Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Limited Numbered Signature Edition (seriously)
By Ryan Block 
posted Jan 20th 2007 8:32PM
posted Jan 20th 2007 8:32PM
[Thanks, ZRX]
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would the world end if I installed this on my MacBook Pro?
well Bill Gates owns 40 percent of Apple shares... :S
By installing it on a Mac, you may bring about a paradox that destroys the known universe. Go ahead, give it a shot.
Oh yeah... like this is going to be worth something more than it's initial price in the future.
ill stick with vista transform pack. its free and looks just like it...
Wow...so what your really getting is a limited edition plastic case!
There's nothing different about the software.
Just goes to prove how scummy M$ is.
totally agree, this is why I'm waiting for the "alt.binaries" version - muhahaha! Last time I gave M$ any money was for the DOS 5.1 upgrade, felt ripped ever since.
Yeah, I have a hard time believing Bill Gates sat there signing 20,000 Vista boxes. Seems cool though, and as you say, at least they don't seem to be pricing this ridiculously compared to the plain Vista Ultimate upgrade.
Hey, now we know why Vista was delayed all these years. ;)
in 40 years, it will probably worth a lot on ebay. Or Google/Microsoft/Yahoo Live Virtual Auction, or something. Whatever's big in 40 years.
Yeah, in 40 years- Micro$hit will have bought eBay, and turned it into (you guessed it) Windows Live Auction.
It's going to be complete crap, I can tell you now. But a few of us underground pirate types will keep the eBay hamsters rolling underground- for the chosen few that know the IP; eBay will live on.
;)
Chris
so if i was browsing ebay in 40 years i would get a bsod via IE 20?
Windows Live Auction sounds a hell of a lot better than the Apple verson iAution
And maybe MS wont screw all the sellers on Ebay when that happens...they at least try to keep their customers happy.
why the heck would i want to list something on an underground auction site that only a few social retards even know the ip address to?
If your going to sell something you would use ebay or live auction or whatever the heck most popular auction site is avalible.
Besides what makes you think the ebay/paypal monopoly is not just as evil as M$ monopoly.
when you and your underground cronies hatch the next utube or whatever you will be just as evil for being successfull. and if you had half the business skills as M$ you would hire the same evil lawers to keep the money rolling in.
So hows that photo contest coming? Eh? 3 months? Come on guys, just sit down, go through them and get it over with (or just give me the camera :-p)
>so if i was browsing ebay in 40 years i would get a bsod via IE 20?
In theory, yeah. Of course, you'd be using Firefox 53.2.1, still as big of a memory hog as ever- not like that stops anyone from using it.
Chris
uh no, in 40 years it will probably be IE 7.5 :)
Vista Ultimate Greasy Hair Edition: now with more cooties.
Firefox does not have a memory leak. It's a myth. Firefox v2 fixes the memory "leak" (where all pages are stored in memory), and for 1.5 users there's an easy configuration switch to hit.
Please, don't spread rumors.
I'll probably get one of these for free randomly. It just happens.
$249 for the UPGRADE. The retail version will cost you a bit more.
Way to go, Engadget. Totally leaving out important details, like this is only the UPGRADE edition... At least it's priced almost the same.
27.7 hours of nonstop signing if each signiture would be 5 seconds.
and it seems like it would take 5 seconds- it's pretty clear, and small. (not all over the place like marilyn manson's)
Now I can forge myself a nice billion dollar check!
...
Stop the hating people, M$ ain't so bad!
OMG OMG OMG OMG!
i'm gonna faint!!
I will hand over $259, o great one!
Billy G, i worship you
you know what's gonna be big in 40years? bittorrent with the capability to send boxes over the net.. I'll definetely have one of these limited edition things when that happens.. untill then, I'm happy with plain old bittorrent. :D
Of course this is only signature v.1.0. It will cost you more when the signature itself is upgraded...or you can subscribe to the subscription upgrade for only $20 per year...provided you have the Genuine Windows Signature Recognition software installed on your plastic case.
I have Bill's *real* autograph on a Microsoft Mouse 2.0 (the old Dove Bar mouse, circa 1994)... won it in a raffle when I used to work at Microsoft. The mouse has lived since then in a Ziploc bag, waiting for the right day when I will either sell the thing or get it encased in Lucite or something.
=========================================================
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Just pre-ordered my copy from Amazon.com
IM NOT KIDDING. $259.00 and included free shipping. Now I'll I gotta do is wait til the 31st and I'll be set with a non-illegal RTM copy of Vista Ultimate, "signed" by Bill Gates!
