Windows Vista, whoopee

So, Windows Vista is out and everyone is going crazy over it. I honestly don’t remember there being such a huge deal over Windows XP when it came out. I’ve seen blogs, tech news site and even television news segments regarding the release. Even Bill Gates himself is on tour to promote the release. He was on the Today show and The Daily Show on Monday and he also plans to make appearances in the UK this week.
I really don’t see it as a big deal nor will I rush out to get it for my home machine; which doesn’t matter anyway since I am, pretty much, exclusive to Mac. I still have my Windows XP computer running to continue to play my games but I do not use for it anything else, so I probably will not upgrade to Vista for a couple of years, if ever.
The new versions of Vista are: Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate, Business & Enterprise. No other version of Windows in the past has had so many version. Windows XP had Home & Pro, that’s it. It’s really obvious in this marketing strategy of the many versions that it’s all about money and ripping you off. The Home Basic version (which is exactly what it means, very, very basic, not offering much to people who buy it) cost $100. The Home Premium version (a version with a few more additions added above Home Basic) will cost $160. And the best choice in all of these versions for the average PC user, the Ultimate edition, will cost a whopping $260. A rip-off in my opinion.
Now that I have converted to Mac and have become an annoying Mac fan-boy (as most of my friends and family call me), I’m actually looking forward to OS X Leopard when it comes out later this year from Apple for a very affordable (projected) price of $150.
What’s interesting in all of these choices of operating systems is that everyone forgets that you can download some good choice Linux distributions for free; Ubuntu, Fedora, & SUSE to name a few. The only issue with Linux right now, in my opinion, is that Linux is not quite there yet for the average home user. It’s usable, but not without some small anthills and speed bumps with hardware compatibility. I’ve used each one of these Linux versions but, even being the tech geek that I am, I do not find them completely practical for my everyday use.