buying vista

IIRC when you buy Vista, the disc you get will allow you to install either 32 or 64 bit. The keycode you get should activate either bitdepth.

I got ultimate yesterday. It comes with 2 separate disks. One 32bit and the other 64 bit. I am running 32 bit for now on my monster desktop.

Be safe and buy it from a store.

Although, you can purchase the OEM version ULTIMATE from amazon for 220.00 and then get Office Ultimate via Student Discount for 250.00 making it a 470.00 investment ot upgrade the whole shebang... as long as you only want to install Vista on 1 machine...

NOTICE: Vista Family Pack = Buy 1 copy of Ultimate via RETAIL and then purchase 2 additional copies from Microsoft for 49.00 a piece (Home Premium)

You get 1 Copy Ultimate and 2 copies of Home Premium for 500.00.... Nice!!!!

so is the OEM version thats being sold on newegg.com for 199.99 the full version of ultimate? If so then why is it so cheap? Is it becuz it can only be installed on one PC as opposed to the retail version which is transferrable?

The OEM versions will only be 32 or 64 bit but not both.

OEM versions are not transferable to another PC, and may or may not be reactivated by MS should your Motherboard die on you. (it is tied to your Motherboard)

If you buy the Retail version, you will get Both 32 bit and 64 Bit versions, and you can transfer it to a new PC.

So for the few extra dollars, I suggest you get the retail version.

Very good advise.

I purchased Home Premium, so I can say with certainty that it does not come with the 64-bit version. There's a card in the package that tells you how to obtain the CD or 64-bit version by mail for free. (Vista comes on a DVD, thus the option for ordering CD's.)

Like others have said, OEM versions are meant to be used on one machine for the life of the machine.

Here's another catch: If you buy the Upgrade of Home Premium (can't speak for Ultimate) you will not be able to just stick the DVD in the computer, boot from it and expect it to install Vista. It will not! It tells you to reboot into the existing Windows partition and start the Upgrade from there. The installer on Home Premium Upgrade will not repartition hard disks, even though it says it can if you boot from DVD. (A vicious circle, because you won't get far when booting from DVD.)

In my case, I was running WinXP Pro. The upgrade installer comes up and says that I cannot Upgrade from that version of Windows to Home Premium. (Literally). What it will do, however, is move your old "Windows", "Program Files" and "Documents and Settings" to a new folder called Windows.old. It will then do a clean install.

My old WinXP Pro installation with all my apps installed took around 6.5 GB. The new one (without the Windows.old folder) and the exact same apps (except a few that I haven't installed yet) consumes 23.6 GB.

Hopefully this helps you determine if you want Home Premium Upgrade or Ultimate. From what I hear, Ultimate doesn't have the upgrade and boot-from-DVD installation restrictions. (By the way, Home Premium Upgrade will upgrade a copy of Media Center. Just not WinXP Pro.)

You can save money by buying the upgrade option

I made a partition first with acronis disk director.
The installer does let you do an automatic dual boot install when you install it to a different partition from windows XP, then you get a choice of "older windows" or vista when you boot up

I read online on a forum that if, when vista installs completely from the upgrade copy the first time, you immediatel reinstall vista again, then you dont need to have xp loaded first again if you need to reload software down the road

I didnt try it as I have an XP disk and it only takes less than an extra 1/2hr to do xp first

Honestly, if you have xp the upgrade is a great money saver

Home premium upgrade copy was $168cdn at staples

No, only Vista Ultimate Retail comes with both 32 and 64 bit DVDs.

These other ones you can still choose 64-bit but you will need to send away to MS for the 64-bit disk (for free).

Why is everyone so hung up on getting BOTH the 32bit and the 64bit.... you only get 1 key with the Retail Ultimate... it will only install 1 of the OS's regardless of 32 or 64 bit. You will need to purchase another key if you wish to upgrade to 64bit later anyways.

I really do not understand.

OEM's are FULL versions, exactly like retail, except the transferability. And if you consider resale on the notebook, Noone will want a WinXP notebook in a few months anyways so keeping Vista on it is just a good thing. IT will also enable you to garner a bit more cash for the notebook, and you only spend 200 instead of 400 on it.

Actually, you can swap between 32-bit and 64-bit on the same computer using the same key...you just can't run both at once.

I ogt my retail home pro today from Amazon and it only came with one DVD, the 32-bit version...Need to log onto MS site (they give you a link) and pay an extra 10 USD for the 64-bit DVD

How can i get additional licenses as mentioned above at 50 a pop (or is that only for ultimate?)

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...a&mg_id=20108b