Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #612 in Software
• Brand: Microsoft
• Released on: 2007-01-30
• Platform: Windows Vista
• Format: DVD-ROM
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, .79 pounds

Features

• Windows Vista Ultimate, EN, DVD

Manufacturer's Description:

The most comprehensive edition of Windows Vista, Vista Ultimate is the first operating system that combines all of the advanced infrastructure features of a business-focused operating system, all of the management and efficiency features of a mobility-focused operating system, and all of the digital entertainment features of a consumer-focused operating system. For the person who wants one operating system that is great for working from home, working on the road, and for entertainment, Vista Ultimate is a no-compromise operating system that lets you have it all.

Windows Sidebar gives you quick access to gadgets like picture slide shows, Windows Media Player controls, or news headlines. You pick the gadgets you want to see in Windows Sidebar. View larger. Use Flip 3D to navigate through open windows using the scroll wheel on your mouse. View larger.

Easier, Faster Access to Information Vista Ultimate features Windows Aero, a new interface that delivers higher levels of efficiency for any business user. This easy-to-use interface makes it a snap to navigate through the operating system and from application to application. Most importantly, Windows Aero helps you juggle multiple tasks at once by providing a three-dimensional, real-time, animated view of all your open applications and documents. And for those businesses that do work in other countries, Vista Ultimate supports all worldwide interface languages. Breakthrough Windows Vista Experience Designed to help you feel confident in your ability to view, find, and organize information and to control your computing experience, all editions of Windows Vista introduce a breakthrough user experience. The visual sophistication of Windows Vista helps streamline your computing experience by refining common window elements so you can better focus on the content on the screen rather than on how to access it. The desktop experience is more informative, intuitive, and helpful. And new tools bring better clarity to the information on your computer, so you can see what your files contain without opening them, find applications and files instantly, navigate efficiently among open windows, and use wizards and dialog boxes more confidently. Work From Home Vista Ultimate includes all of the features that make it easy to remotely connect to business networks. This means that when you're working from home, you'll have advanced networking capabilities, such as the ability to join a domain, support for Group Policy, and access to features such as Remote Desktop. Vista Ultimate also includes Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption that provides improved levels of protection against theft for your important business data whether you are at home, on the road, or in the office. More Entertainment Options Vista Ultimate delivers all of the entertainment features available in Vista Home Premium, and includes everything you need to enjoy the latest in digital photography, music, movies, analogue TV, or even HDTV. Ultimate also has helpful tools such as Windows Photo Gallery and Windows Movie Maker to ensure that you have everything you need to collect, manage, and edit your digital content. It also includes Windows Media Centre for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment centre. Versatile Operation Vista Ultimate truly lives up to its name by delivering all of the features both business and home users want and need. It is the ideal solution for both a small-business owner who wants a single PC that he or she can use at the office, on the road, and at home, and for someone who wants a home PC that will be used primarily for entertainment purposes but that can also be used for business purposes such as connecting to a corporate network.

Compare Windows Vista editions. Use Instant Search to quickly find the information you need. View larger. The redesigned Windows Media Centre in Windows Vista lets you enjoy your media throughout your home, even on your Xbox 360. View larger.

Customer Reviews

Wait Wait Wait for it
I design and build computers and as such i would recommend waiting for this product to iron out all bugs, unless ,as previously posted , you are familiar with all aspects of your computer..64bit systems are wrought with AS YET undefined or unfixable problems, the likes of which are legion. However 32 bit systems will have a smoother ride.
Dont take my word( or anyone elses) for this, simply go to the microsoft web site for vista and look at user faq's to see for yourself.
upshot is 64 WAIT 32...maybe!

A gamers opinion of Vista.
Vista is probably the most painful OS upgrade experience I've ever experienced. [...] Vista is definately in the same league as 'Windows Millenium' and for those who don't know what that reference means, this is not a good thing.

[...]This is where Vista fails miserably as there are big problems with regards to graphics, sound, overall performance etc. I will explain in a bit more detail, but basically if you are a gamer then I really wouldn't bother with Vista, at least for a year anyway.

ok, onto the problems. I expected that Vista would have higher system demands, thats ok, I am happy to realise that I may need more memory and a new GPU etc. Infact this is the reason why I purchased some new hardware such as a Nvidia 8800 GTX DX10 compliant graphics card. The problem is that driver support is terrible, certainly for the hardware I have on my gaming PC. Even with the latest Nvidia drivers and a top of the range card I'm getting much worse performance on Vista than on XP (my system is configured dual boot and I've run numerous benchmarks on both OS's). The sad thing is that I don't even need to look at the benchmarks to notice the difference, you can feel the difference straight away. I have tried to force myself to use Vista for playing the likes of Vanguard, BF2142, WoW and others, but between the nearly 50% drop in framerates, poor sound, more frequent crashes and problems with some games failing to install correctly I have basically given up and only ever boot up into XP for gaming.

