth photo to order a 64 bit version doesn't even work!
http://www.windowsvista.com/1033/ordermedia

Way to go Craposoft!

[NiGhTmArE @ Jan 23rd 2007 8:22AM]

You do know that the official release date for Windows Vista is the 30th of January right?

Microsoft have no need to put up that page until then.

[Bazza @ Jan 23rd 2007 8:20AM]

Sweet!! I like that packaging. My PC is upgraded fully and waiting for some nice VISTA Ultimate RTM lovin'. ^_^

[Intrepid @ Jan 23rd 2007 8:55AM]

Ummm... shops that even open their Vista boxes get fined AUD$400k... That's why we didn't open ours and display the contents online. Hope Adam doesn't get caught...

[Matthew @ Jan 23rd 2007 9:06AM]

Am I the only one who finds it RIDICULOUS that if you want to have media center functionality and remote desktop you have to buy ultimate!!?!?!

[Jonathan Sundy @ Jan 23rd 2007 9:40AM]

You aren't alone.
I don't understand how I'm going to manage my media center pc once I install Vista Premium. I guess I'll have to get tightVNC or something, but that's kinda ridiculous. I can understand the domain support and bitlocker and extra's making ultimate expensive, but I really don't feel that remote desktop is such a business only feature as to justify it's exclusion from a version of the operating system that is more expensive than their have-it-all version of XP (professional).

I'm pretty sad about this.

[Murc @ Jan 23rd 2007 6:42PM]

media center funcionality is both Ultimate and Home Premium.

BTW...Is that Box metal??? Its looks like metal to me?

[chris @ Jan 23rd 2007 2:07PM]

Matthew said "Am I the only one who finds it RIDICULOUS that if you want to have media center functionality and remote desktop you have to buy ultimate!!?!?!"

Yes, you are. :) Home Premium has Media Center included and home premium has some remote desktop capability -- you can create a client in Home Premium. 'course if you need the full RDC, you will need a biz or Ultimate.

[Dave @ Jan 23rd 2007 9:39AM]

This is awesome! I love you Microsoft!

[fashionista @ Jan 23rd 2007 9:46AM]

In this post, why do you assume it is an upgrade? Nothing on newegg says that, and $119 is around what full XP Pro costs, so this price makes sense for an OEM version.

[Jnetty @ Jan 23rd 2007 9:56AM]

Where could I get myself an Academic version? (i'm a student)
Do upgrades work the same as before? You just have to prove that you have a previous version, pop the CD when asked and done?

[Carbonize @ Jan 23rd 2007 10:10AM]

Do Engadget 'journalists' (and I use the term loosely) even read the pages they have lifted their news from? If they had bothered to actually read the full story from the Inquirer and then followed the link they would of seen that the site in question was also showing Home Premium and Home Ultimate as being in stock. I used to like Engadget but the journalists seem to be getting sloppier by the day. Maybe they should look up the word RESEARCH http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=research

[Thomas Ricker @ Jan 23rd 2007 12:12PM]

What's with the chip Carbonize? This was a direct tip for reader Brad, we did not pull this from the Inquirer or any other source. I did in fact click through to the site this AM and the only other versions listed were the 3-pack DVD collections of both 32-bit Ultimate and 64-bit Home Premium for $599.99 and $349.99. Not appealing to most for home use, thus not mentioned. It's called "editorial."

Thomas

[xxdesmus @ Jan 23rd 2007 10:12AM]

Newegg.com is also selling copies now.

[Toby Piller @ Jan 23rd 2007 10:20AM]

Hi all, I hope I can ask my question here. I now use XP pro. I want to upgrade to home premium (fresh install is no problem) can I get the upgrade or do I need to buy the more expensive retail version?

[Jonathan Sundy @ Jan 23rd 2007 1:12PM]

If you have a legal cd copy of xp or earlier you can purchase the upgrade versions of Vista.... but why? Personally I reccomend you just get the OEM versions from Newegg, full version. As mentioned Home Premium is only $119.

All OEM really means is that it doesn't come with the fancy box.... though it may come with less support as I think the oem's are expected to support it, but I could be very wrong on that.


Do the OEM copies come with less installs in regards to the longevity of the license or anything like that??

[vinegar @ Jan 23rd 2007 10:21AM]

the $119 pricing is for the *full version* of Home Premium, not an upgrade. it's OEM (or "System Builder") pricing, in line with Amazon.com and many others' OEM prices.

