Microsoft Windows Vista RTMs!

Yes, that's right folks, as of November, the new big beast out of Redmond, Microsoft Windows Vista, was "released to master"... "went gold"... or for you non-software folks.... IT'SA DONE!

We had a party to celebrate. Sadly, with our head Windows exec leaving, it was one hell of a lame party. But, on the plus side, as a reward we get this whole next week off. ... of course, I have three weeks of work both at home and at work to accomplish, so not much of a holiday for me... but whatever...

Today, I'm going to address the one big question I've been getting a lot: do you want Windows Vista?

Well, for you folks buying new computers, it's a moot issue - they'll be installing Vista on them, and you might as well partake. For you folks who aren't upgrading for awhile, it'll be on the retail shelves in January for around the same price as XP, or very cheap if you're a friend of mine and ask for a copy.

First off, does your machine have the power to take advantage of Vista? Odds are, surprizingly, almost all of you do have more than enough computing power to run it at the same speed as XP. While a lot was added, they did put in a lot of effort into performance. While a few things may seem slow, overall, things will be plenty responsive. If you don't have a good video card, the "glass" eyecandy can be turned off easily enough, processor requirements are not unusually high, and hard drives are huge anyways. You will need a DVD reader to install - Vista comes on a DVD. One thing I don't suggest you skimp on is RAM - Vista is very sensitive to low memory conditions, and it just eats up the memory like no tomorrow. At home I use 1GB, and I'd suggest 2GB in any corporate environment that requires you to run a lot of management software, and/or you're running a 64-bit machine.

Now, what does Vista give you that you're going to want?

Well, first off, a lot of the Windows add-ons for XP are now included - the final version of Windows Defender (hey, I work on Windows Defender, it has to be first on the list) for awesome lightweight spyware protection, and an enhanced version of Internet Explorer 7 that has additional security protection. For you less-than-safety-conscious people, the thing you'll enjoy most is that they finally have support for tabs, a search bar, and RSS feed support..

For those of you with media center PCs (or wanted one), you're probably well aware that you can't buy Windows XP Media Center edition from stores - it's only sold with new Media Center computers. Well no more, Windows Media Center is included with Vista, allowing you to record and watch live TV, store movies, etc. It's hella slick, and will make you want to get a TV tuner and remote control.

Those of you lucky enough to own tablets, they also bundle all the tablet goodies into the OS too.

Have a 64-bit processor? You're likely aware that the 64-bit functionality is useless without a supporting OS. If you're one of the rare few who ran Windows XP 64, you know how painful it can be to get drivers and deal with app compatability. Well on Vista, they REALLY want you to have proper 64-bit support, and most of the OS has 64-bit versions binaries. 64-bit drivers are widely available. Support for 32-bit apps is rock solid on the 64-bit machine too.

There's an integrated search, similar to Google's Desktop Search, that very quickly finds files on your hard drive. The cool part is things like Outlook automatically tie into that, so your emails will even show up in your search, right from the start menu.

There's the Windows Sidebar - a little side panel with gadgets including a weather display, calendar, stock ticker, sticky notes, and a bunch of other neat things.

... and finally, a bunch of UI updates, some of which are confusing, others of which are very cool. They genuinely want things to be easy for you.

Downside? The big one people talk about is that they don't like User Account Control. Basically, when you want to run something that needs admin rights, it greys out the screen and asks permission to do so. This includes things like installing programs or new Internet Explorer plugins, using parts of the control panel, etc. Many people whine a lot that this is annoying, and in fact represent it as the key failing of Vista. But I look at it this way: IT SHOULD BE ANNOYING! Each time you get the prompt, you're doing something to significantly change your machine, and you should be aware of it. I'll get no more "I didn't do anything, the computer just stopped working right", because YOU'LL KNOW you did something because it grays out the screen and gives you a warning. I almost never get prompts after I installed everything. I'm very happy.

So, I didn't really answer the question of whether or not you want Vista. Not directly anyways. But if the things I said above seem to appeal to you, let me know and I'll pick up a copy.

... and yes, you can upgrade from XP. We all tested that... a lot... a lot a lot.

PS. Get Office 12. It kicks ass. The new ribbon UI takes a lot of getting used to, but it's a serious improvement on the old Office. Especially Outlook 12 - I'm a huge fan of the new Outlook, and I think you will be too.