What is a custom installation of Windows Vista?

Answer 1

A custom installation is any installation that modifies the default settings of the Operating System (OS) as specified by the OS publisher/developer.

These modifications are usually made by an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) who is including the Windows OS on a computer system of their design/manufacture. In some cases, the OEM can also contract with "Third-Party" software publishers/developers to include additional software on the OEM computer system, which can be optionally chosen by the user/purchaser on first log-on, or preselected by the OEM when the computer system is built.

In the case of the Windows Vista OS, as created by Microsoft Corp., a custom installation can include the following changes (and more not detailed here):

• modification of default system settings (such as language/keyboard settings; desktop screen resolution; desktop wallpaper; screensaver; etc).
• inclusion of hardware-specific driver software that was not included in the base Windows Vista OS.
• inclusion and/or selection of alternative web-browsing, media tools, or system tools as default software (Safari or Chrome instead of internet Explorer; Real Player or iTunes instead of Windows Media Player; etc)