Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft W ...

—a major release of the

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

—was available in six different product editions: Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate. On September 5, 2006, Microsoft announced the

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

pricing for editions available through retail channels; the operating system was later made available to retail on January 30, 2007. Microsoft also made Windows Vista available for purchase and download from

Windows Marketplace Windows Marketplace was a Microsoft platform for the delivery of software electronically that was secured by use of Windows Live ID (now known as a Microsoft account). The digital locker platform was composed of four major components: #Windows ...

; it is the first version of Windows to be distributed through a

digital distribution platform Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of information or materials through digital platforms. The distribution of digital ...

. Editions sold at retail were available in both Full and Upgrade versions and later included Service Pack 1 (SP1). Microsoft characterized the retail packaging for Windows Vista as "designed to be user-friendly, a small, hard, plastic container designed to protect the software inside for life-long use"; it opens sideways to reveal the Windows Vista

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

suspended in a clear plastic case. Windows Vista optical media use a holographic design with vibrant colors. With the exception of Windows Vista Starter, all editions support both

IA-32 IA-32 (short for "Intel Architecture, 32-bit", commonly called ''i386'') is the 32-bit version of the x86 instruction set architecture, designed by Intel and first implemented in the i386, 80386 microprocessor in 1985. IA-32 is the first incarn ...

(32-bit) and

x64 x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit extension of the x86 instruction set. It was announced in 1999 and first available in the AMD Opteron family in 2003. It introduces two new operating modes: 64-bit mode an ...

(64-bit) processor architectures. Microsoft ceased distribution of retail copies of Windows Vista in October 2010; OEM distribution of Windows Vista ended in October 2011.

Editions for personal computers

; : Much like its predecessor, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Vista Starter was available in

emerging markets An emerging market (or an emerging country or an emerging economy) is a market that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future or we ...

; it was sold across 139

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed Secondary sector of the economy, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. ...

in 70 different languages. Microsoft did not make it available in developed technology markets such as the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, or other high income markets as defined by the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

. Windows Vista Starter has significant limitations; it disallows the concurrent operation of more than three programs (although an unlimited number of windows can be opened for each program unlike in Windows XP Starter); disallows users from sharing files or printers over a home network (or sharing a connection with other computers); does not support

Windows Media Player Windows Media Player (WMP, officially referred to as Windows Media Player Legacy to retronym, distinguish it from Windows Media Player (2022), the new Windows Media Player introduced with Windows 11) is the first media player (application soft ...

media streaming or sharing; displays a permanent watermark in the bottom right corner of the screen, does not support

Windows Aero Windows Aero (a backronym for ''Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, and Open'') is the design language introduced in the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system in 2006. The changes introduced by Windows Aero encompassed many elements of the Windo ...

, and imposes a maximum amount of 120 GB

hard disk A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating hard disk drive platter, pla ...

space and a

physical memory Computer data storage or digital data storage is a technology consisting of computer components and recording media that are used to retain digital data. It is a core function and fundamental component of computers. The central processin ...

limit of 1 GB. However, the memory limit is not actually enforced.

Peer-to-peer Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network, forming a peer-to-peer network of Node ...

networking is also disabled, and there is no support for simultaneous SMB connections. :Consumer-oriented features such as

Games Explorer Games for Windows is a former brand owned by Microsoft and introduced in 2006 to coincide with the release of the Windows Vista operating system. The brand itself represents a standardized technical certification program and online service for ...

Parental Controls Parental controls are features which may be included in digital television services, computers and video games, mobile devices and software to assist parents in their ability to restrict certain content viewable by their children. This may be c ...

, Windows Calendar,

Windows Mail Mail (later Microsoft Outlook) is a discontinued email client developed by Microsoft and included in Windows Vista and later versions of Windows. It was available as the successor to Outlook Express, which was either included with, or released f ...

Windows Movie Maker Windows Movie Maker (known as Windows Live Movie Maker for the 2009 and 2011 releases) is a discontinued video editing software program by Microsoft. It was first included in Windows Me on September 14, 2000, and in Windows XP on October 25, 200 ...

(without support for

high-definition video High-definition video (HD video) is video of higher resolution and quality than standard-definition. While there is no standardized meaning for ''high-definition'', generally any video image with considerably more than 480 vertical scan lines ( ...

