Don’t do this to us, Microsoft

Seven.

Seven is a decent number of CDs for a car trip. A good amount of sodas to have on-hand when your friends come over. And a fine number of days to be on vacation.

Seven is not the right number of versions for a consumer software package. I respect Microsoft not only for the developer tools they build but for the their marketing savvy, which is why I’m shocked they’re making such a mistake with their upcoming Vista operating system:

• Windows Vista Starter Edition
• Windows Vista Home Basic Edition
• Windows Vista Home Premium Edition
• Windows Vista Professional Edition
• Windows Vista Small Business Edition
• Windows Vista Enterprise Edition
• Windows Vista Ultimate Edition

In order to help my relatives who’ll be calling when they buy their next computer, I’m studying now for Microsoft’s newest certification test, 70-399: Choosing a Version of Microsoft Vista.

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