Question: Versions of Vista?

Hi all,

I am still working on finalizing what looks increasingly like it's going to be a T500 order, and I finally thought about which version of Vista I want - Vista Home Premium x64. However, I went to the website and didn't notice the option. In fact, Vista Business was the only option that I saw where x64 is available. Am I missing something? Do I have to call them, or is do they just not offer other options? Has anyone been able to get Home Premium in either x86 or x64? Any info would be much appreciated.

The HP website specifically lists each and every version (this is what I was also considering).

 

I don't think Lenovo offers 64 bit Home Premium. Unless you've got a specific need, I don't know that 64 bit offers you much. If you can find a disc to install it, your key should work for 32 or 64 bit.

 

I think what you see on their site is what you get...

BUT - If you get home premium 32 bit you can upgrade to Home preimium 64 bit on your own. The 32 bit key you pay for from Lenovo can be used for 64 bit if you choose. The only thing is that you will need to find any Vista 64 bit disc. You can't use recovery discs but you can use an Anytime upgrade disc, OEM disc or Retail disc. You can even borrow one from your friend, but it must be the 64 bit disc.

 

Its a business notebook, what do you expect..

Differences between Business and Home Premium are small anyway. Its actually better.



EDIT: Whats this?

 

The missing features aren't really worth worrying about, and are easily replaceable with third party programs.

 

I donot know whether it's llegal to change to home x64 with vista home 32bit key... You can check it on mircrosft.com. If llegal, I would suggest you to purchase the home edition and change it by yourself.
It seems x64 edition is only good for large scale calculation. For other uses, 32bit edtion is better.

 

This is slightly OT, but it might help with the decision to expand on this a bit...

In my experience, the main reason people want 64-bit Vista is to address more memory. For example, my x200s running 32-bit Vista business has 4GB of physical RAM, but the OS can only use 3GB. If I installed 64-bit Vista, I could use all 4GB. Most of my friends that run 64-bit Vista do it because they need lots of memory to run multiple Virtual Machines at the same time. Sometimes you also hear graphic designers wanting lots of memory for video editing. For most users, 3GB will be sufficient most of the time.

There are some downsides to running a 64-bit OS though:

1. Not all the programs you use will be compiled as 64-bit applications. This means when you run them on your 64-bit machine, they will not run as a native 64-bit process. Instead they will run inside the 32-bit emulator (WoW64 = Win32 on Win64 I think). Running inside the emulator will make them run a bit slower than if they were native 64-bit processes. The programmers I know are hesitant to install a 64-bit OS since some of their favorite tools like Visual Studio are still 32-bit applications.

2. Not all hardware has 64-bit drivers. Although I think Lenovo seems to be pretty good about providing these.

 

Vista business is better than Home Premium in my opinon. There are far better tools than Windows Media Center and DVD creator available for free from 3rd parties. I would only recommend Home premium if you don't have use for any of the Business features (I find remote desktop to be quite nice) and don't mind going through the hassle of a clean install using a borrowed Vista disc to get 64 bit.

 

Shadow copy has saved my *** a few times where I needed to recover an older version of a document. It basically keeps multiple versions of files around until space is needed so if you accidentally make stupid changes to one, you can go back to the old one. That feature alone makes Business (or Ultimate if you need Media Center) worth the extra cost.

 

Thank you to all who responded, especially those who pointed out that Vista Business might actually be better than Vista Home Premium. The debate for me was never whether or not I should get x64 because that's definite for me (that's what I run on my desktop). I was just wondering why the other versions of Vista were not offered. I have an anytime upgrade disc for Vista Ultimate x64 that I got from the marketplace. However, Vista Business looks like it would be a keeper based on the features that I've read about.

 

I got Vista 64 Business with my W500, and i would just like to comment that i did not receive any "Premium Games" as shown in the picture above. As a matter of fact it didn't even come with Solitaire. So unless they are buried somewhere in the file system, they are just not there. Not that this is any kind of deal breaker for most, but i would like to pick up my laptop and play some Free Cell once in a while.

I was considering trying to install home 64bit when i got a new hard drive, but from the sounds of it my key will not work with it? Can anyone confirm if they have switched from Business to Home 64bit?

 

Correct, it will not work. You bought a Vista Business key, so it will work with Vista business 32 or 64 bit, but you can't go to another type of vista like home with this key.

 

I have used Premium, Business and Ultimate (only pre SP1 for this version).

Thus far I like Business better. It seems quicker and more solid as well.

Otherwise, as others have said, there is not a whole lot that 3rd party apps (sometimes even freeware) cannot cover quite nicely.

 

Listen up. Fire Snake has yet to steer me wrong on anything that we've discussed. Thanks for your continued support to me and many others on the board.

 

You're welcome!

BTW - I know you are researching about the Thinkpads like crazy. I spent several months researching myself. If you need any help PM me, I will help you as much as I can.

 

I will definitely take you up on that offer. Thank you so much.