If we are to believe Paul Thurott, Microsoft is planning to release 7 Windows Vista editions, ranging from Starter Edition to Enterprise Edition. Obviously, the idea has its good parts, because not all users need the entire list of features offered by Windows Vista and then they won't have to pay extra for things they will never use.

On the other hand, Microsoft's intention has all the chances to generate confusion, because the users will have to a lot of research before deciding what distribution to choose (I'm sorry, that's a Linux term, but the model Microsoft is planning to introduce makes think about penguins).

Choosing between Home and Business wouldn't be too difficult, but when you have to choose between 4 Home editions, it's rather difficult to say: OK, I won't ever need the Home Premium, so I'll settle with Home Basic. Let's hope that Microsoft will introduce an upgrade program, so if you are not into Home Premium anymore and you want the Ultimate Edition, all you have to do is pay the difference, not to buy the whole edition.

Obviously, Microsoft will sell even more (or at least that's what they hope), but I think that many users will stick to Windows XP instead of banging their heads against the wall to find the suitable Windows Vista version.

Don't take this the wrong way, but perhaps Microsoft should introduce the custom distributions. Perhaps it would have been better to announce the price for the basic edition and to be able to choose what features to include. (Obviously for a price). If all the options are included, you get the Windows Vista Ultimate User Name Edition. I think that would have been a wiser choice.