Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Edition (Upgrade) (PC)

I don't see the trouble with it, this version of Vista is made for people who use their PC for basic home use, NOT games and insane movie making.

You only need 512 mb ram to run it, a 1ghz processor, and your going.

It's not as good looking as the other versions of Vista, but it is good for Offices looking for a cheap alternative to upgrading to vista.

There are four versions of Widows Vista available to the public:
* Home Basic
* Home Premium
* Business
* Ultimate
Each version offers a different set of options with ultimate offering all options and a little bit more.
This edition is Home Basic which is the most basic of the product suite; the nice new Aero interface is not available. This would make a good choice if your computer is not up to the requirements standard for the other editions but you wanted to get the latest security enhancements. It provides all your basic home computing needs if you only need to use your home pc for tasks like browsing the internet, word processing, using e-mail and viewing pictures then this could be the right version. The enhanced security features will help protect your system from unwanted intrusion.
One aspect to be aware of before upgrading to windows vista is some manufacturers have not released drivers for this platform yet, you should check with their websites before upgrading to vista to avoid disappointment.

I started off with an Inspiron 1300, and read a review on Amazon.co.uk and it said that it was not worth the purchase. However despite the review I bought it anyway, and have not been disappointed. My computer did not support the windows Aero interface, but once I overcame this obstacle and installed Vista, I was very delighted with the features. A word of warning: DO NOT try and save your files, you must back it up manually, so do a clean install instead.
It is great value for money - you can't go wrong - buy it.

This is without a doubt the worst programme I have ever had on my computer.

It will not allow me to have any other AV except Norton - which I do not want. Nothing and I mean nothing else will run on my computer.

The software that came with my printer and scanner is not compatible either and I don't know if I can get upgrades for those. The software that came with my MP3 player that was XP compatible, now doesn't work and the MP3 player is less than a year.

MS Windows have made a big mistake with Vista and if I can't sort out my computer by next week, it will be finding its merry way to a charity shop.

1. Very resource hungry. Get yourself the latest fastest PC and watch the operating system run slower than XP did on your old box. Software gets slower faster than hardware gets faster.

2. Doesn't work straight out of the box, even on a new PC. Requires days of tweaking sttings on things you never wanted to know about.

3. No drivers for half my peripherals - most importantly, my scanner & printer.

4. Corrupts your iPod.

5. You need to be a network specialist to configure your home network.

6. Wierd or downright confusing naming conventions - for example, setting your network security to "Public" is more secure than setting it to "Private".

7. WinHelp removed as standard so many old problems have no help until you've downloaded a Winhelp upgrade from the Microsoft web site.

8. No support at all for older Dos programs. You can fix this by running DOSBox emulator from sourceforge but, because that is an emulator, they run as fast as an Intel 486.

9. Dial up connections not working properly - cannot get it to remember password nor bring up connect dialog when I start IE, Firefox & Thunderbird.

10. Removal of XP's user-friendly search facilities. New search is cryptic and non-intuitive.

11. Removal of nice log-off/restart/hibernate etc. dialog when you quit.

12. Irritating multiple confirmation screens (and I mean whole screens) when you install all your programs, create folders, delete files and the rest.

13. Have to add the cost of a new version of XP at over a hundred quid just to get a machine that works properly.

Conclusion - The pretty graphics are not enough. Vista is far from ready a full nine months after first release. Wait another year for Microsoft to fix all the bugs and even then, rue the things they took out of XP.