Gradually more buyers are either purchasing vista or are stuck with it as part of their new laptop or desktop purchase.
Below are the actual Windows Vista features which are not available in all editions. Check to see if you are getting the features you need before you buy the Vista Edition of your choice. A common feature not available in the Home editions of Vista is the “Windows Fax and Scan” support. So if your looking some common and no so common features you might want to get Look and Feel
| Home Basic | Home Premium | Business | Enterprise | Ultimate |
| Fancy Windows transparency (”See through glass style”) |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Flip 3D |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Live Taskbar Thumbnails |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Security features
| Home Basic | Home Premium | Business | Enterprise | Ultimate |
| Parental Controls | Yes | Yes |
|
| Yes |
NOTE: Also it is important to note that the ability to access advanced areas to control security features manually for example such as the “Security Policies” secpol.msc is not available in the Home editions.
Performance support
| Home Basic | Home Premium | Business | Enterprise | Ultimate |
| Maximum RAM (64-bit version) | 8 GB | 16 GB | 128+ GB | 128+ GB | 128+ GB |
| Physical processor support | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
File System Tools and Support
| Home Basic | Home Premium | Business | Enterprise | Ultimate |
| Scheduled backup |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows ShadowCopy |
|
| Yes | Yes | Yes |
| System image backup and recovery |
|
| Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Encrypting File System (EFS) |
|
| Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows BitLocker Full Drive Encryption |
|
|
| Yes | Yes |
Bundled applications
| Home Basic | Home Premium | Business | Enterprise | Ultimate |
| Added games |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Digital media features
| Home Basic | Home Premium | Business | Enterprise | Ultimate |
| Windows Media Center |
| Yes |
|
| Yes |
| Windows Media Center HDTV and CableCard support |
| Yes |
|
| Yes |
| Xbox 360 Media Center Extender compatibility |
| Yes |
|
| Yes |
| Windows Movie Maker | Yes | Yes |
|
| Yes |
| Windows Movie Maker HD format support |
| Yes |
|
| Yes |
| Windows DVD Maker |
| Yes |
|
| Yes |
Networking features
| Home Basic | Home Premium | Business | Enterprise | Ultimate |
| Number of supported simultaneous peer network connections | 5 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Network Projector support |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Presentation Settings |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Remote Desktop | Client only | Client only | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Join domain (Windows Server/SBS) |
|
| Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Offline files and folder support |
|
| Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IIS Web Server |
|
| Yes | Yes | Yes |
Mobility features
| Home Basic | Home Premium | Business | Enterprise | Ultimate |
| Windows Mobility Center | Partial | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sync Center | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tablet PC functionality |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Touch screen support |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows SideShow (auxiliary display support) |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Other features
| Home Basic | Home Premium | Business | Enterprise | Ultimate |
| Windows Ultimate Extras |
|
|
|
| Yes |
| Windows Fax and Scan |
|
| Yes | Yes | Yes |
Other Tips Users have watched
