Windows Vista will come in 7 different versions

Checks calendar… What? You mean it’s not April 1^st? There are really going to be seven different versions of Windows Vista? Seven!?

Looks at his Ubuntu CD… Hmm… my operating system of choice comes in one flavour. Whether you want to run it as a home machine, business machine or server.

And it’s free. Not just free of charge (though it’s that as well), but also free of the legal and philosophical encumbrances of Windows. It comes with most of the software that a normal everyday user would need, and thousands of other programs are available to download, also for free. In fact it’s so free that they send out pressed CDs to anyone who asks for them, and don’t even charge for the postage.

So when Vista finally ships, will I be amongst the crowd of confused customers, trying to work out which version I really need (and probably just hedging my bets by going for the most comprehensive and expensive option)? Nope, I’ll be at home with my one CD, sent to me for free, wondering which of those thousands of programs to play with next.