2. Windows Vista: Great Promise for Buyers and Sellers

And if we don't have enough to worry about otherwise, there's a whole new Windows operating system on the very near horizon. The Business version has been released and all the other versions will be here by the end of January. Overall, Windows Vista looks like it will spread lots of good across the planet. Its improved security and networking capabilities and superior programming interfaces combined with the great new Aero 3D interface are enough for us Windows OS users to get excited about.

And, there's a lot to stimulate sellers into some salivating of their own. Microsoft's hardware requirements spec for Vista is, to put it mildly, somewhat unrealistic, but I remember the days they told us Windows NT Server would run on a puny sub 1 GHz Pentium with 256 MB of memory. Yea, the server booted up, but you could do very little with it after that. I have a feeling we're going to see the same with Vista.

These logos, courtesy of Microsoft, tell you how ready a computer is for Vista and promise a free or low cost upgrade from Windows XP to Vista. See the second article under Related Articles below.

The minimum Vista configuration is a 1.2 GHz CPU, 1 GB of memory and a 40 GB hard drive. However, if you seriously want to use the Aero graphic interface, you'll need a minimum Intel GMA 950 graphics processor and I'd sure want more than that in any Aero-capable PC I was going to use. My guess is that if you've bought a lower end Vista capable desktop or mobile computer, you'll be thinking upgrade not too long after you've installed Vista.

A friend of mine has already had his own merry little adventure with Vista requirements. Sony's otherwise very cool and very small VAIO UX180P Micro PC was released earlier in the year. My friend bought one and more or less liked the thing. I reviewed the UX180P and aside from a few problems relating to the size of the unit, liked it a lot. Then all of a sudden just months later, Sony announced the release of the VAIO UX280P Micro PC.

Why a new version? Woops! The UX180P wasn't even base-level Windows Vista compliant. The disk drive had to be upgraded from 30 GB to 40 GB and memory from 512 MB to 1 GB. OK, good for Sony. Well, sort of good for Sony. For a variety of reasons relating, I speculate, to the fact that the UX180P memory and BIOS were soldered to the micro's tiny motherboard, you can't upgrade a 180P to a 280P. So, my friend is out of luck as far as Vista goes, though we're planning to try the new OS on the 180P to see what happens. We'll let you know.

Related Articles:
Holiday Buyer's Guide 2006, Part 5: The Mobile Stuff
Windows Vista on Notebooks: Why and What Hardware?
Guy Thomas Says Windows Vista Can Boost Your Career
What's Windows Vista Worth? Play Guy's Guesstimating Game
Who Designed This Crap? With Notebooks "New" Doesn't Always Equal "Good"
Sony's Sizzling UX180P Micro PC Reviewed