Windows Photo Gallery Windows Photo Gallery (formerly known as Windows Live Photo Gallery) is a discontinued image organizer, raster graphics editor, photo editor and image sharing, photo sharing program. It is a part of Microsoft's Windows Essentials software suit ...

(without support for sharing photos or themed slideshows),

Windows Speech Recognition Windows Speech Recognition (WSR) is speech recognition developed by Microsoft for Windows Vista that enables hands-free computing, voice commands to control the desktop metaphor, desktop user interface, transcription (linguistics), dictate text i ...

, and

Windows Sidebar Windows Desktop Gadgets (called Windows Sidebar in Windows Vista) is a discontinued widget engine for Microsoft Gadgets. Desktop Gadgets have been replaced by Windows 10 Taskbar Widgets. It was introduced with Windows Vista, in which it features ...

are included. :Windows Vista Starter is licensed to run only on PCs with

AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California and maintains significant operations in Austin, Texas. AMD is a hardware and fabless company that de ...

Athlon XP AMD Athlon is the brand name applied to a series of x86-compatible microprocessors designed and manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices. The original Athlon (now called Athlon Classic) was the first seventh-generation x86 processor and the fi ...

Duron Duron is a line of budget x86-compatible microprocessors manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices, AMD and released on June 19, 2000. Duron was intended to be a lower-cost offering to complement AMD's then mainstream performance Athlon process ...

Sempron Sempron has been the marketing name used by AMD for several different budget desktop CPUs, using several different technologies and CPU socket formats. The Sempron replaced the AMD Duron processor and competed against Intel's Celeron#Celeron D (Pr ...

and

Geode A geode (; ) is a geology, geological secondary formation within sedimentary rock, sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Geodes are hollow, vaguely spherical rocks, in which masses of mineral matter (which may include crystals) are secluded. The crys ...

processors, Intel's

Celeron Celeron is a series of IA-32 and x86-64 computer microprocessor, microprocessors targeted at low-cost Personal computer, personal computers, manufactured by Intel from 1998 until 2023. The first Celeron-branded CPU was introduced on April 15, ...

Pentium III The Pentium III (marketed as Intel Pentium III Processor, informally PIII or P3) brand refers to Intel's 32-bit x86 desktop and mobile CPUs based on the sixth-generation P6 (microarchitecture), P6 microarchitecture introduced on February 28, 1999 ...

processors, and certain models of

Pentium 4 Pentium 4 is a series of single-core central processing unit, CPUs for Desktop computer, desktops, laptops and entry-level Server (computing), servers manufactured by Intel. The processors were shipped from November 20, 2000 until August 8, 20 ...

. Windows Vista Starter can be installed from optical media including those belonging to other editions of the operating system. :Windows Vista Starter includes a different set of desktop wallpapers not found in other editions. ; : Similar to Windows XP Home Edition, the Home Basic edition targets budget-conscious users not requiring advanced multimedia support for home use. The

graphical user interface A graphical user interface, or GUI, is a form of user interface that allows user (computing), users to human–computer interaction, interact with electronic devices through Graphics, graphical icon (computing), icons and visual indicators such ...

with translucent glass and lighting effects is absent from this edition; however, desktop composition—albeit without Flip 3D or Live Thumbnails—is supported. Home Basic does not include

Windows DVD Maker Windows DVD Maker is a discontinued DVD authoring application developed by Microsoft introduced in Windows Vista, available in the Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista for users to create slideshows and videos for playback on media ...

Windows Media Center Windows Media Center (WMC) is a discontinued digital video recorder and media player created by Microsoft. Media Center was first introduced to Windows in 2002 on Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE). It was included in Home Premium and U ...

(or support for Extenders). Premium games including Chess Titans,

Inkball InkBall is a computer game that is included with Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 and Windows Vista. It employs the use of a stylus or mouse to draw lines to direct balls into holes of corresponding colors. Gameplay Points are awarded for pu ...

Mahjong Titans ''Microsoft Mahjong'' (formerly ''Mahjong Titans'', ''Shanghai Solitaire'' and ''Taipei'') is a computer game version of mahjong solitaire published by Microsoft. The version titled ''Mahjong Titans'' was developed by Oberon Games and included ...

are not included. Windows HotStart is also available. :Home Basic supports one physical CPU, but with multiple cores, and the 64-bit version supports up to 8 GB of RAM. ; : Containing all features from Home Basic and similar to

Windows XP Media Center Edition Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) is a version of the Windows XP operating system which was the first version of Windows to include Windows Media Center, designed to serve as a home-entertainment hub. The last version, Windows XP Media Cent ...