Hey, the only thing I will ever buy for my computer is a new OS. I'll be honest with you guys. After all the pirating, I mean I've gotta give my money to something.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
=============================================================
First submit ! ;-)
"Yeah, in 40 years- Micro$hit will have bought eBay, and turned it into (you guessed it) Windows Live Auction.
It's going to be complete crap, I can tell you now. But a few of us underground pirate types will keep the eBay hamsters rolling underground- for the chosen few that know the IP; eBay will live on.
;)
Chris"
Geez, what the hell people?
You act like Apple is like God's gift to man-kind and Microsoft is the spawn of satin.
Seriously, it's all business. Apple will take the chance to get as much money out of a product as they could. As would Microsoft. As would Google. As would every other freakin' company on the planet.
So, next time you speak out against Microsoft, for something they didn't even do, I want you to write a huge letter to Steve Jobs about how you wish you could meet him, and how you fought against "the great evil" and then he can use that letter to wipe his ass instead of the hundred dollar bills he normally uses.
That goes for you Microsoft fanboys, too. Just enjoy a product instead of going to a website to tell about how much you hate a company.
you sir are my hero.
Ah good ole Microsoft, now using ideas from Baseball cards.
LoL @ andy.
Is there any difference from the plain "ULTIMATE" (INTENSE!) version other than the number and the name on the box? Since it's the same price as the upgrade, I would assume there's really no difference. Really nothing too special about it.
Anyway, I'm sticking with windows XP unless I win a free copy ^_^ Even then I might just sell it.
PS: Can anyone explain to me the difference between upgrade and full? Does upgrade mean if you have to reformat, you have to install XP then upgrade to Vista again? =/ Never got what the difference is lol.
It just means you have to "own" a copy of Windows XP/2000 to install it. You can still boot from the DVD and install it to a clean partition, but it will ask you to put in your XP/2000 CD to check you "own" it.
All legitamate copies of Windows XP come with A Recovery CD, preinstalled or not. You'd find most laptops have an emergency recovery partition that enables you to reinstall Windows XP if everything goes wrong. if you were to leave this partition on the laptop before installing Vista, it would recognise it was there and continue with the install. nevertheless, There will still definatley be a CD with all legitimate editions. If you don't want to do that, then obviously there are places where you could "borrow" an image of the CD. As for the 2nd Question, there would be no problem using the same vista DVD media to upgrade all 3 editions, However, you would need to purchase 3 seperate licences to LEGALLY use all 3 operating systems, but, as with everything, there are always ways of getting it "free" from the internet.
Gary
Disclaimer: I do not indorse piracy in any shape, form or manner. I am simply providing relevant information to the question asked. This information should not be used for illegal purposes.
I'm going to start selling a copy of Ultimate that is signed by me, your Windows Vista beta tester. Any takers?
Sold.
And clayj, where do you live? *shifty eyes*
2Perfect: Charlotte.
$259...seems like a steal. I'm in. XP, even the Media Center 2005 is just so tired. And I don't really like the functionality of OSX. I've been using windows products for far too long to just switch. So the new Vista looks really good.
I'm waiting for the Steve Ballmer signature edition comes out. Written in his own sweat.
i work retail and it is actually 2500 not 20,000...pretty packaging though.
Look the picture man. It clearly says "00000 | 20000."
As in number zero of twenty thousand limited edition copies of Windows Vista Ultimate. I wonder what number mine will be.
gah, cant type, i meant 25000 accidently left off a zero. DOH
I'd prefer if it was a cheque with his signature on it.
The normal upgrade version sells on Amazon for $250, so $260 doesn't seem like that bad of a deal. $10 for a signature edition? I'd buy it if I wasn't getting the free business version.
Can you imagine what would happen if Steve Jobs sold autographed OSX boxes? Pandemonium on a global level.
Reminds me of a Commodore Amiga I had WAY back when. When you took the cover off the Amiga, etched in the plastic was the signatures of many of the architects of the Amiga.
Why do people pick on Bill Gates? While I understand that he has more money than all of us, last time I remember him he gives more money to third world countries than Steve Jobs ever could.
Please enlighten me.
The reason people pick on Bill Gates has nothing to do with the contributions he makes to charities. It has to do with the contributions his company makes to the industry, or lack thereof. The products Microsoft has put out recently aren't nearly as innovative or exciting as the products that are coming out of Apple. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Microsoft hater, I just think they have the potential to do better. But, for now, I'm an Apple fanboy, and I don't see Microsoft changing that for a long time.