[...]Due to the way Vista has changed the way in which it handles sound I am getting low quality, stereo with no EAX effects in games. I've readup on the technical reasons about this from Microsofts side and read the excuses pushed out by creative (who by the way I believe are using this as an excuse to force people to upgrade to later cards as it's funny how they have written an app to get sound working correctly for their newer Xfi range of cards). For my gaming needs this is probably the worst problem area in Vista. The sound system and support in Vista is unbelievably poor, I don't care whether it's Microsoft or Creative at fault, I don't care what the technical reasons are behind it, all I know is that sound is terrible in Vista and works great on XP when it comes to games.

DRM - this actually doesn't bother me so much, but I would certainly have prefered that it wasn't built into Vista so it has to be listed as a negative. I don't use my PC to watch DVD's so I have no plans to use it to watch HD DVD's. If I want to watch High Def movies at home them I will invest in a decent dedicated home player. Having said that I think it is a horrible thing when an OS can, under certain conditions, deliberatley degrade the video and audio quality of something, not to mention the admitted overheads of the 'security checks' that DRM performs many times each second (there are enough performance problems in Vista without adding to them with this DRM rubbish!). Again I've read and heard Microsoft stating it is not their decision and the movie/record industries are forcing this upon them. Thats fine, but I would have had more respect if Microsoft took a stance and said 'stuff it' to them. It would have been better if DRM did not come as standard in Vista, but was an optional component that basically says: If you want to watch or play certain types of media on your machine then you must install this component. At least it would give people the choice rather than forcing this draconion technology on people. It is certainly worrying for the future direction of this area of the technology market.

Finally the look and feel of the OS itself. Vista looks great for the most part. I still have trouble finding certain functions and I can find instantly in XP but that is just a case of taking the time to learn the OS. The new File Explorer is horrible, just trying to do something as simple as modify your file extension settings took me 5 minutes to find when it is something that should take seconds, I also hate the new folder browser part of the file explorer and find it a real pain navigating through folders. The gadgets are a nice addition but other OS's have been using these for years. The new version of Movie Maker seems pretty good and the voice recognition software is quite impressive.

So in conclusion, this probably sounds like a rant from a Microsoft hater and you may well think that I'm sat typing this on my Linux OS/Mac chuckling away to myself. The sad truth is that I like Windows. I liked windows 3.1, 95, 98 (not ME though, that was bugged to heck) I really liked XP which is probably the best OS Microsoft have ever made. Vista is sadly a very poor OS imho. It is to resource hungry, there are to many problems with common hardware not being compatible, the driver support is terrible and not only the 64bit drivers, the 32bit driver support is quite bad for some hardware. I really wanted to like Vista and maybe things will improve with a service pack or as drivers mature, but for now I'd recommend you leave this on the shelf and stick with XP.

A dog of an operating system
Well, I've been using Windows since 95, and DOS as far back as 3.0 so I'm fairly well qualified to judge. 95 was ok. 98 was better, more stable, better networking, 2000 Pro was superb, Me had more bugs than the Natural History Museum and XP was very good generally. Vista is the new Millennium Edition. Bug ridden and with poor driver support.

The new interface is so bad that our secretary asked for her Win98 machine back (yes, really, and we were forced to agree). It is slow and clunky on anything except a top spec machine. We ran it on a 512MB P4 and it was slooooooow. Despite the claims it needs at least 1GB and preferably 2GB of RAM just to work as well as XP. The user interface is gimmicky and the new version of file manager is hopeless.

I cannot see any good reason to buy this software as a business user. There are multiple incompatibilities with both hardware and software and the security is outrageously obstructive to any semblance of interactive working. This is a pathetic attempt by Microsoft to fix something that ain't broke (XP Pro).

What we wanted was XP Pro+, what we've got is Millennium Edition 2007.

Stay clear as a business user or your productivity will suffer. As for the outrageous price - WOW!!!!

If I could give this 0 stars, I would.