I got a free copy of Vista Business from school, and don't really know much about it. I know I want Vista on my gaming rig for DX10, but is there something about the Business edition that makes it bad for games? Reading MS's feature comparison seems to indicate the only differences are related to Media Center and Bitlocker drive encryption, but yet things I've read about Ultimate say it's targeted at gamers, but doesn't mention why. If I should just wait til I can get Ultimate I'll put Business on my laptop, since I don't use it for gaming.

I'd wait until something provokes you to.

As in, a new program requires it, or something.

Because I feel the effort far outweighs the benefits, it's honestly not worth it unless you need it. (Unfortunately, we all eventually will, though.)

Edit: I just read the post now: Vista should play the games fine, really. Even on the Business edition.

Thanks.

Also, if I understand this whole upgrade thing properly, if I eventually get an Ultimate key, can I just enter it in the control panel and upgrade to Ultimate without formatting?

That's what they say. If it actually works is another story :p

Yeah, I got the same thing from my university yesterday, I've been running Vista since RC2. I like it.

The only thing Vista Business is lacking is the Media Centre stuff i think.

Heres a rough comparison of the versions compared to XP

XP Home -> Vista Home Basic
XP Media Centre -> Vista Home Premium
XP Professional -> Vista Business

Vista Ultimate is basically everything from business + everything from Home Premium.

Yeah, I plan on getting Ultimate next year when I go to college. Apparently people who go for "computer related careers" get it free...dunno how that'll work out.

But I want Vista badly--need a new rig before I'm even going to try it out though.

Unfortunately, Microsoft are not providing Ultimate through MSDNAA (At the moment anyway). You can only get business through your school/university... and apparently, it's not upgradable via the "Anytime Upgrade" microsoft announced which supposedly lets you upgrade to another version instantly and without reinstalling windows completely.

Hmm, that's a shame. You'd think since MSDN:AA is for developers they'd offer the fully featured version.

Although, I was of the understanding that the software available on MSDN:AA is dependent on the agreement that the school has with MS. That could be completely wrong, I have no idea.

In any case, if Business is good enough to game on, then I guess I'll still install it. Kind of a shame that I won't be able to use the Media Center features, but there's no way in hell I'll be buying Ultimate for $400.

I can already get a copy, but I won't be for a while. Something about new OS' scare the poop out of me. I got on the XP bandwagon RIGHT after that gigantic "you have 30 seconds to save" bug died in XP. I hate worrying about my love and worms.

I'd give it a try in your position: why put it off? It might be a larf

...when was Windows Vista released?

I thought they still had free betas.

That's like asking if you should sell your soul to the devil.

Yes?