Anyone else think the words 'Signature Edition' look like they are in the Apple Font? I mean could this box look anymore like an Apple wanna-be? Micro-Suck you Suck.
what's with that crap apple wanna-be? Now every piece of design is Apple based? LOL go get some information on that area before pulling stuff out of your ass.
Innovative my a$$. Re-invent the wheel quite literally by making the mp3 player prettier. Apple is all marketing and you pay big f'in time for it. im not an MS hater or an apple hater really ill go with whoever has the better product but MS has been improving and where it hasnt been its mostly because of the uphill battle to fight the people that spend their lives literally all day hunkered down at a computer trying to find ways to exploit the system. Then blaming it on microsoft for developing a crappy product as to avoid the personal shame that would otherwise come from having no life and devoted time to doing these things.
Again ill go with whoever has the better product and sorry but MS has the superior product currently if apple wants to really convert the businesses and such over to apple maybe they should devote their time to hiring development companies to develop business focused softwares to their OS instead of plastering white cases on all their electronic devices and prefixing them with i. Maybe that would get someone over to their side in the business world except for the people that wanna be different, the same people that claim their computers are awesome at the office cause they dont get viruses and stuff. Uggh shoot me.
Bill Gates can sign my weiner...
You say that you would go with whoever has the better product. But have you ever experienced an Apple product? It's so much more fulfilling. The box layout is clean and organized. The manuals are written in plain English (and Spanish). Before you rant anymore about Apple, try setting up a Zune, then try setting up the iPod. I have read horror stories about Zune's setup. All I had to do to set up my iPod was plug it in. That's it. This may seem like a trivial point, but it shows where Apple's priority is--customer experience. When I get a new printer, all I have to do is plug it in. No drivers to install, no software to configure, nothing. When I plug in my digital camera, the right application launches, and automatically imports my pictures, then deletes them from my camera. When I put in a music CD, iTunes imports it, then automatically ejects the CD. This is what people like about Macs. It's not that they are pretty (but it's not a bad thing). It's that they "just work" (excuse the cliché) the way they want it to with all the convienence that makes using a Mac useful. Take for instance OS X's address book. It has a feature that allows you to blow up a phone number so you can see it and dial from accross the room. Also, you make it sound like you enjoy being exposed to 114,000 viruses. You may find that exciting, but normal people don't like the threat of rendering their computer useless. I will say that there aren't any viruses for Macs because they only have ~5% market share and there's no point in writing them, but my point is still valid. In my experience, people who don't like Macs are the people that haven't had a chance to work with one.
I'm sure a lot of Apple lemmings would have an orgasmic experience if Apple offered OS box with Stevie's embossed signature box.
OMG.! Once I pick myself up off the floor from laughing hysterically at how low Microsoft has stuped to try to offload their lackluster "upgrade", I will go to bed content that I've had all those "amazing new features" for two years now... and without ponying up extra for Steven Job's John Henry.. thank you very much.. LOL! This is the best joke of the day... :P
well I have a macbook with OSX10 which is er...so-so compare with xp on stability side. apple is so pround of that their system has no virus or much less virus than windows. face it, that's becuase mac dosen't own that much market shares like windows-pc. well with their mac selling, they will get virus as they wish.
ok, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates...Jobs' like a IT artiest, Bill is a business genius, Microsoft copies everything others created, and made, making it much better...then finally muscle you out of YOUR market. that's microsoft
by the way, those apple-lovers, u guys realize how expensive those little white toys are!!
Hell yeah I'm an Apple lemming, fanboy, enthusiast and I would buy a copy of Leopard with Steve Jobs signature on it. You know why ?
Because Steve Jobs signature has more personality in it than Bill gates has in his entire persona.
Gates has no crowd appeal, no charisma he lacks the ability to incite devotion on any level. He has no more appeal to his end users than that guy who runs Dell or whoever it is that runs HP etc. These people are dull.
You may as well offer a boxed copy of vista signed by Senior Accounting executive number 42 on level 3 of building 2 in the MS campus. You may even find that it sells better purely for the novelty factor.
Can we please stop the "Yeah, well my billionaire can beat up your billionaire" crap - it's getting a little old.
RAINYGRASS...seriously, you don't know what you're talking about. 'Oh yeah I have a Macbook' then you talk about 'how expensive those little white toys are.' So you're lying about having one? You don't make sense. You know what...keep on using Windows, you seem like a Windows user.
