Windows Vista is One of the largest software projects ever undertaken, Vista is undoubtedly a milestone—despite Microsoft's having abandoned many of its most ambitious goals for the OS and not just for Microsoft but for the entire PC industry.

Vista is not without its beliefs. PC makers say it will require more processing power, graphics capabilities, and memory than is typical of today's mainstream machines. Software vendors complain that Vista's security features are, in fact, locking them out. Users may wonder if it offers enough that's truly new to be worth the bother—particularly given that a number of Vista features and bundled applications are also available for Windows XP.

The Vista Promise
Microsoft calls Vista "a breakthrough computing experience." That's marketing exaggeration, for sure, but it's not entirely unfounded. The new OS is far more than Windows XP with a pretty new face. Many aspects of Vista are substantive improvements: stronger security, better built-in apps, networking enhancements, parental controls, and DirectX 10 graphics support.


Vista's real competitor, although, is Windows XP. For many users, XP is good enough. And for all the advances in Vista, it's hard to avoid seeing the things that aren't as good as they could have been.



If you're buying a new consumer PC, it probably makes sense to get Vista. Soon, there won't be much of a choice, according to Microsoft's support life cycle, retail PC buyers will have only a year after Vista's release to buy Windows XP. Retail PC buyers will have Windows xp only a year after Vista is released.

If you've already got a running PC Windows XP, it's harder to see a reason to upgrade right now. You can wait until you replace your OS, or at least a few months, until Vista is worked out. (If you're curious to see how well your existing machine will support Vista, try Microsoft's Vista Upgrade advisor, available at www.windowsvista.com/upgradeadvisor). In the meantime, you can download some of the new software included in Vista, such as Internet Explorer 7, Windows Media Player 11, and a desktop search utility, to enjoy some of the same capabilities you'd get in Vista itself.

For business customers, it makes sense to start evaluating Vista now, particularly since improved deployment, management, and security could lead to significant cost reductions in the long term. But you'll want to be confident about compatibility and support before you make the transition all together.