Recent news reports suggest that Microsoft’s latest operating system Windows Vista will debut in multiple editions. How many, you might ask? Well, take a guess. Nope, not one, not two or three! No, not even four or five, but seven different versions.

Here’s the basic breakdown of each of the versions:

Starter Edition: This is going to be similar to the recently released XP Starter Edition and will be severely limited in its capabilities such as not being able to open more than three windows simultaneously. The resolution might also be locked at 800x600. If this were to happen, it would be extremely silly, since the biggest appeal that Vista has is its visual improvements over previous versions. Sure it’s not a Mac but it’s a huge advancement from what we are otherwise used to with Windows XP.

The reason Microsoft came out with this version of the OS is simply to offer a low cost alternative to curb piracy, but if you ask me, this is one thing that will, if anything, encourage piracy. A lot of people will see the software, use it and when they like what they see but with limitations, they would invariably hit Google with a crack search string.

The emerging markets like India and China have got such rampant piracy (some official figures say that as high as 90% of all software used is pirated) and such loose anti-piracy laws that there really is nothing Microsoft can do to stem the loss of revenue tide.

Home Edition: Unlike Windows XP, where we just had Home and Professional editions, Vista will have three editions just for the home users. The Home: Basic, Home: Basic N and the Home Premium.

The Home Basic N is going to be just for the EU market due to the lawsuit that was filed; this particular version will exclude Windows Media Player due to the requirement of the ruling.

The final installation of the Home Edition is the Home Premium Edition, which will incorporate support for higher end entertainment devices such as HDTV and DVD authoring. This version will most likely incorporate a new version of Windows Media Player and probably won’t be available to the EU audience, which would mean that Microsoft would lose out a fairly significant market that would then be forced to look at different options.

Professional Edition: This will have two versions; one regular and the other will sport the ‘N’ tag that is aimed at the EU audience. Like the Home Edition N, it will not feature Windows Media Player.

Small Business Edition: It will feature various automated System Admin features and is targeted at organizations that do not have a dedicated IT staff. This version will contain features like shadow copying, backup, fax and more.

Enterprise Edition: As the name suggests, this one is for the enterprise users and will have system virtualization software (from Microsoft obviously) amongst other options required by these users or at least the features Microsoft thinks these users require.

Ultimate Edition: This is the fully featured Windows Vista version and is a mixture of all the features of Home and Professional. It will probably feature something like iTunes (not iTunes though), which will let you download media from the Internet, and will have all the features enabled. It will surely be the most expensive and will need some pretty serious hardware to operate smoothly. This one will be the one with all the fun, if you will.

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