, Windows Vista Home Premium includes additional features dedicated to the home

market segment In marketing, market segmentation or customer segmentation is the process of dividing a consumer or business market into meaningful sub-groups of current or potential customers (or consumers) known as ''segments''. Its purpose is to identify pr ...

. Full Windows Aero and desktop composition is available. Multimedia features include DVD burning with Windows DVD Maker, and

HDTV High-definition television (HDTV) describes a television or video system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since at least 1933; in more recent times, it ref ...

and

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

support with Windows Media Center. Premium games (Chess Titans, InkBall, and Mahjong Titans) are available. Enhanced networking features include

ad hoc ''Ad hoc'' is a List of Latin phrases, Latin phrase meaning literally for this. In English language, English, it typically signifies a solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a Generalization, generalized solution ...

support, projectors, and up to 10 simultaneous SMB connections (compared to 5 in Home Basic); Windows Meeting Space, while included in Home Basic, only allowed users to join meetings—in Home Premium, users may either create new meetings or join existing ones. Home Premium also introduces

Windows Mobility Center Windows Mobility Center is a component of Microsoft Windows, introduced in Windows Vista, that centralizes information and settings most relevant to mobile computing. History A mobility center that displayed device settings pertinent to mobile ...

Windows SideShow Windows SideShow (codenamed Auxiliary Display) was a feature by Microsoft introduced in Windows Vista to supply information such as e-mail, instant messages, and RSS feeds from a personal computer to a local or remote peripheral device or display. ...

, and Windows

Tablet PC A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computers ...

and

Touch The somatosensory system, or somatic sensory system is a subset of the sensory nervous system. The main functions of the somatosensory system are the perception of external stimuli, the perception of internal stimuli, and the regulation of bo ...

features such as support for

capacitive touchscreen A touchscreen (or touch screen) is a type of display that can detect touch input from a user. It consists of both an input device (a touch panel) and an output device (a visual display). The touch panel is typically layered on the top of the e ...

s, flick

gesture A gesture is a form of nonverbal communication or non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction with, speech. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or othe ...

Snipping Tool Snipping Tool is a Microsoft Windows screenshot and screencast utility software, utility included in Windows Vista and later. It can take still screenshots or record videos of an open Window (computing), window, rectangular areas, a free-form ar ...

, and Tablet PC Input Panel (which has been updated since Windows XP to include

AutoComplete Autocomplete, or word completion, is a feature in which an application software, application predicts the rest of a word a user is typing. In Android (operating system), Android and iOS smartphones, this is called predictive text. In graphical us ...

, as well as handwriting personalization and training features).

Backup and Restore Backup and Restore (formerly Backup and Restore Center) is the primary backup component of Windows Vista and Windows 7. It can create file and folder backups, as well as system images backups, to be used for recovery in the event of data corrupt ...

additionally supports backup schedules, backup to network devices, and incremental backups. :Windows Vista Home Premium—like Home Basic—supports only one physical CPU, but it additionally supports multiple cores. The 64-bit version supports up to 16 GB of RAM. ; : Comparable to

Windows XP Professional Windows XP, which is the next version of Windows NT after Windows 2000 and the successor to the consumer-oriented Windows Me, has been released in several editions since its original release in 2001. Windows XP is available in many languages. In ...

, Windows Vista Business Edition targets the

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

market. It includes all the features of Home Basic with the exception of Parental Controls and can join a

Windows Server domain A Windows domain is a form of a computer network in which all user accounts, computers, printers and other security principals, are registered with a central database located on one or more clusters of central computers known as domain controlle ...

. It includes

Encrypting File System The Encrypting File System (EFS) on Microsoft Windows is a feature introduced in version 3.0 of NTFS that provides filesystem-level encryption. The technology enables files to be transparently encrypted to protect confidential data from attackers ...

Internet Information Services Microsoft IIS (Internet Information Services, IIS, 2S) is an extensible web server created by Microsoft for use with the Windows NT family. IIS supports HTTP, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, HTTPS, FTP, FTPS, SMTP and NNTP. It has been an integral part o ...

