There are six editions of Windows Vista, making the choice of what you need very confusing. Fortunately, only four of them are available to the regular user.

First, I will disqualify the two of the six which are not meant to be used by private people.

Windows Vista Enterprise Edition (Disqualified)

For companies who buy multiple licenses. Not relevant to the regular user.

Link to Microsoft

Windows Vista Starter Edition – (Disqualified)

For countries with low average income. Windows Vista Starter is not available in developed technology markets such as the United States, the European Union, Australia, or Japan. Windows Vista Starter ships on lower-cost computers sold by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and Microsoft OEM distributors in 139 countries. Not relevant to the regular user.

Link to Microsoft

The four editions which should be taken into consideration are:

Windows Vista Ultimate Edition

This edition includes all the features that other editions have. This includes: Starter Edition, Home Basic Edition, Home Premium Edition, Business Edition & Enterprise Edition. It’s the most expensive one. If you want it all, the choice is simple.

399$

Link to Microsoft

However, if you want to save some money, you can compare the features between the three editions I’m about to discuss.

Windows Vista Home Basic Edition

The basic edition which includes less features than the rest. This is the cheapest available. If Windows Vista Ultimate Edition has it all, this one has the least. For laptop, it is recommended to get Home Premium Edition or Business Edition. To see if you actually need the Home Basic Edition, I would suggest you check the features that are offered in the Home Premium Edition and Business Edition, to decide whether you need them or not.

199$

Link to Microsoft

As you can see, the main choice is between two editions: Home Premium and Business. Both of which offer a unique variety of features. Let’s check the differences.

Windows Vista Home Premium Edition

Like its name, this edition is meant for home users. It is focused on Home Entertainment, and offers the following features which you will not find in the Business Edition:

1. Native DVD Playback – No longer will you need external applications such as PowerDVD to play your rented or purchased DVD movies. It is supported by the OS. This is a cool feature, although, if you already have PowerDVD, you can easily skip it.

2. Windows Media Center -A complete media center for you videos, music, photos, and much more. You can also record TV Shows with this application if you have a TV card installed.

3. Windows Movies Maker In High Definition - Remember Windows Movie Maker from Windows XP? This one supports composing High Definition videos, DVD authoring and DVD burning.

4. New Games – Three new premium games: Chess, Titans, Mahjong Titans and Inkball. Pay some more and get free games. Well… that’s not a good reason to get the Premium Edition.

239$

Link to Microsoft

Windows Vista Business Edition

Like its name, this edition is meant for business users. This edition is more expensive than the Home Premium Edition. It is focused on Security and Backup, and offers the following features which you will not find in the Home Premium Edition:

1. Windows Complete PC Backup and Restore – This is supposed to work like Acornis True Image which creates an image of all your files. This is a pretty useful feature and can protect your system in cases of hardware failure and data loss.

2. Windows Fax and Scan – Enables you to scan documents and receive faxes easily. These features can be easily obtained with third party software.

3. Easier Remote Access – Remote desktop connection. This basically allows you to run an application from a remote computer without the need of a VPN. If it works like I think it does, then this should be an extremely useful feature.

4. Shadow Copy – Backup all your documents at boot time, enabling you to restore them if you accidently destroyed one of them. Again, this is a very useful feature for people who regularly work on documents.

299$

Link to Microsoft

Both Home Premium Edition and Business Edition have the following features which are not included in the Home Basic Edition:

1. Elegant Windows Aero desktop experience – Basically this a design feature that includes glass-like menu bars, Windows Flip 3D (See picture) and live thumbnails.

2. Improved Windows Mobility Center – Better for laptops and tablets. If you get a notebook computer, forget about the Home Basic Edition.

3. Windows Meeting Space – Windows Meeting Space enables face-to-face collaboration among small groups of Windows Vista users—virtually anytime, anywhere. Useful for both business and personal purposes, this tool enables you to share work on computer-based projects with other people more easily and comfortably.

4. Windows Slideshow – Enables you to create slideshows. This can be done with many free applications. Nothing too special about it.

5. Scheduled Backup – Automatically backup your files.

So are you confused or what? If you want Vista for your laptop and don’t want to get the Ultimate Edition, choose between Business (Quality Backups, Shadow Copy, etc) and Home Premium (Media Center, Burning Movies, High Definition Movie Maker, etc). If you want Vista for your desktop computer, you can choose the Home Basic Edition and lose the Aero desktop graphical experience. If you do choose to upgrade XP to Vista, then go for the Home Premium or Business.

Looks like the choice is not so hard after all:

Home users who want Entertainment should choose Home Premium Edition.

Business users who work with documents and important files should choose Business Edition.

Rich users should choose Ultimate Edition.

As simple as that.

Resources and some more comparisons:

Microsoft’s “Choose an edition” page

Powerdonkey’s Comperhensive feature comparison