Microsoft is nearly ready to unleash Vista to the mainstream world. They’ve created a number of releases to try and cover as many price points as possible (justified by various levels of functionality). There are nine available (more if you count upgrades), but most of us will only have access to four (five if you’re willing to spend a little extra for an autograph). Which one do you choose? Here’s how they break down:

Starter

The Starter edition is “exclusively available in emerging markets”, and is designed for beginning users. Put more plainly, it is a stripped down version to be sold much cheaper in markets that couldn’t otherwise afford Vista. It is not scheduled to be available in the United States, Canada, the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, or other ‘high income markets as defined by the World Bank’.

Home Basic

Billed as safer, more reliable, and easier to setup. No bells and whistles here. It has some of the improved security aspects of Vista, but only the most basic elements of the highly touted user interface (no transparency!).

Home N

Available only in the European market. The same as Home Basic, but without Windows Media Player and other media-related functionality to meet the requirements of an antitrust ruling.

Home Premium

Lots of added features in the Home Premium version. Premium is the lowest cost version that includes the new Aero user interface that includes transparency and the ‘Flip 3D’ navigation. It’s the better choice for laptops since it includes Windows Mobility Center and Tablet PC support. Other additions include Windows Meeting Space which is useful for collaborating and sharing documents, and Windows Media Center which deals with photos, audio and video, and helps bring your computer into the living room.

Business

Business has all the same additions as Premium accept for Windows Media Center. In addition, Business adds tools for backup, networking, and remote desktop. This includes protection against malicious software and warning of impending hardware failures.

Business N

Available only in the European market. The same as Business, but without Windows Media Player and other media-related functionality to meet the requirements of an antitrust ruling.

Enterprise

Enterprise is only available to Volume License customers who have Microsoft’s ‘Software Assurance’. Similar to the Business edition, Enterprise adds Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption to provide a higher level of data protection. It also includes tools to improve application compatibility with previous versions of Windows, and UNIX as well. Finally, it includes multi-language support which allows organizations to standardize on a single worldwide deployment image.

Ultimate

Intended for high-end users, gamers, and multimedia enthusiasts, Ultimate, as the name suggests, includes all the features found in the other versions. On top of all that, it also adds WinSAT which is a game performance tweaker, and Ultimate Extras, which is expected to be a collection of online services and customer service options.

Ultimate Signature

This is identical to Ultimate, but with Bill Gates signature. That’s right, for a little extra you can have your packaging signed by Bill Gates himself.