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I took some perspective yesterday realizing that despite the fact that I have installed (including re-installs) Vista about 25 times, maybe more. If I wasn’t who I am, this would be very daunting and frustrating experience for who isn’t seeking the bleeding edge of technology (IE most people). I was in on the beta versions of Vista for well over a year. I’ve installed various versions of Windows Vista on multiple computers from HP, Apple (by far the easiest of the lot and the fastest), Fujitsu and a custom built PC.

First, none of these went particularly easy. I was impressed however what did go well. Hardware I’d previously had issues with installing under Windows XP went very well under Vista. Secondly I appreciate the effort Microsoft put into it’s User Account Control system. As an IT director any assistance on holding the integrity of a network is very welcome. As an end-user on Vista this is highly annoying. Similar to Unix systems this is the technological equivilant of asking “mother may I” for any and all system changes. Having to ask permission to change my systems settings 20 times a day is intolerable. So I’ve turned it off. But again this is a very nice and perhaps even essential for any Systems Administrators.

Buying a system with Vista pre-installed isn’t a walk in the park either. A new Sony Viao gave me a BSOD in the middle of it’s own Sony preset setup, only by un-installing Norton Anti-virus (which came pre-installed on the system) in “Safe Mode” was I able to clear up that little issue. Still later I plug in a USB printer and get yet another BSOD. Only by deleting the existing printer instance and re-plugging the printer in and letting Vista handle the install was I able to clear this up. Still I have a weary eye on it.

The Belkin Easy Transfer Cable, however, is very easy to use and I haven’t experienced any problems transferring the settings and files from an older computer to a new one. Even Vista to Vista transfers are efficient and clean. It’s well worth the $40 to save you the trouble of transferring this stuff manually.

Some quick advice:
1. Reading the documentation from your hardware vendor regarding all things Vista.
2. Get all the Vista drivers for your computer. Put these drivers on an external drive a USB flash drive is perfect for this.
3. Un-install third party applications especially your virus scanner, If your application was built by Adobe or Microsoft safe bet is they will work perfectly fine. Provided you’ve been keeping them up to date.
4. Do a backup of you system (Always important). I use the backup that comes with Windows XP/2003 all the time no reason to buy anything else.

Installing XP in the early days had many of the same issues, I can’t lay the blame of these install difficulties on Microsoft’s large feet alone. OEMs definitely share the blame here. Sony in particular has been a great problem.

My recommendation to anyone who has a “Windows Vista Capable” system is stick with XP unless you’re sick of looking at it or you have a lot of patience or you have me as a friend (cause I’m always eager to lend a helping hand or brain in this case).

There’s nothing wrong with XP per se you can stick with it for now without ill-effect on your computing needs. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met that are utterly content with Windows 2000. It’s surprising to me really. Windows 2000 was a monumental step in the right direction for Microsoft to be sure. But by 2003 it was pretty long in the tooth. The same is true of XP (released in 2003) it’s worn out it’s welcome about the middle of 2006. Vista is rough at the moment, but by the end of 2008, it will be matured and commonplace as XP is today.