Few computer owners are a stranger to the new operating system that has appeared on the scene in the last year.  My clients ask me from time to time, "Should we upgrade to Vista?" or "Should I get Vista on my new PC?"  There are several things you should consider before doing so.

1 Compatibility - Microsoft made some changes in Vista that are unprecedented.  Vista is probably the least compatible operating system Microsoft has published to date.  Some of your current hardware or programs just won't work.  No matter how hard you try. Below is a link for the Microsoft compatibility checker for Windows Vista.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsvista/aa905102.aspx

2. Muscle Required - Windows 98 and XP could perform fairly well on 256 meg of memory and a 16 Meg graphics card.  If all you wanted to do is surf the web and do email, this might be sufficient (Not recommended, but sufficient). A Windows Vista is going to look at your computer and spit it out!  Plan on a minimum of 1 meg of memory and preferably two to four Meg.  Plan on using 256 or better yet 512  Meg for the graphics card as a minimum to do any serious computing.  You may cheat a little on either the memory or the graphics card, but not on both or your computer will be sluggish. 

3 Security - Yes there are some good points to Vista.  It is probably the most secure system for internet browsing yet.  The new Browser combined with the safeguards built into Vista keep a lot of the buggers out.  But as we know, hackers will find a way around this.  It's just another challenge to them.  But for now, the safeguards Vista provides are much needed.

4. Vista is annoying - Yes, the most annoying thing about Vista is the confirmation that you must authorize every time you want to install a program. This security feature is intended to make sure that only the programs the user want's installed, get installed.  I was put off by this at first, but when I realize how much spyware and viruses can't install themselves without my permission - I am thankful everytime I click "OK".  The next time Vista asks you to authorized the install of hardware or software, be thankful that the computer is watching out for itself, which is something XP fails to do.

5. Networking - Vista shows a little resistance to networking, especially with other platforms. It can be a little slow to find other computers and has failed finding several computers that I needed to network with.  XP had a shortcut that would allow you to search your network for a particular computer.  Vista has removed this.  You can force a search for a computer by using the search function, but it is somewhat confusing and not nearly as precise as the default search installed with XP.

Purchasing a new computer - Make sure all the software and your current peripherals are Vista compatible.  Make sure you purchase plenty of horsepower, especially if you want a good computing experience.  Make sure it is running a dual core processor. Start shopping in the $500 price range. For gaming systems, look in  the $700 range.(Heck, for gaming - stick with XP!)    Sure there are cheaper computers, but the extra you put into the hard ware will purchase you a smoother and faster operating machine.

Upgrading - put a lot money into the hardware, especially the video and memory, and make sure the rest of the hardware is Vista compatible.

Vista has some substantial things to offer, and a lot of eye candy.  But if you take the plunge, make sure you are suited up and ready!!