Academic Vista Home Premium Queries

[Dylanj123]

Is Vista Academic Home Premium an upgrade or a fresh start?
I'm currently running XP Home on both our computers and was thinking of getting the Academic version for the desktop its only AU$169. I mean thats AU$110 off the Home Premium Upgrade and AU$439 Home Premium Retail.
Does this have all the features of the Retail Vista Home Premium?
Also if it is a fresh start and not an upgrade would it be worth keeping XP on my computer and dual booting Home Premium and XP Home? Or would this be messy?
Thanks

 

[PC eye]

Vista academic is not a separate version but a student reduction of the Vista Premium home version. A good description of this while being for the US is seen at http://www.academicsuperstore.com/market/marketdisp.html?PartNo=784207 The version seen at the link is for the upgrade not full version.

You want the full version even OEM to save money as well as being able to install Windows on a bare drive. To get familiar with a new OS or simply run two different versions you can choose to split a simgle drive or add a second one in. Note that when installing a newer version of Windows along with one of the older versions the newest goes on afterwards since that is intended to upgrade the older.

When dual OSing on one drive the second version takes charge and includes the earlier version as an option when first booting. It adds the older version into it's boot loader. This is also seen when running two hard drives. To avoid any changes made to the first OS's master boot record and files added there you would first disconnect the primary and set the second temporarily as mester for the installation of the newer version. This allows a dual boot without any permanents changes to the older Windows.