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Which version of Windows? and You need to know SPP !

Windows Vista, like Windows Server 2003, has multiple versions for multiple uses. Like Server 2003, all standard versions of Vista come in 32- and 64-bit flavors.

Windows Vista Home Basic, which is US$199. Home Basic, while it will get the job done on a very limited basis, is lacking some major upgrades that appear in the next step up, Home Premium.

Home Basic can't support more than a single processor. The 32-bit version supports up to 4 GB of RAM, while the 64-bit version doubles that amount. It lacks Windows Media Center, Windows Movie Maker and the Encrypting File System among other omissions. It doesn't have the Aero interface.

Windows Vista Home Premium. Home Premium is US$239, but adds substantially upgraded functionality over Home Basic. It supports two processors and adds the multimedia features absent from Home Basic, along with the ability to do scheduled backups. It’s also better for laptops, with Windows Mobility Center and Tablet PC support built in.

Neither of the Home versions can join a domain, the same limitation found in Windows XP Home.

Windows Vista Business. The US$299 Business edition is the entry-level offering for corporations. It’s significantly easier to deploy, given that the installation images are now hardware-independent. Once installed, it’s also the most secure desktop OS Microsoft has ever released. Most important is User Account Control, which gives users lower-level access than previously. Added to that are Network Access Protection, making sure a computer joining a network meets security standards, and Windows Service Hardening, which prevents an attacker from mucking around in, among other places, the Registry.

Vista Business can support up to two processors and 4 GB of RAM in its 32-bit version, and supports up to 128 GB in its 64-bit incarnation. These standards are the same for Vista Enterprise and Vista Ultimate.

Windows Vista Enterprise. The key differentiator between Business and Enterprise is Windows BitLocker Full Drive Encryption. BitLocker enhances security by encrypting an entire hard drive, rather than just selected files or folders. It’s a welcome technology in these days of HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley and seemingly weekly reports of laptops with sensitive or top-secret information being lost or stolen. Enterprise is only available through a volume license.

Windows Vista Ultimate. Ultimate, at US$399 , aims for the user who wants it all — all the business functionality and security, and all the media goodies and fun stuff. It includes everything in both the home and business versions of Vista.

Windows Server 2003, Web Edition. The Web edition of Windows Server 2003 is mainly aimed at ISPs and Web farms. It’s cheap to buy, at about US$400, but for that low a price, don’t expect a great deal of functionality. Although a Windows 2003 Web server can be a member of a domain, it can’t be a domain controller. That means you can’t use it to apply, for instance, Group Policy, Software Restriction Policies, Internet Authentication Policy and other standard management features. You can’t load a standard version of SQL Server on it [although SQL 2005 Express edition can be used]. It can utilize a maximum of 2 GB RAM and supports up to two processors.

Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition. Windows Server 2003 is a step up from Web edition. It has middle-of-the-road functionality and capabilities, so it’s a good choice for an environment that needs to get work done, but doesn’t need blazing performance or Swiss Army Knife utility. It’s designed to handle regular workloads, such as a company department or small or midsized business. The latest version is Release 2 (R2) and retails for US$999, or US$1,199 with 10 client access licenses, or CALs. (Note that all the following versions of Windows Server 2003 are also at R2).

It’s available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, making it robust enough for medium-duty database work, especially if you’re using SQL Server. It’s the lowest-level server that can be a domain controller and also supports Network Load Balancing clusters, the .NET 2.0 framework and more. Like Web edition, it can support two processors, but can utilize double the RAM, at 4 GB. The 64-bit version, however, can support double the number of processors and up to 32 GB of RAM.

Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition. Stepping up in class is the Enterprise Edition, which should be considered by heavy-use environments. It’s also a step up in price: at US$3,999 with 25 CALs, it’s more than three times the price of the Standard version.

So what do you get for that? Start with the ability to use up to eight processors and 64 GB of RAM. Also unlike Standard and Web, Enterprise can be clustered, with support for up to eight nodes. Other notable functionality includes support for Microsoft Identity Integration Server (MIIS) and Active Directory Federation Services, to facilitate single sign-on. Naturally, for a powerful OS like this, you can choose from both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. The 64-bit really ramps up the power, allowing up to 1 TB of RAM.

Enterprise Edition is a powerful, reliable workhorse for shops that need more scalability than Standard Edition can provide. It should be considered for very large databases, enterprise apps and large Terminal Services deployments.

Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition. Datacenter is for environments needing extreme speed, with a heavy workload that can have almost no downtime. At US$2,999, it seems like a relative bargain, but the hardware requirements are so specific and costly that it’s by far the most expensive, and most powerful, Windows Server 2003 edition.

Datacenter, in its 32-bit incarnation, supports eight to 32 processors and up to 64 GB of RAM. The steroid-pumped 64-bit version can handle up to 64 processors and 2 TB of RAM. If you have a high-volume website, are doing world-class number crunching, or need a gigantic, fast database, consider Datacenter.

Windows Server 2003, Compute Cluster Edition. Compute Cluster is designed for supercomputing environments like engineering, science and financial services. As such, it’s only available with 64-bit processors. It can support up to four processors per server and up to 32 GB of RAM. It’s relatively cheap, at US$469 per server. If you’re running a Windows-only cluster, this should be your product, as it simplifies cluster deployment and management, and integrates well with the rest of the Windows infrastructure.

Windows Small Business Server 2003. If you’re a small business or department with one or two servers, and you need one server to handle multiple tasks, consider SBS as a potential “one-stop shop”. It has all the capabilities of Windows Server 2003, as well as SharePoint and Exchange servers, and the Outlook e-mail client. SBS Standard Edition is US$599 with five CALs, and the Premium version is US$1,299 with five CALs. The Premium Edition includes all the features and capabilities of Standard Edition, while adding ISA Server 2004, SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition and FrontPage 2003.

SBS 2003 is aimed at a business or department with 75 or fewer users; beyond that, you’ll want to look at the other Windows Server 2003 versions. If you’re approaching that limit or think you might in the near future, look elsewhere. If you’ve already got it, Microsoft offers an SBS Transition Pack, which allows you to move to standalone versions of the software.

One aspect of Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system that has raised users' hackles is its new antipiracy system, called Software Protection Platform (SPP).

How SPP works

What exactly is SPP's Reduced Functionality Mode (RFM)?

When a user enters RFM, the default Web browser will be started and the user will be presented with an option to purchase a new product key. There is no start menu, no desktop icons, and the desktop background is changed to black. The Web browser will fully function and Internet connectivity will not be blocked. After one hour, the system will automatically log the user out. It will not shut down the machine, and the user can log back in.

How long does RFM last?

RFM lasts until the user remedies the situation. In the event that a system is placed into RFM, there are several remedies available. First, the user can simply follow the prescribed activation process and options described above -- these include entering a new product key, obtaining a new product key or re-entering the original product key. For volume-licensing customers, the user can return to normal Windows operating mode by connecting to a key management service (KMS) to automatically renew the activation or obtain a multiple activation key (MAK). Finally, if the system is in RFM because of hardware changes, the user can restore the original hardware configuration. At any time in the process, a user can contact Microsoft support for additional help

Does RFM automatically log off users after a period of time?

In RFM, users are logged off of the Internet after one hour of usage.

And does RFM let you log back in later?

Users will be able to immediately log back in.

When does SPP's RFM begin? After 30 days?

A copy of Windows Vista can go into reduced functionality mode under two scenarios:

1. If any of the following events occurs (for each license type):
   Retail License (or corporate user with a MAK):
   
   • Failure to activate within the grace period (30 days after installation)
   • Failure to renew activation within three days of a major hardware replacement
   OEM License (or non-volume-license enterprise with OEM-sourced, preactivated Vista image):
   
   • Failure to activate within three days of switch to a non-OEM motherboard
   Enterprise License using KMS:
   
   • Failure to activate with KMS within 30 days of installation
   • Failure to renew activation with KMS within 210 days of previous activation
   • Failure to renew activation with KMS within 30 days of hard drive replacement
2. A copy of Windows Vista may be required to reactivate for the following reasons, and failure to successfully reactivate during the 30-day grace period will cause the copy of Windows Vista to go into reduced functionality mode:
   
   • The activation process has been determined to have been tampered with or worked around, or other tampering of license files is detected.
   • A leaked, stolen or prohibited product key is detected that is blocked by Microsoft product activation servers.

Before being placed into RFM, users will always have a grace period to resolve the situation. During the grace period, reminders will pop up to inform them that they must activate within the specified time period or else they will lose Windows functionality. During the last three days of the grace period, the reminders are displayed with increasing frequency.

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