Computer Mfg. says Microsoft Vista Home Basic sucks

Microsoft is effectively smuggling through a price hike for Windows Vista - by making the entry-level version so poor that no-one will want to use it. So says Jim Wong, senior veep at Acer, the world's number four PC maker, who told UK hack Jon Honeyball: "The new [Vista] experience you hear of, if you get Basic, you won't feel it at all. There's no [Aero] graphics, no Media Center, no remote control."

Wong notes that the Premium Version of Vista is 10 per cent more expensive than XP Home. This will increase PC build costs by 1-2 per cent, which the PC makers will have to soak up, he says.