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OK, you know what computer has become, do you know what coffee table has become?

Upgrading any software is always a big headache, especially if it is a major upgrade, as it usually means getting out of your comfort zone to learn the new way of using the software, the new functions that you may never need, and the risk of it crashing your (old) computer. This becomes an even bigger headache if it is something as important as your operating system. 

Upgrading an operating system involves a lot more than just putting in the upgrade CD-ROM and click on upgrade. Yes, 95% of the time the upgrade is seamless, but do you want to take a risk for that 5% chance that things might go awry? Thus the best practice is to backup your data before any upgrade as major as the operating system.

Talking about operating system upgrade, Microsoft has just released their latest version of operating system called Windows Vista. And in true Microsoft fashion, they have try to up the confusion level this time round by releasing 5 versions of Windows Vista as compare to 2 in the Windows XP era (unless you include the Media Center and Tablet PC edition). 

Windows XP has been Microsoft’s longest serving operating system, for more than 5 years, which in itself is quite a major surprise. Not only that, Windows XP has been one of the most stable windows operating system that Microsoft have even come out with. But after so many years, and with other lesser know operating systems trying to catch up with new versions and improvements, Microsoft decided it’s time to take them on again.

Today, if you are buying a new computer that comes pre-loaded with a Windows operating system, you pretty much have not many choices except to choose within the different flavors of Windows Vista. But if you are currently using Windows XP and is happy with it, then there is no real needs to upgrade. Review so far has indicated that apart from cosmetic changes and a big appetite for resources, there isn’t really a great deal of improvement on Windows Vista. 

Having said that, Windows Vista is not without its merit. Microsoft’s major push for Windows Vista has been on the security front. While Windows XP has been very stable, it has its fair share of complaints on its security vulnerabilities, and Windows Vista is suppose to address this in a big way as they put security as the top priority during development. Apart from that, Windows Vista has a lot of new features that they hope will improve the user experiences. Examples are the Windows Aero, offering a ‘cleaner’ desktop, a better search function, the ability to have desktop gadgets.

There is one features I like very much as a parent is the build in parental control function which allows parent to setup how exactly they want their children to use the system, from applications they can run, to the time they can be online, and even the websites they can visit (or visited), it sure helps parents to feel safer leaving their children with the computer. 

But before you go out there to grab a copy, do run their upgrade advisor which can be downloaded from the Microsoft website to make sure your system is up to par. Windows Vista does require quite a powerful system to start with, and you 3 year old computer system may not be able to run Windows Vista. I do see the commercial market adopting Windows Vista at a later stage, but a home consumer is likely to embrace it earlier.

I myself have upgraded to Windows Vista Business edition. If you read my earlier post, you would have know that I did it not really out of choice, but was forced by the situation, but that tug in my heart to go try it out. Apart from the fact that it still cannot logon to a netware server, the rest of the things looks pretty impressive. Another small complain is that networking between a Vista machine and XP machine can be a little unstable at times. For the record, the 5 flavors of Windows Vista are, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise. For a home user, I would recommend the Home Premium if you really want to experience the new features.

Just when I thought everything is fine, my laptop gave up on me. Halfway through updating the Windows Update, it hung and after that, every time I restart the laptop, it will hang after a few minutes.

With seemingly no other way to revive it, I decided to take this opportunity to do my long awaited upgrade to Windows Vista. I’ve got my upgrade copy of the Windows Vista from HP but it requires a clean install, i.e. all the programs will have to be re-install and data files will need to be backup. I setup my laptop to run in ‘Safe’ mode, this allow me to bypass the problems I had with my laptop and gives me a leeway to backup my data files. Using an external hard drive, I managed to backup my data files without any problem.

The installation started with the HP disc updating the system BIOS and than it is the Windows Vista installation disc taking over. I found out that even with fresh install, Windows Vista actually saves your entire hard drive into a directory call “Windows.old” and so you can actually still access your data files, though the applications are useless now. But make sure you still got enough room to install Windows Vista.

Took me an entire day to do the installation plus some of the applications. After the setup, I am quite happy with the new interface, but it sure took me some time to get use to it. The “My Documents” folder is no longer around, replacing it is actually a follow denoting your username. Under it, there will be the usual “Documents”, “Pictures”, “Music” and “Videos” folders (notice they drop the word “My”), and also a “Downloads” folder. There is also a side panel that allows you to have widgets on your desktop. The default is the RSS, wallpaper, and analog clock widgets, or Gadgets, as Microsoft calls it. There is also this very cool ’switch windows’ apps that is very nice.

Found out also that by now, many software vendors, including those open source and freeware vendors, have already updated their programs to be able to run on Windows Vista, so it is generally a pleasant experience. Some of the most important software are like Avast Home Edition (FREE) anti-virus software, which I absolutely loved since I started using it early last year and just can’t live without it now. GIMP, my favorite open source graphics editor, Inkscape, 7-zip, EditPad Lite and Filezilla ftp software. On software I found out that can’t work on Vista is PDFCreator, and I am now using the alternative call PrimoPDF. And of course not forgetting the very competent OpenOffice.org 2.2, which is my alternative office suite.

Well, I have also told you how you can get legal useful software that you absolutely can use without paying a dime. So get your hands on them and stop the pirates! Cheers!