All good and valid points--the same ones I made here the week Vista was
released and users started screaming about the fact that fax had been moved
to Business and Ultimate and removed from Home.
I got flamed to ashes. Amidst the flames, I did see another side to this. In
many ways, Microsoft's marketers really did blow it on this one. They
exhibited very little understanding of this fax product and its user base.
Specifically:
1. The Microsoft Fax module has always been a very limited fax product with
few features and less than stellar reliability. It has sufficed reasonably
well for the home user who only needs to send an occasional fax and is
willing to put up with its idiosyncrasies. Vista's version has some nice new
features and is somewhat more reliable, but it has hardly reached the level
where I would consider it robust enough for business use where fax merges
and sending to multiple recipients are the norm. Moving it from Home to
Business just made no sense. They moved it away from the users who need it
to the ones who couldn't care less about it.
2. I am a firm subscriber to the caveat emptor principle. But when I tried
to see how well or how clearly documented the fact that Home had no fax and
only Business did, it was disturbingly obscure. I did finally find it in the
fine print, but only because I was expressly looking for it. Sadly, most
users do not research their OS "upgrades" nearly as carefully as they
should. Microsoft has done a very good job of creating a culture in which
casual users just expect that their next OS will not only have all the
features of their current one, but also lots of new features and lots of new
eye candy. It never occurs to them that any feature might suddenly go
missing.

This is, of course, a rhetorical discussion. Nothing will change as a
result. The most we can achieve is to hope that users learn some valuable
lessons and become more circumspect in their rush to upgrade to the latest
OS. Dig beneath the marketing before making that decision. Most will
probably still want the new toy in the end, but at least they'll know what
they're getting--and what they're not.

I would buy your explanation EXCEPT that when in all other versions of
Windows were you blocked from faxing?

Hint:  NEVER!

I went to HP to try and download appropriate drivers.  HP says," Vista
already contains needed drivers."  I've hated Vista for a long time.  XP
remains infinately superior mainly due to the lack of bait-and-switch as
opposed to it being the reason for Vista's existance.

Vista's other maddening defense is that unless you drop a bundle not only
will not let you replace it, it won't even let you erase it.

I had recently purchased a new computer and I thought 'Soft may have
corrected this crap.  Especially when it first came out I thought that they
just came out a couple of years to early with it with it and just didn't get
the bugs out.  Oddly enough I was able to fax with it.  Imagine my surprise
when I found out that I sucks more now!!

As far as needing a more elaborate version, I don't recall that faxing was
just a use of business?

You are just a little arrogant.

Yes, but if you have a home office then you're using the computer for
BUSINESS
and so shouldn't be using the home versions of Vista anyway.  I don't know
of any
individuals who use FAX for personal use. (I'm sure there are some but I
don't
know them).  In any case, many people ASSUMED that since FAX was available
in previous home versions that it would be in Vista home versions as well.
People
who have need of a particular feature should research the capabilities of
any
upgrades under consideration.  A quick look at the MS Website would have
told
them that there's no FAX in home versions.

Tom Lake