Well...I recently helped one customer move from an older Windows XP laptop to a new Windows Vista laptop.  So far so good.  It did not have Windows Vista SP1 when he bought it from the store and Windows Update would not present him with the option to install SP1 because he had some .NET Framework security updates that failed to install.  Come to find out, his laptop had all the correct .NET Framework versions so we downloaded the larger version of SP1 from Microsoft and installed it ourselves.  It really seemed to make a difference in the performance of the laptop. He had one problem with a "no-name" USB hard drive but that was about it. 

 

I also went ahead and recommended Vista SP1 for a customer who was still using Windows ME!   I figured if she had to learn something new, she might as well learn Vista instead of XP.  Either way, she will be MUCH happier than she has been with Windows ME!

 

So...I still issue the Vista warnings regarding older hardware and the non-SP1 version of Vista.  But if you have mostly newer printers, scanners, monitors, video cards, and external hard drives, you may be fine with Vista. Just make sure you get plenty of RAM.

 

 

-- Jeff

From what I’m hearing from my customers, I’m recommending that people stick with Windows XP as long as they can.  If you do decide to upgrade or get a new PC with Vista, please remember the following guidelines:

·         You need 1 gigabyte of RAM for normal everyday use; for multimedia applications and heavy use, you should go ahead and get 2 gigabytes.

·         If you are upgrading an existing PC, check with your video card manufacturer, your printer manufacturer, and any software you run to make sure it is compatible with Windows Vista. This seems to be where most of the heartache and wasted time comes from.

·         If you can wait until Service Pack 1 is released, you will be better off since most of the kinks will be worked out already.

 

Comparison
	Primary Use	PC Speed / Memory	Special Features	Cost
Windows Vista Ultimate	Power User  Multimedia  Gaming	Minimum 1 GHZ CPU, 1 GB Memory		$399 full $259 upgrade
Windows Vista Business	Business	Minimum 1 GHZ CPU, 1 GB Memory		$259 full $199 upgrade
Windows Vista Home Premium	Family / Gaming	Minimum 1 GHZ CPU, 1 GB Memory		$218 full  $149 upgrade
Windows Vista Basic	Family / General Home Use	Minimum 1 GHZ CPU, 512 MB Memory		$199 full $99 upgrade
Windows XP Professional	Business	Minimum 400 MHZ CPU, 256 MB Memory		$270 full $99 upgrade
Windows XP - Media Center Edition	Home / Multimedia	Minimum 1 GHZ CPU, 512 MB Memory		Only comes with a system.
Windows XP Home Edition	General Home Use	Minimum 233 MHZ CPU,128 MB Memory		$189 full $99 upgrade
Windows Home Server (Coming Soon!)	Home networking	Minimum 1 GHZ CPU, 512 MB Memory	Manage users, manage and grow disk space, easy access to files, printers, and the Internet	?

• Virus - A software program written to intentionally hurt, disable, or interfere with your computer.
• Spyware - Software that gets installed (unknowingly) on your computer for the purpose of collecting information from your computer or retrieving data or information from another computer to yours. Spyware can significantly slow down your computer.
• Trojan - A program that disguises itself as a helpful program but is actually a virus.
• Malware - Any program that harms or disrupts your computer.