Are Vista Business/Ultimate Editions any good?

[miffy]

Just called MS asking if I could trade in my Vista license which came with the laptop for an XP one - they said no I'll have to buy one for £99.

You can downgrade a Vista Business or Ultimate license to XP Pro but you can't downgrade any of the others.

Quote from Technet Forums:

Can I downgrade my OEM version of Windows Vista Business to Windows XP Professional?

Yes. OEM downgrade rights for desktop PC operating systems apply to Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate as stated in the License Terms. Please note, OEM downgrade versions of Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate are limited to Windows XP Professional (including Windows XP Tablet PC Edition and Windows XP x64 Edition).

I hear it can take a couple of hours to install.

It does! Took around 2 on my lappy. I'd watch a DVD or something when you start the install.

Worthy of an installation on a lappy. It does improve the battery life. I read somewhere that it achieves this by stopping the screen being redrawn all the time.

[KevinS]

I have a Mac.

So you should be installing this (the so called 'monster patch batch')....

[Ardesco]

Looks like they released it last night when I wasn't looking :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/w.../bb738089.aspx

Have to set that running tonight, I hear it can take a couple of hours to install.

[KevinS]

Is SP1 available to everyone yet or just beta testers?

Now available to everyone via Windows Update.. I just updated my 64bit desktop - took about an hour after hitting the install button..

[DaveB]

I have a Mac.

[SteveV]

Is SP1 available to everyone yet or just beta testers?

[Ardesco]

I have Vista Ultimate on three machines, two 64bit desktops, and a 32bit laptop. Only real issues I have had is with slow network write times but apparently they have fixed this with SP1.

Overall I'm very happy with vista, the one issue I still have with my laptop is the ATI drivers that don't turn my screen on after going into standby mode. Works fine if I hibernate, but after going into standby the screen just stays black.

I have removed the ATI drivers and used a default vista driver instead and it all works fine so it is definitely the ATI drivers causing it. I guess I ought to see if they have an updated driver for it now so I can try again

[KevinS]

I have Vista Ultimate on 2 machines.. 32bit on the laptop and 64bit on the desktop.. Have had a few glitches, but for the most part very stable (the laptop much more so since I installed SP1).. The most annoying thing on the laptop was the BSOD when going into standby mode.. Discovered that if I put the power plan into high performance (as opposed to power saver) then the BSOD never happened.. Have also had issues with Logitech drivers (plugging in my Revolution MX mouse after coming out of standby mode hangs Vista, even with the latest drivers)..

[Jog On]

My Vista laptop fell over again this weekend so I wiped it and put on XP.

Just called MS asking if I could trade in my Vista license which came with the laptop for an XP one - they said no I'll have to buy one for £99..

So as an alternative - for £200 I can get a MS partner 'action pack' and install Vista Business or Ultimate with Office 2007 and lots of other bells and whistles on all my machines at home.

I thought I heard somewhere that Vista Ultimate is supposed to be quite good. Anyone tried it or know anyone who has?