- If you buy one version you'll be able to upgrade to other versions for the difference instead of a whole new copy of the OS. Possibly without need anything more than a new auth key (not sure about that).

Here is a [link|http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4754462.stm|BBC] article that shows a bit of what Microsoft has in mind. There are going to be more then 6 versions of Vista for sale, and not in the NT sense where they are specalized versions for specific hardware.

I suspect the upgrade thing is aimed at the home market with basic / premium / ultimate versions which will differ only in what utilities and eye candy are enabled. Computers will come with one package that is really all versions, but only the basic part will be unlocked. You can then buy a key from MS to unlock the "upgrade" and download the additional applications. This will let MS extract some more money while keeping the price low for white box assemblers.

Personally I think MS is making a mistake here. Unnecessary internal division of market for the purpose of extracting more money is one of the hallmarks of a dominant company in the last gasp of the buisness cycle before falling. It confuses and angers customers who favored the dominant company becuase they where the easy choice, while making clear that the company has few compelling new products / features to sell.

Jay