Windows XP came out in 2001. I wonder when was the last time that they got new computers.

Ultimate has everything in it, so when you're going to be runing an OS at a support center you'll run Ultimate so you can cover everything.

Enterprise doesn't have media center and other things that are in Home Premium and vice versa.  So it makes sence really.  And I agree with mtg, I made a new PC when XP was released in 2001, and I'm still using it now, but it can probably run vista, though slow, since my cpus are old and can't be upgraded higher, the mobo can't support AGP 8x, let alone PCIe,  it's just time to upgrade everything.

mtg, I believe they get new computers every 2 years. Atleast that's so in Holland.

dolphincomp, probably customised Dells.

I'm running Vista on three very different computers. One is an old (4 years old) IBM ThinkPad with 768 MB RAM, one is a former server computer(custom built for myself, mostly intel parts) and one is a fairly new and game-oriented PC. Vista runs as well as XP on all of them.

I wouldn't mind being able to do as MS have - buy a new PC.

Honestly, I expected more from Bink.nu than this.  Typical business hardware refresh cycles average at 3 years.  The editors should know this and not be surprised when any company does a HW refresh cycle and not try and spin it.

The minimum specs are 800MHz CPU with 512MB Ram (HDD space has been a non-factor the last 5 years) and the recommended specs are 1.5GHz with 1GB Ram and a DX9 video card with 128MB memory.  I run Vista Ultimate on everything from an IBM x41 1.5GHz 512MB Ram to the latest and greatest.  I also have Enterprise running on a 3 year old Toshiba M2.

You do not need a new PC to run Vista, at most with any PC bought in the last 1-2 years you might need to boost memory and if you want the cool UI effects a new video card as well depending on what you bought and what you require now.  Most every business (including Microsoft) will not upgrade hardware, they will replace it when the refresh cycle comes. 

You could say that, when people "require" new hardware for Vista it's not really the OS that does but the user who needs it.

What I mean by this is, sure Vista runs on the min specs (1.5GHz, 512MB RAM), but not everyone can get a good experience with those specs.   Case in point, any one who runs lots of apps and is always multitasking.  The more apps you run the more RAM you need for it to all run smooth.  This person might need 1GB or 2GB to get it to feel right, this would be the same with XP though, and people just take the new memory managment that Vista does to extremes.

The 2nd part are people who don't multitask alot but run memory and cpu intensive apps, like photoshop, 3DS Max, and CAD apps, any video/audio editing/encoding apps, these are all more CPU intensive than RAM hungry but a few are both and work better with 2GB and as fast of a CPU as you can give them.

Last will be gamers, depending on the games you play you might need 2GB, or you could be ok with 1GB-1.5GB but would need a faster CPU and a newer video card.  Again this all depends on the game and how you want it to play/run.

So again, not everyone "requires" the newest and greatest hardware for Vista.   It all depends on individual user needs and what they require.

I run Vista Ultimate (RTM) in a Dell Optiplex 150GX, wihch is a Pentium 3 running at 900 Mhz with 512 MBytes of RAM and The OS runs perfectly, smooth and fast, no Aero that's true, but this P3 is a dual boot Windows XP/Vista Ultimate and I Can assure you that for me it works as fast or even faster than the XP installation.

Also i have to say that i dont need powerful graphics.... Office Applications and IT Administration tools its my daily work.

Even without Aero the Vista Look and Feel experience ina P3 is awesome.

PS: In no way MS is buying new hardware to install Vista, I know they are installing it since last year in whaetever hardware they have. Other thing is that the aussies are keeping their current systems untouched and waited for new machines to install Vista.

I would do too, i would not spend a day without my laptop waiting for new OS and corp tools to be installed, I prefer to have my current machine up and running to be able to work and get a new machine to have the new os running without stopping my work.