Microsoft has finally announced the Product Editions for Windows Vista after a lengthy period of confusion and speculation.

Mike Sievert, Corporate Vice President of Windows Product Management and Marketing at Microsoft, said: “We live in a digital world that is filled with more information, more things to do and more ways to communicate with others than ever. The PC needs to give people the clarity and confidence to handle this ‘world of more’ so they can focus on what’s most important to them. With our Windows Vista product line, we’ve streamlined and tailored our product lineup to provide what our customers want for today’s computing needs.”

The official media release gives up the following information:

Business customers can choose from two versions that are designed to meet their needs, based on the size and scale of their organizations:

• Windows Vista Business. Windows Vista Business is the operating system designed for organizations of all sizes. For small businesses, Windows Vista Business will help keep PCs running smoothly and more securely so they are less reliant on dedicated IT support. For larger organizations, Windows Vista Business will provide dramatic new infrastructure improvements that will enable IT staff to spend less time focused on day-to-day maintenance of PCs and more time on adding strategic value to the organization. These are some of the specific features of Windows Vista Business:

• A new user interface, named Windows Aero, is designed to deliver the most productive, highest-performing desktop experience possible. Windows Aero will provide a professional-looking, transparent glass design, with subtle effects such as dynamic reflections and smooth animations, along with Windows Flip and Flip 3D desktop navigation features.

• In addition to these navigation improvements, Windows Vista Business makes it easier than ever to manage huge volumes of business documents. By integrating search throughout the operating system and providing new ways to organize files, Windows Vista Business helps business users quickly find exactly what they are looking for.

• Windows Tablet PC technology provides built-in handwriting recognition and enables interaction with the PC with a digital pen or fingertip instead of a keyboard.

• Windows Vista Enterprise. To better address the needs of large global organizations and those with highly complex IT infrastructures, Windows Vista Enterprise is designed to significantly lower IT costs and risk. In addition to all the features available in Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise is designed to provide higher levels of data protection using hardware-based encryption technology. It will also include tools to improve application compatibility and will enable organizations to standardize on a single worldwide deployment image with the inclusion of all Windows user-interface languages. Windows Vista Enterprise will be available only to customers who have PCs covered by Microsoft Software Assurance or a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement. These are some of the specific Windows Vista Enterprise features:

• Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption helps prevent sensitive data and intellectual property from falling into the wrong hands if a computer is lost or stolen.

• Virtual PC Express is one of several built-in tools that improve application compatibility with previous versions of Microsoft operating systems. Virtual PC Express enables a legacy application to run unchanged on a legacy Windows operating system in a virtual environment on top of Windows Vista Enterprise.

• Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications enables users to run UNIX applications unchanged on a Windows Vista Enterprise-based PC.

The new user interface Windows Aero is also available in this edition of Windows Vista.

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PC Mag has an interesting “illustrated walkthrough of Vista build 5308″, which was released yesterday as February’s Community Technology Preview (CTP).

This CTP, which is part of Beta 2, has been branded an “enterprise” release by Microsoft, which promises a “broader, end-user preview” during the next quarter.

The Register proclaims: “However, and here’s where Microsoft’s marketing kicks in, the enterprise CTP contains all the features that will target consumers.”

Microsoft’s general manager for Windows Client Product Management, Brad Goldberg, said: “The impression was created that Windows Vista was a consumer release. Windows Vista is as much, if not more, a business release.”

Having one’s cake and eating it must be an enjoyable experience.

PC Mag comments:

This release of Vista is “feature-complete”, the company says, meaning that all of the fundamental capabilities that Vista will eventually offer are now baked in. Development efforts aren’t slowing — the user experience will continue to evolve, bugs will get fixed, performance and compatibility will improve — but the basic shape of the operating system has been solidified, and from here on out we expect to see mostly fine-tuning rather than wholesale changes.

A new Welcome Center makes common setup tasks, like installing peripherals and transferring files/settings from another PC, much less stressful.

If the mouth sounds confused, the mind is too. Who said that? I did — my adage for the day. Dealing with Microsoft makes one seek solace in literary forms like bon mots.

In the last few days Microsoft put up a number of pages describing the product editions of Windows Vista. Then they took them down, mumbling something about the Help pages. Or maybe they were just calling for help. Anyway, nothing’s firm on this, it seems.

However, Paul Thurrott has put together the best information available on the Windows Vista Product Editions, and here it is thanks to Paul and his efforts:

Windows Starter 2007 (Previously Windows Vista Starter Edition). This version does not use the Vista branding because it will not include the Aero graphics display found in the Vista line of products, and will only ship in a 32-bit version.

Windows Vista Home Basic (and Home Basic N). A simple version of Windows Vista that is aimed at single PC homes. Windows Vista Home Basic is the baseline version of Windows Vista, and the version that all other product editions will build from. Home Basic N is aimed at the EU and will lack Windows Media Player.

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According to The Register, “Office 2007 — formerly Office 12 — will be out by the end of this year and will come in several flavours”. So the 2007 imprint is set in stone now.

The editions of the Microsoft productivity suite will be:

1. The new Standard and Professional editions will be priced at $399 and $499 respectively.

2. The Professional Plus edition will offer “information management and teamwork solutions”. This will principally be delivered through addition of SharePoint Server 2007, and Office’s own instant messaging program Communicator.

3. Enterprise 2007 will further build on this with more for mobile and collaborative business, incorporating Groove software, which Microsoft acquired last year.

4. The $149 home edition will be called Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, and will no longer contain Outlook.

A second beta release of Office 2007 will be available before July.