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Microsoft Windows Vista Business DVD - Upgrade-Only version

• The Windows Vista Business operating system is designed to meet the needs of business organizations of all sizes.
  For small businesses, Windows Vista Business will help keep PCs running smoothly and more securely so you will be less reliant on dedicated IT support.
  For larger organizations, Windows Vista Business provides dramatic new infrastructure improvements, enabling your IT staff to spend less time focused on the day-to-day maintenance of PCs and more time adding strategic value to your organization.
  Windows Vista Business also offers powerful new ways to organize, find, and share information while staying better connected whether you are in the office or on the road. This helps your business to run more efficiently than ever before.

More manageable, reliable, and secure

• For small businesses, Windows Vista Business includes new technology and tools to ensure your PCs are always up-to-date, more secure, and running smoothly. For instance, Windows Vista Business will make your PCs safer with built-in protection against malicious software, or malware. You will be warned of impending hardware failures long before you risk losing any important business data. An array of sophisticated new backup technologies helps protect your information even in the event of a catastrophic hardware failure.
  
  For larger organizations, Windows Vista Business has been designed from the ground up to improve the deployment and management of the operating system. For instance, image-based installation is now the default method for installing the Windows Vista operating system, and the images are no longer hardware-dependent. These two key design principles enable your organization to dramatically reduce the number of images you are required to manage and streamline the process of deploying new PCs and updating existing PCs.
  
  For businesses of any size, Windows Vista Business is designed to allow your IT department to configure users' systems so that they can log onto their PCs as standard users instead of as administrators. Windows Vista Business enables the use of standard user accounts without the compatibility and usability issues that could occur in previous versions of Windows. This new capability significantly reduces the likelihood of a malicious attack causing damage to your organization's PCs.

Easier, faster access to information

• Windows Vista Business has a new user interface, named Windows Aero, which is designed to deliver new levels of efficiency for any business user. This new interface makes it easy to navigate through the operating system and from application to application.
  For instance, 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.
  In addition to these navigation improvements, Windows Vista Business makes it easier than ever to manage huge volumes of business documents. By integrating search throughout the operating system and providing new ways to organize files, Windows Vista Business helps you quickly find exactly what you are looking for.
  For those who are not full-time IT professionals but have roles that require them to support their organizations' PCs, Windows Vista Business includes Small Business Resources. This built-in how-to guide leads you through everyday tasks and troubleshooting in easy-to-follow, non-technical language.

More mobile and better connected

• Windows Vista Business is designed to help you easily and quickly connect with your organization, your customers, and your partners, whether you are in the office or on the road. Windows Vista Business includes all of the essential infrastructure required to more securely connect you to your business information whether you are sitting at your desk, working at home, connected to a WiFi hotspot, or even if you are using your cell phone to connect to the Internet.
  
  To help you be more productive when you're away from your desk, Windows Vista Business includes Windows Tablet and Touch Technology, so you can interact with your Tablet PC by using a digital pen or your fingertip in addition to a keyboard. The new Windows Tablet and Touch Technology in Windows Vista Business includes improved handwriting recognition and easier ways to browse documents and programs without using a keyboard.
  
  Computers that include Windows Vista Business and an auxiliary Windows SideShow display will also allow you to access critical business information even when your computer is turned off. Windows Vista Business also makes it easy for you to share documents and collaborate with colleagues, partners, and customers--even if a network is not available. Additionally, Windows Vista Business helps you get the most out of your portable PC by making it quick and easy to manage key mobility settings.

Package: Upgrade Only

• Upgrade-Only installations of Vista are substantially less expensive than the Full Retail versions, making this a good choice for people who still want a shiny box, all the manuals and paperwork, and access to Microsoft technical support, but who don’t plan to ever install the Operating System on a new, blank hard drive.
  
  The Upgrade-Only version works very much as its name implies: if you have a pre-existing version of Windows XP on your system, you can purchase an Upgrade-Only copy of Vista and apply it over your original Operating System. The result is a direct update to Windows Vista, while retaining all of your original programs, applications, documents, and files.

  It should be noted, however, that many programs are not yet fully Vista-compatible, so the Upgrade Installation will prompt you as it goes along to remove or disable any applications which are conflicting. Most developers are hard at work to update their software to Vista-readiness, however, so odds are that you won’t have to leave those precious programs uninstalled for long.

  Finally, there are a few special circumstances here to keep in mind: the Vista Upgrade path you may choose is somewhat limited by your pre-existing version of XP.

  For example, most users are running the 32-bit version of Windows XP. As a result, you must upgrade to the 32-bit version of Vista. Likewise, those few who are using the 64-bit developer version may only upgrade Vista 64-bit (if you’re unsure which you have, contact Microsoft with your Windows license key and they can tell you).

  Additionally, your choice of XP Home, XP Media Center, or XP Professional also plays a role.

  "XP Home" or "XP Media Center" users can only upgrade to one of the two Vista Home versions, or must move all the way up to the all-inclusive Vista Ultimate; those running "XP Professional" can only use Vista Business or Vista Enterprise (or again, Vista Ultimate, if your budget allows it).

  So before you upgrade, be sure to know what you have, as this will influence how much you need to spend to get the version of Vista that you want.