, Offline Files,

Remote Desktop In computing, the term remote desktop refers to a software- or operating system feature that allows a personal computer's desktop environment to be run remotely from one system (usually a PC, but the concept applies equally to a server or a sma ...

, Rights Management Services, Shadow Copy, and

Windows Fax and Scan Windows Fax and Scan is an integrated faxing and scanning application introduced in Windows Vista and included in the Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate Windows Vista editions as the replacement for the Fax Console of Windows XP; it is available ...

. Backup and Restore also allows users to create disk images of operating system installations. :Windows Vista Business supports up to two physical CPUs, and the 64-bit version supports 128 GB of RAM. ; : This edition targets the

enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

segment of the market: it comprises a superset of the Vista Business edition. Additional features include

BitLocker BitLocker is a full volume encryption feature included with Microsoft Windows versions starting with Windows Vista. It is designed to protect data by providing encryption for entire volumes. By default, it uses the Advanced Encryption Standard ...

, Multilingual User Interface (MUI), and

UNIX Unix (, ; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multi-user computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, a ...

application support Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a ...

. Windows Vista Enterprise was not available through retail or OEM channels, but was instead distributed through

Microsoft Software Assurance Microsoft Software Assurance (SA) is a Microsoft maintenance program aimed at business users who use Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, and other server and . The core premise behind SA is to give users the ability to spread payments over seve ...

(SA), with license terms that conferred the right to operate up to four

virtual machine In computing, a virtual machine (VM) is the virtualization or emulator, emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures and provide the functionality of a physical computer. Their implementations may involve ...

s with various Windows Vista editions installed, access to Virtual PC Express, and activation via

volume licensing In software licensing, volume licensing is the practice of using one license to authorize software on a large number of computers and/or for a large number of users. Customers of such licensing schemes are typically business, governmental or e ...

. :Windows Vista Enterprise supports up to two physical CPUs, and the 64-bit version supports up to 128 GB of RAM. ; : Windows Vista Ultimate includes all features of the Home Premium and Business editions, as well as BitLocker and MUI; it also provides access to optional "

Ultimate Extras Windows Ultimate Extras were optional features offered by Microsoft to users of the Ultimate edition of Windows Vista and are accessible via Windows Update. Ultimate Extras replaced the market role of Microsoft Plus!, a product sold for prior cons ...

." Windows Vista Ultimate supports up to two physical CPUs, and the 64-bit version supports up to 128 GB of RAM. : Microsoft released two special edition variants of Windows Vista Ultimate: Windows Vista Ultimate Signature Edition featured a unique production number alongside the signature of

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...

on the front of the packaging; the edition was limited to 25,000 copies. Windows Vista Product Red was produced as part of the Product Red program, with a portion of sales supporting

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (or simply the Global Fund) is an international financing and partnership organization that aims to "attract, leverage and invest additional resources to end the epidemics of HIV/AIDS, tu ...

. The edition was originally distributed as pre-loaded software on a line of Product Red-branded

Dell Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...

PCs, but was later released at retail. Besides including an additional desktop theme with wallpapers and other content, it is otherwise identical to the main Windows Vista Ultimate SKU. : Internally, Microsoft released a Windows Vista Handcrafted variant of the Windows Vista Ultimate SKU for employees involved with the development of Windows Vista; it features a custom box alongside a note to employees, but is otherwise identical to the Ultimate SKU.

Distribution

Users could purchase and download Windows Vista directly from Microsoft through the Windows Marketplace before the service's discontinuation. Optical media distributed through retail or through OEMs for Windows Vista are identical; Microsoft refers to this as "CD unification." Before Windows Vista, versions of Windows for OEMs and retail were maintained separately. All editions of Windows Vista—excluding Enterprise—are stored on the same optical media; a license key for the edition purchased determines which version on the disc is eligible for installation. To upgrade to a higher edition from a lower edition (such as from Home Basic to Ultimate) Windows Vista includes Windows Anytime Upgrade to facilitate an upgrade. For computers with

optical disc drive In computing, an optical disc drive (ODD) is a disc drive that uses laser light or electromagnetic waves within or near the visible light spectrum as part of the process of reading or writing data to or from optical discs. Some drives can on ...

