According to Q's listing, the Business version omits some Media Center junk, and Ultimate adds BitLocker, but otherwise they're all the same.(?) I think there are some differences not shown in the list, but I haven't seen a list that's much better.

I see a BitLocker on version 5, but no name for it. Typo?

My preliminary look on the Media stuff is that it's essentially for TV and Music downloads (mostly for pay), with some "facilitating" of DRM and maybe some whistles and bells for display. Some of the "Media" DRM junk is rumored to require a hardware module, so it gets turned off if you don't buy a specifically compatible computer. IFF (big if) preliminary reports have been correct, you can't buy the decrypt module to add onto an existing computer, although you may be able to add an aftermarket graphics/sound card with the module on it - prices (card only) starting at >$350 (US) and running to near $1K (at ~50W card dissipation) for the couple of available cards that can use it all, according to early reports.

(Closet gamers may find the required graphics cards dump too much heat to use in the closet, and may have to come "out of the closet.")

Working photos isn't "media" in this context, and you want Photoshop (at least Elements) anyway, which doesn't really need a "multimedia" computer for most users, although a "better than average" monitor might be nice.

The BitLocker is supposed to allow encrypting everything on your machine, for "ultimate security," but reports I've seen imply (without saying for sure) that it needs a hardware encrypt/decrypt to give full value. Hard drives designed specifically to use it are just beginning to be available, and for now may be an "extra cost" addition to your computer. There have been reports of a "software fallback" encryption, but it may or may not be available in the other Vista versions.

The "instant search" (all versions?) underwhelmed me when I tried out a beta version on my WinXP machine about a month ago. It theoretically "indexes" everything so that it can search the index instead of looking at everything on the drive, for quicker searches. Until you've run enough searches for it to "learn" (which it's not guaranteed to do), it can only guess what you might look for to decide what to index, and can only find what it indexed. And it disabled Windows Explorer Search leaving you NO WAY to look for anything it missed. For the beta: Download 45 minutes. Install and index 3.9 hours. Five searches for KNOWN FILES about 30 seconds each without finding any of the 5. Uninstall 3.2 minutes.

The "Aero Desktop" appears to be just "bevelled edges" and "3D illusion" on all your icons so far as normal Windows operations are concerned. It may allow some better tiling of open windows, but descriptions have been vague. Other than that, it seems mainly for gamers, and requires hardware of specific kinds that may not be part of most computers as purchased. Preliminary word (unconfirmed) is that most systems managers who are considering Vista for corporate use intend to omit Aero Desktop capabilities in their immediate purchases due to the higher performance machines needed, and may block it even for machines that are capable of using it.

Some early reports offered the opinion that the "Ultimate" version is appropriate only for system administrators who have to use it to remote-manage a network mix of all other types of Vista plus WinXP. It' NOT (according to early reviews) a user machine OS. I don't know if that opinion has remained valid, since the opinion appeared before the final product mix was "locked down."

This is all based on rumor and hearsay, without a lot of confidence that any of it is really accurate. Editors generally are much more impressed than I am with "whistles and bells and go-fast stripes," and it's been really hard to tell when they're raving about a gizmo and when they're actually describing something useful - or dangerous.

If you find any of it completely off base, let me know and I'll give you some more lies unconfirmed rumors.

John