AND sorry, Apple DID innovate with the iPod by making a revolutionary controller...the CLICK WHEEL. How do people not see stuff as obvious as that?
Did Microsoft hire away some of Apple's graphic designers for the packaging of this, or just the usual stealing of ideas?
I have to say, I used to HATE Apple with a fiery passion. I was in elementary school and every time I we went to the computer room it was always who was going to get stuck on the Mac's. They were big, gray, boxy and ugly. The operating system at that time which was like 7 or 8, sucked and it was a hassle to do anything on it.
Fast forward to 10 years and you have a company who thanks to Microsoft has had to work their tail off to get where they are right now- and isnt that far. But the difference is that they are now making products that are not just beautiful, but also simple when you need them to be, and complex when you need them to be.
They were forced to sit down and think about everything a user wants and needs on a computer. That's the difference and that's why I have switched over.
Also, as much as some will probably disagree with me, it's better for Apple and it's users if Microsoft keeps it's share of the market. That may seem weird, but as long as Apple is the underdog and as long as they are still striving to get some of the market share, they continue to put 110% into their products. I know that if Apple was at the top they wouldn't be making as great of products because they wouldn't be forced to. That said, I don't think Microsoft would be able to compete with Apple if they had only 5% of the market share because Bill Gates could in no way invoke the intense following Jobs' has.
Decimal? I'd like to see a limited edition of 0xFFFF instead.
"guilt+1: Because Steve Jobs signature has more personality in it than Bill gates has in his entire persona.
Gates has no crowd appeal, no charisma he lacks the ability to incite devotion on any level. He has no more appeal to his end users than that guy who runs Dell or whoever it is that runs HP etc. These people are dull."
Let me see Bill makes billions on his products and give billions to charities.
Steve makes billions on his product and...and...keeps the money.
But of course Apple lemmings still appeal to Steve with his crowd appeal. You know an important trait of used car salesman is to have crowd appeal.
This windows vista version galore is getting out of hand. Seriously MS, stop it.
guilt+1: "Hell yeah I'm an Apple lemming, fanboy, enthusiast and I would buy a copy of Leopard with Steve Jobs signature on it. You know why ?
Because Steve Jobs signature has more personality in it than Bill gates has in his entire persona."
Okay...
You're still pretty stupid, though.
I'll get one,
Love BG!!
Does anyone know if I go to Microsfot HQ He can sign my Lifebook??
What the hell? How did this turn into a bill gates vs. steve jobs war?
The point is, charging more money for a signature edition that is *NO* different than any other edition is retarted, no matter who does it, fake signatures aside. Like the black tax on the black macbook, like plugra gold label butter costing $2 more than the generic red label, even though it's identical. (That has to be the worst anology ever).
So both sides of the jobs/gates war, stfu and go back to reading reddit.
This is old news. This has been available on Amazon.com for awhile now. Why post this now?
What if I don't have a CD? (i.e. it came pre-installed for my PC) Would that mean I have to buy a full version?
Also if I have 3 computers with legitimate copies of Windows XP home, would I have to buy 3 copies of the upgrade, or would 1 be enough to upgrade all 3? (i.e. 3 computers that came with pre-installed WinXP Home)
And are there differences in functionality? I'll probably wait until I get a new laptop for university anyway, but I'm just curious.
TO SAM:
dude, open your mind...why couldn't someone own a macbook and complain it's kind of over priced.
i have a macbook for work, a desktop with windows xp (vista beta right now), and a old toshiba tablet.
I love the apple's design on my Macbook, but the software...from my opinion, there're still a lot of work to do on their UI.
Hey here's am idea
http://shipit.kubuntu.org
go there, order a FREE live cd and get it posted to you. A completely free OS, with a truckload less bugs than "Micro$hit Windoze". I use it all the time and I'm glad i made the change.
But seriously, how can they charge you USD$259 for an operating system with more errors than a free one?
icepop4who: wake up and smell the rip-off.
i guess we need to have a little time to review our situation.
without microsoft windows , which operation system shall we use on current pc (or even so called next generation) - linux? i use it sometimes for work, otherwise it kills me (i'm a lazy guy).
OSX - i don't know if apple want to share it (or dare to share it on average computer, if they do, u will soon understand what kind of hardware requirement it takes, and how many crash it will come out instead our bluescreen friend)
very clear, microsoft will still have the market control in many many years(that's sad). technically and statistically speaking, Bill Gates could make the market price at any point he want.(he could sell it at $1000, you still use windows, see my next point).