s that supported

CDs CDS, CDs, Cds, etc. may refer to: Finance * Canadian Depository for Securities, Canadian post-trade financial services company * Certificate of deposit (CDs) * Counterfeit Deterrence System, developed by the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence ...

but not DVDs, Microsoft offered CDs for Windows Vista that could be purchased from its website. The company would later release alternative media for Windows Vista SP1. A Windows Vista Family Discount program enabled

and

customers who purchased the Ultimate edition before June 30, 2007 to purchase additional licenses for Windows Vista Home Premium at a cost of $49.99 each. Microsoft sold these licenses online through its website. In addition, eligible students in qualifying regions had the option to purchase the upgrade version of the Home Premium edition at a reduced price. A similar offer was later available for Windows Vista Ultimate.

64-bit versions

To support

platforms such as Intel

Xeon Xeon (; ) is a brand of x86 microprocessors designed, manufactured, and marketed by Intel, targeted at the non-consumer workstation, server, and embedded markets. It was introduced in June 1998. Xeon processors are based on the same archite ...

Intel Core 2 Intel Core 2 is a processor family encompassing a range of Intel's mainstream 64-bit x86-64 single-, dual-, and quad-core microprocessors based on the Core microarchitecture. The single- and dual-core models are single- die, whereas the quad-co ...

, AMD

Opteron Opteron is AMD's x86 former server and workstation Microprocessor, processor line, and was the first processor which supported the AMD64 instruction set architecture (known generically as x86-64). It was released on April 22, 2003, with the ''Sl ...

and AMD

Athlon 64 The Athlon 64 is a ninth-generation, AMD64-architecture microprocessor produced by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), released on September 23, 2003. It is the third processor to bear the name ''Athlon'', and the immediate successor to the Athlon XP. ...

, Microsoft released x64 versions of every edition of Windows Vista except for the Starter edition. These editions can run

32-bit In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in a maximum of 32- bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform la ...

programs within the

WOW64 In computing on Microsoft platforms, WoW64 (Windows 32-bit on Windows 64-bit) is a subsystem of the Windows operating system capable of running 32-bit applications on 64-bit Windows. It is included in all 64-bit versions of Windows, except in Wi ...

subsystem. Most 32-bit programs can run natively, though applications that rely on device drivers will not run unless those device drivers have been written for x64 platforms. Reviewers have reported that the x64 editions of Windows Vista outperform their IA-32 counterparts in benchmarks such as PassMark. All 32-bit editions of Windows Vista, excluding Starter, support up to 4 GB of RAM. The 64-bit edition of Home Basic supports 8 GB of RAM, Home Premium supports 16 GB, and Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate support 128 GB of RAM. All 64-bit versions of Microsoft operating systems impose a 16 TB limit on address space. Processes created on the 64-bit editions of Windows Vista can have 8 TB in virtual memory for user processes and 8 TB for kernel processes to create a virtual memory of 16 TB.

Editions for specific markets

In March 2004, the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

fined Microsoft for €497 million (about US$603 million) and ordered the company to provide a version of Windows without Windows Media Player. The Commission concluded that Microsoft "broke European Union competition law by leveraging its near

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

in the market for PC operating systems onto the markets for work group

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides requested information for other programs or devices, called clients. Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending custome ...

operating systems and for media players." Microsoft reached an agreement with the Commission where it would release a court-compliant version, Windows XP Edition N, that does not include the company's Windows Media Player but instead encourages users to download and install their preferred media player. Similarly, in December 2005, the Korean Fair Trade Commission ordered Microsoft to make available editions of Windows XP and

Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003, codenamed "Whistler Server", is the sixth major version of the Windows NT operating system produced by Microsoft and the first server version to be released under the Windows Server brand name. It is part of the Windows NT ...

that do not contain Windows Media Player or

Windows Messenger Windows Messenger is a discontinued instant messaging client included in Windows XP. Designed for use by both corporate and home users, it was originally created, in 2001, as a streamlined and integrated version of MSN Messenger. It was upgr ...

