Vista Launch - Redux

Today the consumer/retail versions of Vista launches including Ultimate. There are five versions available:

• Vista Ultimate - Ultimate is basically a version with everything including Media Center, backup utilities and the ability to be part of a business network/domain.
• Vista Home Premium - is a ultimate without the business networking and backup tools.
• Vista Home Basic - is a basic release of Vista without Aero the new interface or laptop tools for mobility
• Vista Business - business is basically ultimate without Media Center and tools for manipulating images, video and audio.
• Vista Enterprise - this is a special version of Vista Business that includes addition security tools, language features and ability for IT departments to roll out Vista across the enterprise in a uniform manner.
• Vista Starter - this is a special version of Home Basic for emerging markets and includes additional features and tutorials for new computer users.

So now we are past the marketing fluff what the heck should you do about Vista?

If I was you I would upgrade and I am saying that not just because I work for Microsoft but because their are some really compelling reasons to upgrade:

• More security especially if you have a laptop. Bitlocker can help protect sensetive data even if your laptop is stolen.
• The sidebar is my favorite feature. In XP I would constantly pull up Outlook Calendar or adjust date time to look at a month calendar. With sidebar their is a calendar widget.
• Sticky notepad gadget which helps reduce my desktop clutter. I can write myself a electronic sticky note - and its yellow to boot.
• Backup utility is really simple and easy to use.
• The ability to see a thumbnail of minimized applications is very cool.

There are more reasons but these are my top ones. If you want more visit the Vista Site.

So are there reasons not to upgrade you bet.

• If you are a developer building mobile or CE applications I would be very careful of upgrading. Some of the new tools like remote performance monitor in Compact Framework 2.0 SP 1 do not work with Vista.
• Some older applications might have issues like Rational's ClearCase source control tool. I have not been able to get it to work even in compatibility mode. Myself and others who have tried thing it is because of a driver issue that ClearCase tries to install a new file driver and Vista blocks this.
• You have older hardware. Vista is at times more demanding than a graphic intensive game. You definitely need a great graphics card to run Aero UI. And as always the more memory the better.

But if you are using newer equipment and software, you aren't a developer of cutting edge device software --- Go for it. For me I just have to lug my tiny Vaio running XP and my Toshiba tablet with Vista Ultimate.