The Current Microsoft equilibrium price is probably set on "when the price over $200~300, most of customers will turn to use illeagal copys" not "when the price gose to high, most of customers will go use OSX or Linux"
face the reality (at least still in a long time period) most of computer will still run MS windows no matter how offen that bluescreen comes out or hardware conflict occurs. it's still Microsoft till one day there is sth new. (google? apple? or.......i don't know, but i will be glad to see the real competition)
Yes, I think I'll buy one, Just for the SEXUAL THRILL, THE SEXUAL THRILL to be among the 20000 in the WHOLE BROTHER PUCKING world to own a piece of Windows history! YES! I can almost feel the orgasm coming on.
I want a version signed by Mr Jobs.
Im so proud of it, I put my name on it... duuuuh.... dribble
What information am I missing? Look around Apple is cool and microsoft isn't and doesn't know how to be. They can't even properly be like Apple, they even suck at that. I could design a better Vista-Apple-Wanna-Be box then that.
his signature is as real as the one on my mcse certs...
seriously.. in australia the first 500 copies of ultimate are the ones in this article for no extra cost.. and Gerry Harvey even inks it too. (harvey norman ceo.. think best buy)
Honestly, if Steve Jobs was signing iPods, they'd be going for thousands on eBay.
I think it's really cool that Microsoft is doing something like this. If you don't want it, good for you. But some people like that sort of stuff. Let them spend their money.
http://www.abartiateam.com/servidorlinux.html
Talk about Microsoft all you want, but I'd bet that all 20,000 copies of this crap sell out within a day of them being released.
I must say after seeing the amount of comments on the post, there is obviously a market for this product. You cant fault MS for spotting a demand and suppling it, thats simply bizness man.
hahahaha, looks like someone took his dummy away
Still waiting for my P!nk or Beyonce-branded Vista.
Bill, are you listening?
This is out of control! Anyone who buys this is insane. I'm switching to linux completely when they start pushing vista.
A couple things about this version: Its not a real signature, just an embossed copy. Same price as Vista Ultimate upgrade is going to be, just that the intial shipment to retailers is this edition. All thats different is a different paper sleeve on the case and the limited edition numbering.
Microsoft sucks because they are monopolistic bastards, blah, blah ,blah.
It seems that it is possible to load Windows onto any computer (Dell, Sony, Lenovo, HP, Apple, DIY, etc) but Apple OS can only work on an Apple computer. Which is more monopolistic?
Sad, sad marketing ploy. I thought this was software, not a sports collectible. I guess they got us commenting though.
-Ken
http://www.somelifeblog.com
first of all thanks for answering my questions, but here comes another.
Is the CD only applicable to desktops? I have 1 desktop and 2 laptops. They all have the recovery part (they're all HP) but only the desktop came with loads of CDs, including the Windows XP home. The laptops didn't. They only came with the CD for the free trial of Microsoft Office/Works/Money, and the newest one came with a lightscribe disk.
Am I missing the disk or is this normal? Or can I use the desktop disk? Or is the recovery partition enough to serve as a disk?
limited edition microsoft ass. they should spend more time to produce a more stable OS.
(PS: the truth is they spend a lot of time "developing" OS n always delay schedule. yet still produce a fucking lousy OS.)
I've used Windows XP since its release and it has proved time and time again to be a very dependable and stable OS.
WOW, from a long line of bad ideas, Microsoft one-ups itself. This is pure greed and ridiculous. If they were donating all the money raised to a charity, I could support this, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I would like to meet the idiot that buys this piece of crap.
I think I can convince Linus Tovards to sign my copy of Fedora Core for free.
heheee Firefox memory hog...ya no kidding, and everyone still keeps praising it...and still bashes Microsoft no matter what. "Microsoft Cures Cancer" - people still be hating on em, saying ya, but why didnt they do it sooner, and they stole that cure from us, and waaaaahh wahhh whine whine...
What does he think Vista is? World of Warcraft?
Does this at least come with some special "in-os" office helper, be kinda cool if it was a netherwhelp lol.
Probably an autopen; it's a machine for signing multiple things at once through moving many pens.
if anyone actually buys this, they need a columbian necktie as thier free gift.
WHAT!!! are they "nuck in futs", Thanks, but I will keep my XP till it falls apart. I'm not paying uncle Bill just to see his name on the box. Besides, he wants way to much $$$$$ for the upgrade.