. Similar to the European Commission, this decision was based on the grounds that Microsoft had abused its dominant position in the market to push other products onto consumers. Unlike that decision, however, Microsoft was also forced to withdraw the non-compliant versions of Windows from the South Korean market. This decision resulted in Microsoft's releasing "K" and "KN" variants of the Home and Professional editions of Windows XP in August 2006. As a continuance of these requirements, Microsoft released "N" variants of some editions of Windows Vista that exclude Windows Media Player, as well as "K" and "KN" editions that include links to third-party media player and instant messaging software. "N" editions of Windows Vista require third-party software (or a separate installation of Windows Media Player) to play audio CDs and other media formats such as

MPEG-4 MPEG-4 is a group of international standards for the compression of digital audio and visual data, multimedia systems, and file storage formats. It was originally introduced in late 1998 as a group of audio and video coding formats and related ...

Editions for embedded systems

Two additional editions of Windows Vista have been released for use by developers of embedded devices. These are binary identical editions to those available in retail, but licensed exclusively for use in embedded devices. ; Windows Vista Business for Embedded Systems: This edition mirrors the feature set of the Business edition of Windows Vista. ; Windows Vista Ultimate for Embedded Systems:This edition mirrors the feature set of the Ultimate edition of Windows Vista. Accordingly, it includes capabilities not found in Vista Business for Embedded Systems such as BitLocker Drive Encryption, the Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications, and Virtual PC Express.

Upgrading

Unlike previous versions of Windows, Windows Vista does not support compliance checking during installation; compliance checking previously allowed users to insert a disc as evidence that the operating system was being upgraded over a previous version, which would allow users to enter an upgrade license to perform a clean install. As a result, Upgrade versions of Windows Vista will not install unless a previous version of Windows is already installed on the machine to be upgraded. A workaround for this limitation was reported by Paul Thurrott, who stated that users should be able to perform a full installation of Windows Vista through Upgrade media by bypassing the prompt to enter a license during setup, and then, once installed, reinstall the operating system over the previous installation—this essentially allows users who purchased the Upgrade version to perform a full retail installation. While the workaround is indeed possible, Microsoft has cautioned that users who perform a full installation of the operating system through this method without a genuine license for a previous version would be in violation of the Windows Vista

end-user license agreement An end-user license agreement or EULA () is a legal contract between a software supplier and a customer or end-user. The practice of selling licenses to rather than copies of software predates the recognition of software copyright, which has ...

. Users can upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista, or upgrade from one edition of Windows Vista to another. However, upgrading from a 32-bit edition to a 64-bit edition or downgrading from 64-bit edition to a 32-bit edition requires a clean install. In addition, not all potential upgrade combinations are supported. The following chart indicates the possible upgrade paths: Notes: * Only Windows XP can be upgraded to Windows Vista; a clean install is required for PCs running

Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft, targeting the server and business markets. It is the direct successor to Windows NT 4.0, and was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RT ...

or earlier versions. * While it is possible to upgrade from Windows XP Media Center Edition to Windows Vista Home Premium if the computer was joined to an

Active Directory Active Directory (AD) is a directory service developed by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. Windows Server operating systems include it as a set of processes and services. Originally, only centralized domain management used Active Direct ...

Domain at the time of upgrade, the computer will remain joined to the domain but no users will be able to log into the computer through the domain controller. Windows Vista Home Premium does not support joining an Active Directory Domain.

Comparison chart

Notes: # Home Basic, Business and Enterprise editions are available in the South Korean and European markets as "KN" and "N" editions, respectively, which exclude Windows Media Player and HD components of Windows Movie Maker. # All editions except Starter are available in the Korean market as "K" editions, which are sold in place of the standard editions of Windows Vista. Unlike the "KN" editions, the "K" editions do include Windows Media Player and its related components, and also include links to web sites which list third-party media player and instant messaging software. # Windows Vista Business N is available in the European market. By default, it does not include Windows Media Player and its related components, or Windows Movie Maker. # Windows Movie Maker is not available in Windows Vista Business KN. # Windows Mobility Center is available on mobile PCs (notebook PCs, Tablet PCs, and Ultra-mobile PCs) but not on desktop PCs. ''The rotate screen'' functionality is offered only on Tablet PCs with an appropriate driver. # Presentation settings on Windows Mobility Center are not available on Home Basic. # Premium Windows Vista games, including Chess Titans, InkBall, and Mahjong Titans, are available in Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate. Windows Vista games are also available as optional components in the Business and Enterprise editions, but are not installed by default.

References

{{Good article Editions and pricing