It's a copy I got from our company on December 17 -- we're a software company and we got it sent to us, along with Office 2007, last month (December) in our normal "Microsoft package."

I don't really know the release version, but it looks like it's designed to be a final product.

And now that I've flashed the BIOS, it's running great.

From what I used Vista, its nice, but I made the stupid decision to put the 64bit version on and many drivers don't work now. I noticed some software including video and photo editing to run faster and uptime is better. Overall design is nicer. I'm still running the RC1 copy and just waiting till the real release comes out to upgrade. I wonder if beta testers will get a discount off the real copy.....
Little problem I had is with WMP DVD codec looks like it expired, and I gave up looking for a new one (I think mpeg2), though I use VLC mostly.

To add I really like Office 2007. Just the look and feel is nicer, with some new features.

There is definately a learning curve to Office 2007, so far I think it is worth it

I'm running Office 2007, but I have not upgraded to Vista simply because many third parties haven't quite sorted their software out (such as Tivo Desktop)...so it's just not worth it. I will upgrade in a few months once the various glitches are sorted out.

Steve

I can think of a number of upgrades one could make to a Windows system that have nothing to do with Microsoft :D

I'm going to avoid Vista as long as possible, i.e. until I have an application that requires it.

Most companies and IT folks tell me that we will still need to run an third party software. While the security features are good they are not great.

I'm going to wait a long time to install Vista personally. Many bugs need to get sorted out and I'll let you folks do the sorting out for me. :D I understand the biggest competition for Vista will be folks running XP and wanting to keep it and not upgrade. The hardware requirements of Vista will cause a boom in upgrading hardware as it does take a good amount to run it. Not all computers out there will be able to run this and will need to be pitched or upgraded.

Plus I hear that it will not let you install drivers that are not approved by microsoft, or that it will be more difficult to install items not approved by microsoft. And the license agreement, you don't own it, you lease it or something like that. Anyways, I got a ton of literature on it from CES and I'm not techno geek but the general words to me were not to install for a while.

XP works for me and I'm gonna stay with it until I can't use it or VISTA is proven itself.

Scott knows that Symantec and Mcafee aren't the only AV software choices out there and that there are much better choices like free AVG, etc.

Also, if you ask the security community, they have pointed out that you do want a variety of solutions in the field to make it harder for the bad guys that could just attack the most common set or only one out there in the field.

Sorry, not all of us will just trust MS on this. They don't have a decent track record in this area yet, and they don't play well with the external expert community. I haven't seen any evidence of that changing.

-David

Vista's legal fine print raises red flags

Toronto Star

"While those reviews have focused chiefly on Vista's new functionality, for the past few months the legal and technical communities have dug into Vista's "fine print." Those communities have raised red flags about Vista's legal terms and conditions as well as the technical limitations that have been incorporated into the software at the insistence of the motion picture industry.

The net effect of these concerns may constitute the real Vista revolution as they point to an unprecedented loss of consumer control over their own personal computers. In the name of shielding consumers from computer viruses and protecting copyright owners from potential infringement, Vista seemingly wrestles control of the "user experience" from the user."

Linux becomes more and more attractive...

Spiff, fo once we agree. Personally, I don't think I'll eve rmove to Vista. I'm investigating Apple as an alternative for the future. I like Linux, too, but until it's more user-friendly I have to keep at least one non-Linux machine around for Mrs. SRQ Guy.

As I've said above I won't be upgrading too soon. However I got this link today:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,12...1/article.html

15 Reasons to Upgrade in PC World or something like that (not that I'd trust PC World).

I will also look and find the articles I got that say DON'T switch yet.

I read the article in your link. The 15 reasons boil down to these:

1. A prettier GUI -- who cares? I spend most of my time in applications and switch between them by either clicking on the task bar or using ALT-TAB.

2. Improved apps -- who cares? I have far better third-party solutions that I use for everything from security to networking tools to graphics.

3. Improved file-sharing -- who cares? I don't work collaboratively; input on files is always done serially, e.g. an associate sends me a draft, I revise the draft, send it to my secretary who, in turn, puts it in final.

4. Improved parental controls -- who cares? I don't have kids and wouldn't let them near my work computers even if I did.

5. Performance improvements -- who cares? Vista may switch between commonly-used apps faster, but the OS itself exacts a performance hit. I'm buying a new laptop fairly soon; it will be optimized for Vista but, I suspect, any performance gains I experience will be due to the Core 2 Duo chip, and not Vista itself.

Yup, that sounds like what I was hearing too.

I ordered my copy a while ago, it was shipped out and sitting at my house now. I'm gonna give the install a go when I get home, and I'll write a review of how it went from ease (of difficulty for that matter) of the installation to the overall look and feel of it.

--Michael

Ditto that. I see no reason to be an early adopter, especially as long as XP is running fine right now for me. Let someone else find the bugs, IMO.