Windows Vista is coming, and there are plenty of reasons to upgrade. There
are also plenty of reasons not to. Although some organisations are actively
preparing for Vista, others are planning to stay the course with their current
operating systems. Still others are planning to move to an entirely new
environment.
Whatever your decision, it's always helpful to know what you are getting into or giving up. Here's a look at 10 reasons why you should upgrade to Windows Vista ... and 10 reasons why you shouldn't.
Why should I upgrade to Windows Vista?
1. Ready Boost (USB drive as memory)
Microsoft has a new way to help you boost performance on your OS without
requiring you to buy a lot of new expensive hardware. You can now plug in
removable memory (USB key, compact flash, SD card, etc.) and assign all or
part of it to use Ready Boost. This means that the memory will be used as a prefetch section between your RAM and hard drive. In testing, this has shown that it can offer a great speed boost to many
systems, especially those with limited RAM.
2. Aero Glass user interface
The Aero Glass interface in Windows Vista is a major step forward for
Windows in GUI design. Your Windows desktop has never looked better than it
will under a Vista version supporting Aero Glass. Not only do things look
better, but the whole layout of the GUI has been changed to make everything
easier to find and more intuitive to use.
3. Integrated Sidebar and Search
Most of us have already installed a third-party search application, RSS
reader, and sidebar or gadget dock in Windows XP. These features have been
integrated into the OS itself and look fabulous under Aero Glass. You'll no
longer need to open a browser to see your stocks or check on the weather.
They will be constantly displayed (and updated) from the Windows Sidebar.
Searching for your documents has never been easier, either, now that the
integrated search function in Windows supports the indexing features of many
newer search applications.
4. Windows Reliability and Performance Monitor
IT professionals are already familiar with Performance Monitor, but now
the power of this utility has been brought to the masses. The new Windows
Reliability and Performance Monitor can easily be set by a user to
automatically take a baseline performance reading of their new PC. And when
performance begins to suffer, this tool will help then diagnose what is
causing the problem.
5. Security
One of primary design focuses for Vista was to create the most secure
environment possible. Many basic aspects of Windows (such as running as an
Administrator) have been changed to help produce this environment. Not only
that, Internet Explorer 7 has many new features designed to help protect you
while you are online.
6. 500 new GPO objects
Many companies rely on Active Directory and its Group Policy capabilities
to enforce standards on their desktops. Windows Vista makes this even better
by including more than 500 new Group Policy Objects.
7. BitLocker
As we've seen over the past few years, laptops are one of the biggest
security holes for IT departments. The new BitLocker
technology in Windows Vista can help mitigate this risk by encrypting data
and making the computer unusable to anyone not in possession of the startup
key (which can be typed in or stored on a USB key).
8. Enhanced networking
Microsoft has rewritten its TCP/IP network stack for Vista to provide
better performance. In addition, Vista has dramatically changed how users
interact with the network devices in their PC and on their network. Now users
can take advantage of the new built-in tools to help diagnose network
problems. This will cut down on help desk calls and in some cases, speed up
support. The help desk can use the information provided by the diagnostic
tools to help in their troubleshooting.
9. Continual support
Being the newest OS from Microsoft, Vista will be eligible for support
longer than any other Windows OS available. Along with support from
Microsoft, there will be support from the Internet at large, as people will
be using Windows Vista for quite awhile into the foreseeable future. This
offers some peace of mind, knowing that you can get help should you run into
any issues.
10. DirectX 10
DirectX 10 will be available only on Windows Vista. If you must have the
latest and greatest in games, the upgrade to Windows Vista is a no-brainer,
as this is the only way you can get it. DirectX 10 also claims to fix the "small
batch problem" from previous versions. It has claimed that this could
lead to DirectX 10 games that can perform six times better than the same game
running in DirectX 9 on Windows XP.
2%
4%
We are being ripped off in Australia. The top version (Ultimate) costs AUD$750 here, whereas you can but it for approx. AUD$500 (inc. postage) from the USA. The only downside is a 2 week delay in delivery. Big deal. To save $250, 2 weeks is nothing. Why is this so????? No wonder I have no intention of upgrading yet.