Free upgrade from Winows Media Center to Windows Vista....Why??

[pijetro]

I'm noticing all the local shops are offering new computers with free upgrades..
Question..
Assuming Media Center is a dedicated O.S., used for people with centralized multimedia entertainment in mind, why would anybody want to trade for Windows Vista??

I mean, as far as i understand, that would be like apples and oranges.....right??
What gives besides the obvious 64bit support that Vista offers?

[yoda313]

Vista has a Media Center version of its own.

The deals are to get people to buy a new computer now but still have them use VISTA when its finally released.

[TBoneit]

Why, The sellers are afraid that if they don't offer Vista as a free upgrade no-one will buy their XP equipped computers now. If I were going to buy a new computer now I'd be looking for the vista upgrade version for down the road and stay with XP for now.

We had a customer in our shop that ordered a custom computer, Then she must have gotten to talking with here friends and came back and wanted to know if we were going to give her a free Vista upgrade? After she had beaten the price to to near cost, no thanks. We refunded her deposit. I'd bet she went out to badmouth us because we wouldn't give her a free upgrade and only gave her a refund. The free Vista upgrade costs us money as near as I can tell. One of our Wholesalers sent us the forms to give out for a Vista upgrade via Microsoft. Only for Pro or Media center. And you need to pay MS some $$$. Since this woman wanted to save money on home we would have as far as I can tell have to eaten the increase to XP Pro, and paid MS for the upgrade after haveing been beaten down on theprofit margin to where it was hardly worth doing anyway.

Oh well, got to go get some some sleep. I have to assemble a Used P4 3.2 Ghz computer tommrrow, I say used since it will have some new parts and some used parts so we will of course sell it as used.

[pijetro]

Okay, a bit confused. Let's fill in the blanks....

There's Windows XP..
There's Windows Media Centre
There's Windows Vista..

Is that to say that Media Centre is built on XP platform, and a Vista platform or is it a totally separate O.S. to begin with??

[painkiller]

Don't forget that Vista locks down copyrighted content even moreso than ever before.....

[yoda313]

Okay, a bit confused. Let's fill in the blanks....

There's Windows XP..
There's Windows Media Centre
There's Windows Vista..

Is that to say that Media Centre is built on XP platform, and a Vista platform or is it a totally separate O.S. to begin with??

There are multipile versions of VISTA - VISTA is not XP at all. Here are the versions:

vista home basic

vista home premium

vista business

vista ultimate

VISTA HOME PREMIUM will be the new version of Windows Media Center:

Windows Vista Home Premium includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center. Windows Media Center in Windows Vista provides new ways for you to enjoy your music, photos, and DVD movies. You can also use Windows Media Center to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV) and to access new kinds of online entertainment content. You will also be able to connect Windows Vista Home Premium to your Microsoft Xbox 360 to extend your Media Center experience to multiple rooms in your home.



To find out more go to:


http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/editions/default.mspx

[TBoneit]

Okay, a bit confused. Let's fill in the blanks....

There's Windows XP..
There's Windows Media Centre
There's Windows Vista..

Is that to say that Media Centre is built on XP platform, and a Vista platform or is it a totally separate O.S. to begin with??

From the Upgrade form. for Windows Vista Home Premium you need a XP Media Center Edition from an authorized System Builder.

Note MS calls it XP Media Center Edition

[pijetro]

Got it...
So the costumers need to be aware that the upgrade from XP Media Centre to Vista needs to be Vista Home Premium, and not just home basic...

I need to do some independent reading on how differently Media Centre performs, as opposed to what any old O.S. can't do...Asides from friendly GUI...

[EAO]

Can't believe what a bunch of dumb asses the general public is about Vista.

Oh and fwiw if you like to build through upgrading a single case like I do please stay far far away from the OEM XP versions that get's sold with upgrade coupons. I called M$ twice after the issue to reinstall Vista multiple times was settled.

The upgrade coupons are considered OEM versions of Vista. Thay are still tied to your first build. Any upgrade that needs a re-register ( except for catastrophic failure - good luck proving that) needs a new Vista purchase.

Only retail copies of Vista will allow you to re-register future builds in a single PC.