Microsoft has unleashed the beast! Their new flagship Operating System, Vista, is now available for purchase. Before jumping on the bandwagon, one should know what Vista entails for the average user.

The Bad/Ugly:
+ Steeper requirements. Vista recommends 2GB of RAM and a Video card capable of 3D acceleration. This means a bit more money for many users. Anyone with 512mb of RAM or less should not get Vista without a system upgrade.

+ Performance is not really better than XP; it is about the same in many respects. You get features more than performance.

+ Activation. Microsoft wants Vista to "call" home during activation, and Vista's policy on reactivations has changed several times. It will either periodically activate on the net (it will tell you), or it will lock itself to your current hardware, requiring you to reactivate if you install it somewhere else (nullifying the old system). It is a fairly painless process, but is disconcerting, imho. There are other methods of activation, but without a net connection, you may have to call MS in some situations. The details currently are here.

+ Security Popups and UAC. By default, Vista typically warns you before doing anything on the system that attempts to make global changes. You can turn this off (option #4 is good), but there are other Security Center notices and corner-of-the-screen-annoyances that just make you want to slap duct-tape on the corner of your monitor.

The Good:
+ The whole user interface is slick. People make fun that XP and OS X (Apple) had a child named Vista, and there is some truth to that. Many features that have been in OS X for years are now in Vista (see: Widgets/Gadgets, Aero). I find myself having fewer Windows Explorer folders open since I can navigate around folders from the one window with ease and bounce back and forth quickly (pictured).

+ Most major applications are compatible. You will run into some programs that just won't work, especially old kid games and legacy video/audio software. Vista has the ability to attempt to act like XP while running an app, and is fairly successful.

Overall, the best part of Vista is the abbreviated way to get to your files and folders. The OS indexes your files for faster searches, schedules tasks easily, bounds around your folders like an excited puppy on linoleum, and includes some nice perks in the Ultimate versions.

Expect to upgrade any computer more than a year old (probably). Anyone interested in Vista should use the Upgrade Advisor tool to determine hardware, software compatibility and system performance capabilities.