[Daniel S. @ Jan 23rd 2007 10:39AM]

You can purchase the academic upgrade versions at many websites. You will have to send proof of eligibility to receive your copy though. Here is a link to one site that has Vista Home Premium Upgrade (Academic) for only $69! You could then use Windows Anytime Upgrade and move to Ultimate for an extra $159 and end up paying only ~$229 for an Ultimate Upgrade instead of the normal $259. You only save $30, but hey at least its something!

http://www.academicsuperstore.com/market/marketdisp.html?PartNo=784207&qk_srch=vista

[me @ Jan 23rd 2007 12:27PM]

what version is this, 32 or 64 bit?

[tekdroid @ Jan 23rd 2007 11:22AM]

All I see are lots of discarded plastic boxes. Nice to see cardboard go outta fashion so soon...

[AlphaGeek @ Jan 23rd 2007 11:22AM]

I find it entertaining that NewEgg's listed requirements show a CDROM drive as required and a DVD drive as "recommended", but the OS ships on DVD media. Wouldn't it make it kind of hard to install the OS if you went with only the "required" equipment? Heh.

[vinegar @ Jan 23rd 2007 11:41AM]

JJ - how is that a bad thing? OMG they're on top of updates for once!

[blah @ Jan 23rd 2007 11:47AM]

Are we going to have to pay for sp1? if not, then i dont care

[Carbonize @ Jan 23rd 2007 12:45PM]

I was refering to the original Vista story as metioned/linked to in the above story http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/22/vista-slips-out-onto-online-shelves-in-the-uk/ which was followed by the comment "No wimpy Home Basic version here" which to me is saying that the British site was only offering the Home Basic version of Vista.

[Camperton @ Jan 23rd 2007 12:14PM]

so... wha *exactly* is the difference between Home Premium and Ultimate.

[vinegar @ Jan 23rd 2007 12:54PM]

version differences are listed here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista#Editions_and_pricing

[Biff_Meister @ Jan 23rd 2007 1:26PM]

Boycott Vista.

[blackhonda @ Jan 23rd 2007 1:31PM]

Download Vista. harrrr

[Jonathan Sundy @ Jan 23rd 2007 2:12PM]

Good sir do you have links to this Remote Desktop in Home Premium info??

[chris @ Jan 23rd 2007 2:18PM]

I was working from the info on Paul Thourrot's site here:

http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/winvista_05h.asp

[Jonathan Sundy @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:08PM]

"This feature is only fully implemented on Business versions of Windows Vista. That is, while you can use any Vista version as a Remote Desktop client, you cannot connect to systems running Windows Vista Starter, Home Basic, or Windows Vista Home Premium with this solution."

This means that I cannot use Home Premium to connect to my Media Center PC unless I get Ultimate on my Media Center (in theory I guess I could just leave xp on it, but I think that's besides the point).

So I believe our point about missing out on Remote Desktop in the normal versions is valid. I really don't feel my use of remote desktop for administrating my media center pc (so I don't need a keyboard and mouse for it) is that far out of the domain of normal use to be relegated to Ultimate only. But whatever, they made the call.....

[JR @ Jan 23rd 2007 6:54PM]

What does OEM version mean? I know I want to switch to Vista, but is there a difference between normal Vista Home Premium and the Academic version? Also, I need to install my graphics card (Radeon 9200 Series) but I can't find where to update the drivers! Help? Also, when I install Vista will EVERYTHING get wiped off XP? I'm also considering downloading it online.. I hope there aren't any problems with that. Thanks everyone

[Joshua @ Jan 23rd 2007 6:57PM]

Yes. These are the prices it should be at.

[Daniel @ Jan 23rd 2007 11:08PM]

Hey for the lucky people that live near a MicroCenter you should save the shipping and buy it and get it even earlier. I may be mistaken but I work there and my management said that tomorrow (Wednesday) we will be selling VISTA OEM in both 32 and 64 bit versions. The only catch is to be eligible to purchase OEM software you have to purchase an "internal" PC component such as memory or a new hard drive because it can only be sold as a computer upgrade. This may be engadget post-worthy if people wanna get it ASAP. Oh and the prices are as follows.

32

Home Basic OEM DVD
$99.99
991356
_
Home Premium OEM DVD
$119.43
991562
_
Business OEM DVD
$149.26
991653
_
Ultimate OEM DVD
$199.99
991612 / Reg. $219.99


64

Home Premium 64-bit OEM DVD
$129.99
991620
_
Business 64-bit OEM DVD
$159.99
991687
_
Ultimate 64-bit OEM DVD
$199.99
991638 / Reg. $219.99

This can be verified by checking the MicroCenter homepage.

[docsharp01 @ Mar 31st 2008 9:31PM]

Excellent article and comments about Vista Home Premium.
http://www.1-satellite-tv-facts.com