I've decided, now that I have switched over to using Vista as my day-to-day desktop of choice that I would detail some of the reasons for the move over from XP, and why there is still a small XP partition on my laptop.

This post will be about some of the gotchas, and niceties that will swing the decision to use the latest and greatest either way. Later on I'll put together some info about the new tools, and toys in the OS that need a little more description of there own.

Not only is the latest releases of Vista are quite snappy, and look nice. It is also a lot more compatible with older applications.

Things that work nicely on Vista are :-

• Microsoft Office 2007 B2TR (not the Beta2)
• Internet Explorer 7 is better than the beta in XP
• The SideBar is a great idea, and works well
• The new Start Menu is a genuine treat to use, definitely a step on from XP
• Media Center is a great application, made better on Vista (more on that at a later date however)
• Transcode360 now works fine in Vista RC1
• The new IP stack is certainly quicker and makes more use of the hardware
• Ready Boost is a cracking idea
• Terminal Services Client is updated, and works nicer, as clipboard file copies are back
• Snipping Tool
• Better security in the operating system

Things that Don't work :-

• Microsoft ISA Firewall Client, 2006 will not install, 2004 installs but does not fully function (HTTP traffic will not go through the client)
• ActiveSync does not work, however check out the previous post for how to enable WMDC
• Sidebar gadgets can 'run away' with the CPU at times
• Vista is a memory hog, demands on hardware are a lot greater
• Ready Boost will not work with my 4Gb SanDisk Cruzer (and many other 4Gb devices), but does work with a 1Gb one
• My Intel chipset in my laptop will not support the Aero Glass effects
• Checkpoint have not got a version of their firewall client out yet
• The new security can be a bit annoying at times, especially when you are an IT Professional and most of the tools/applications you run need administration privilege
• The HDD resize built into Disk Manager is not quite powerful enough
• Adobe products all require the shortcut changing to run as administrator in the shortcut properties under advanced

So there are some of the things that have swayed me to keep both operating systems on my HDD. However since RC1, and now with 5728 I am using the Vista part of the hard disk as my primary OS.

It just looks, works and feels more intuitive. Definitely a step on from the XP interface.

I will say though that until you get used to the new interface, and where things are in the control panel layout, it can be difficult to find or use basic stuff, like Add Remove programs is now called Programs and Features. But they make perfect sense when you are used to them.

I say run Vista, and give it a chance, you will grow to love it.