You're going to need to settle on wood or vinyl, then seek the best product for your budget.

An aluminum clad exterior wood window is most common today. A vinyl clad is simply a cheap cladding and will not perform as well.

Use Health Smart Windows with SuperSpacer to prevent mold/mildew damage on the interiors. Of course, you must be in charge of the indoor humidity during winter months.

Painted windows, when done properly, can last for many years. A high quality primer like #563 Painter's Primer will seal the wood and will not raise the grain as much as regular primer. A light sanding will still be required after the primer coat. Then, two finish coats with a true Waterborne enamel like Muralo Satin Flow will provide many years of protection and beauty.

True Divided Lites are a nice, but expensive feature if you're working on a budget. Also, if you like clean windows, you may get a bit frustrated when cleaning true divided lites. Try it out before you buy it!

For window performance info, check out the link below.

Michael

Here is a link that might be useful: Making a choice

Thanks for the input. A couple of additional novice questions...

I assume vinyl windows are vinyl in and out, and the same color in and out. So you can't have white inside and brown or taupe outside. Correct? Same situation with those that are fiberglass in and out?

Is the only way to get white inside and a different color outside to go with clad wood? Most likely we'll be doing our outside trim in a non-white color, but want white inside to go with painted white trim.

I think I've seen something on Anderson or Pella's site about pre-finished white interiors for wood windows. Anyone know anything about that?

Thanks again!

The fiberglass windows I mentioned are wood on the interior. You could paint them any color you want, or you can get a pre-finished white, still wood, just finished in white.

ranchreno,

I'm not sure what you're price range is, but we just purchased some full replacement windows from Pella. We have a historic home, so we wanted the historic look without the exterior painting hassel. The windows are aluminum clad on the outside and wood on the inside, with wonderful removable wood grills on the inside for easy cleaning. We were even able to get the traditional spoon hardware in oil-rubbed bronze, so it matches the windows that are not being replaced. They are also available in 1/4 inch size increments, which was important in our house, for obvious reasons. We purchased through Lowe's and are doing the installation ourselves, though Lowe's does offer installation. We went with the 850 series, which comes in a bunch of exterior colors, and unpainted or white primed interior. The windows are double-paned, LoE, argon gas between the glass, etc. Even though the exteriors are aluminum clad, they do not look cheap - they will look great on our historic house. We did alot of shopping in our area, and these had all the features and looked the best. They also have the really nice (though rather pricey) Vivid View insect screens, which are practically invisible.

The link is to the Pella Architect series windows, which are called the 850 series at Lowe's. Hope it helps!

Here is a link that might be useful: Pella Windows

Depending on the budget, most manufacturers offer a prefinished white interior. I have used Andersen's Woodwright double hung with divided lights and the prefinished white interior and have had excellent results. The interior finish is very durable, almost vinyl-like. Andersen offers this finish on their entire product line, including the 200 Series budget line. The 200 Series does not offer the divided lights, though. Only between the glass and snap in wood grilles.
As for advantages: the wood units, even with the prefinished interior, can be painted easily if you ever want to change colors. Vinyl doesn't paint well, or easily. Also, the wood units will outlast any hollow vinyl product. Composites, like fiberglass, are starting to gain a lot of momentum.
Check into several options, and get multiple offers. Do it right this time, so you're not doing it again in a couple of years.