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When Will You Upgrade to Vista?

February 14, 2007 BY Mark Evans

Vista
Symantec CEO John Thompson has no plans to upgrade to Vista (“I see no need for it for what I do online today. The machine that I use is the one provided by our company, and we have not made a commitment to migrate to Vista and therefore there is no reason for me to use Vista.”), which is not surprising given the security enhancements within Vista move Microsoft one step closer to going mano-a-mano against Symantec. Meanwhile, Microsoft declined to comment on speculation a new version of Vista is slated to be released in 2009.

So do you plan on upgrading to Vista any time soon? Is there enough in Vista to convince you to jump early on the bandwagon? Having used Vista, I think it’s just fine. The look and feel are slicker, the security features are better (albeit somewhat annoying) and multi-media features are impressive. Despite all that, Vista is an upgrade rather than a new release, and like any upgrade, you really need to ask yourself if it’s worth the hassle and aggravation to move from something that works to something that apparently works better or differently.

Based on conversations with people within the tech community, I’ve come across one person who has upgraded to XP (and it hasn’t been the most pleasant of experiences). Meanwhile, I’ve heard of several people making the move to Mac. Is there a trend here? Probably not but the Mac’s stability and hassle-free OS may be starting to win over more people who wouldn’t have even considered moving to the Mac side. There also appears to be growing interest in Linux (a few folks at a party on the weekend were talking about Ubuntu)

That said, Vista will be installed on every new PC sold this year (more than 200 million) so there will be lots and lots of Vista users before long. But I also suspect there will be plenty of XP users for a long time as well.

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  • http://www.route1.com Kevin

    There’s no need for anyone to upgrade to Vista. A properly patched XP box with Zone Alarm and AVG (both of which cost nothing) will be as secure as any Vista box. Plus all your hardware and software will work. Not to mention all your games.

  • http://leighhimel.blogspot.com Leigh

    I always have the opposite response with Microsoft products. Example, just bought another version of Office 2004 for future computers in our office will need because the ribbon scares me.

    Actually been wondering what most entrepreneurs in tech are going to do with regards to tech product releases for Vista? How fast to market will be necessary?

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  • http://beyondthebleedingedge.blogspot.com Andrew

    Unfortunately my trusty Acer PM 1.6, 2GB of Ram won’t pass Vista’s requirements to run the full OS. It is quick and runs just fine for biz, so if I have to buy a new Laptop to run Vista, it will be a good year before I make that decision. And if I can’t use my Vista license on spare PC’s around the house due to anti-piracy features, Microsoft will be forcing me to shop around for alternatives – as you mentioned Ubuntu and Apple.

  • http://passtheremote.wordpress.com/ Eric

    I won’t be upgrading anytime soon either, from my understanding this upgrade doesn’t really contain anyhing that I need and the fact the programs that I own now won’t all work on Vista is a big turn off. Like most people my PC works fine, and its still upgradable with new memory and the such. So not for another 2-3 years.

  • Magnus

    I wont be jumping on the V wagon anytime soon, no need at this point. I have a MAC in my future but that will be used for design and editing.

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  • http://www.paulbutler.org Paul Butler

    I have played with Vista a few times, and while the graphics are very impressive (more of a compliment to the hardware manufacturers than to Microsoft), I am more interested in a stable and usable operating system than something that looks nice. Actually, until recently I was running XP with all the graphical enhancements turned off. If a reason came up for me to upgrade to Vista, I probably would… But I think XP will suit me fine for the time being.

    I would consider switching to Ubuntu as well. I would have done it already except that I still need a few Microsoft apps.

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  • http://www.robhyndman.com Rob Hyndman

    Ubuntu? Me-buntu. Think I’ll try an install on Parallels with my Mac – just for kicks. But it will take wild horses to get me off OSX now.

  • http://blog.csukovits.at CJ

    I’m working with Linux boxes for some years now and use Windows XP installed on VMWare Server (runs great as long as you don’t need 3D graphics) – so there is no need to upgrade for me.

  • http://www.markevanstech.com Mark Evans

    I’ve got two computers running XP, including a desktop that works so well that I refuse to install any more programs on it. Then, there’s the MacBook, which is sweet other than going into a deep sleep after it overheats. Even if I got a copy of Vista, I’d be reluctant to install it, although I’d have far fewer concerns if it came on a new machine.

  • http://benlucier.wordpress.com Ben Lucier

    My company has the Microsoft Action Pack, which means we get free licenses of most MS software after their release. I’m running Vista Business on my Gateway laptop (512MB ram, 64Mb Video, Centrino single core processor) and it runs just fine, although no Aero for me (not enough video RAM.

    I also purchased a new computer (Acer) a few weekends ago that came with Vista Ultimate. Overall, I really like the OS, but there are some *very* annoying problems with it, that will most likely go away with some upcoming patches. For instance, I have NO idea why, but Windows Live OneCare will not work on it, and MSN 8.1 crashes due to DEP errors.

    In retrospect, I think I would be happier if I waited a couple of months to purchase the new computer. On the plus side, Vista, with its Media Centre looks awesome on my 37 inch LG hi-def, running beside my Viewsonic 22 inch LCD.

  • jon from vancouver

    I was considering it, but after doing my research I decided to wait. I have a Dell 710m purchased last year and just upgraded with another 1GB of ram. XP runs great and all my business apps including AutoCAD and Vectorworks. Vista supposedly won’t run on this except in Basic version, no thanks. My programs aren’t certified to work with Vista either.

    I’m looking into upgrading at the end of year which is my company’s year end. I’ll be looking at a new Apple macbook pro and dual boot into Vista if service pack 1 is out by then, and only boot into if I need to run a Windows specific app like AutoCAD. I thought about Ubuntu, and have tested it with the cd’s I got from them, but I don’t have time to run a company and tinker with Linux to get everything working. I have no idea if any CAD programs work in Linux either, so I wouldn’t want to dual boot every day through my work process.

    I was looking into Office 2007 but my Palm TX doesn’t sync either with Outlook 2007. So another product goes on the back burner along with Vista.

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  • Don Gillis

    Having purchased a new computer in November 2007 that was preloaded at the factory with Vista I don’t recommend that anyone update to Vista unless it is abosolutely necessary, which from what I have read it isn’t! The first thing that I encountered was having to immediately double my memory from 1GB to 2GB to get any speed whatsoever out of Vista. And ever since the purchase I still receive updates to the operating system on a minimum weekly basis, and more than often three or more at a time. Then during my next operating session I will often find the updates have cause a malfunction in the computer…then another update, and so forth, and so forth. I have gotten so fed up with Vista that I have asked Microsoft to downgrade me to XP without any success. Upgrade to Vista?..you should have your head examined!