HP Accidentally Lets Slip Windows 8 SKUs

12 Replies

HP is one of the most popular brands in the PC Market.For what we all know it’s planning to bring the Windows 8 based devices later this year,as hinted earlier by the officials over the past few weeks.

Now apparently HP has let slip the Windows 8 SKU details on its official site,which are yet to be officially announced by Microsoft,as reported earlier by ZDNet.The leaked drivers documentations (1) and (2)on HP’s website reveal the following details about what it looks like the Windows 8 SKU’s.

  • Microsoft Windows 8 32 Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 8 64 Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 8 Enterprise 32 Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 8 Enterprise 64 Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 8 Professional 32 Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 8 Professional 64 Edition

Though the list contains the supposed editions of Windows 8,it can very well be just a documentation filler and completely wrong as well,or if it’s really true then it might be some of the finalized SKU’s for Windows 8.We will hopefully soon get the answers from the officials about the same.

Windows 8 Consumer Preview is less than a week away.We can “expect” to see the SKU’s in the consumer preview builds.For that we have to wait for 29th February.Stay tuned for all the Windows 8 and Microsoft related MWC 2012 coverage next week.

 

  • http://twitter.com/lol_matt Matt Perovic

    So it would seem they are keeping it simple.

    A home version, pro version and the ‘Volume Licence’ Enterprise version.

    Good idea. Home Starter and Ultimate were kind of pointless…

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003580306123 Tyler Lehman

      Just a question, Why is ultimate pointless? 

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=663826900 Graham Kelly

         Mainly because most consumers didn’t require the extra features provided, meaning in terms of how many copies Microsoft made and keys they released, much money was wasted.

        Back in XP and below they simply did Home, Professional and Enterprise and this worked very well because there is always budget systems that can’t handle the full package so they went with the Home editions but those which could handle everything nicely so those systems would have Professional.

        Releasing anything in between only means more time and money wasted on resourcing, production and sales. Keeping it simple is the best bet. Home for basic users such as netbook owners, professional for laptops and enterprise for VLKs for business

        • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003580306123 Tyler Lehman

          Ohh Understand. where does ultimate fall in place in win 7? 

          • http://grez868.com/ Graham Kelly

             Ultimate is the equivalent of the old Professional products, which began with Win Vista. Microsoft made it Ultimate so that they could make space for a new “Professional” product which is aimed at small businesses and professionals who don’t require all the features that Ultimate provides, such as multilingual support.

            Within Ultimate, no matter which language of Windows you purchase, you can download additional languages via Windows Update. In addition to this, you can also use Windows XP Mode in Professional and Ultimate editions of Win 7

        • Patrick Aupperle

          What about Windows XP Media Center Edition?

          • http://grez868.com/ Graham Kelly

             MCE was simply another special edition, aimed primarily at entertainment machines. On the original Windows SKU list, released 2002 was Windows XP Home, XP Professional and XP Enterprise. MCE was released in 2004. This is also why MCE features a shinier taskbar and window headers – to point out it’s “specialness”

  • someone

    why are there both professional and enterprise? this doesnt seem right.

    • GrahamKelly

       Enterprise editions usually use Volume Licence Keys which can be embedded into the installer. Doing this makes Unattended Installations possible for businesses who have large numbers of machines such as educational or government establishments, saving time and money on seperate installations.

      Professional, however, is aimed at those who don’t quite have the need for a copy covering hundreds to thousands of machines, such as small businesses, students and faculty members. As such, professional licences are usually cheaper and don’t provide the option to use Unattended Installations to install to more than 3 PCs. This is why any home users who use a key more than a few times will have their key disabled, requiring them to call the Microsoft Hotline to gain an activation key.

      In addition to this, Professional Licences are usually available to students and faculty members at discounted rates from Microsoft and their partners, such as Software4Students in the form of a specialised Professional Edition which is sold, with the seller knowing it is unlawful to resell this specialised cheaper edition.

  • http://www.facebook.com/dean.kellham Dean Kellham

    I hope this edition list is correct. XP had it right- Home and Pro, with Corporate Pro for the VL. That’s all that’s needed. The Vista/7 Edition lists were ridiculous; and for what- from Pro to Ultimate all you got were added languages and bitlocker! Keep it simple- business 101!

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