Bob_Moore's Blog

Whenever someone asks my advice on which computer to buy (and I get asked a *lot*), I ask them what they intend to do with it. There's a lot of marketing money spent to convince people they need the biggest, the latest, the fastest... and often, it just isn't true.

What compelling reason is there to upgrade to Windows Vista? At the moment, there's still a lot of software that isn't compatible with it, whereas Microsoft has had years to stabilize XP and third parties have had years to make their software stable on top of it. In addition, to really take full advantage of Vista you need a pretty high-powered machine.

My advice: let the early adopters spend the money and shake the bugs out of it, then just get Vista for "free" when you buy your next computer. Unless there's really something on Vista that you can't do on XP, upgrading the OS is, at the moment, wasted money.

As for the Mac comment... well, it does seem that Microsoft is trying to catch-up here. See these links, for instance:

http://www.informationweek.com/windows/showArticle.jhtm
l?articleID=197001418

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDNuq94Zg_8

I do think anyone in the market for a computer today should give the Mac serious consideration. Heck, the current crop of Macs can even run Windows, if needed. Again, it all comes down to what you want and need the computer to do.

Bob just wanted to say hi and welcome! Can't comment on the Vista...don't know much about it yet!! :)

I guess the folks at Computerworld aren't as excited about Vista as I would have expected, judging by this article published today. The author, while noting several improvements, also has a list of grievances that he believes are a result of Microsoft being out of touch with consumers.

The article concludes "Despite the welcome improvements in Vista, using the product just isn't exciting or intriguing any longer. It's at least two years later than it should have been, and I don't absolutely have to have it. You don't either."

The writer is Scott Finnie, who's credited as Computerworld's online editorial director. Probably worth a read before spending money on upgrading an older system, I think.