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To Vista or not to Vista?

Ok, so, what’s my official advice on upgrading to Vista? I did it, so should you? Well, let’s keep in mind a few important items:

  • Some would consider me a bit of a geek and willing to futz around with my computer and change all sorts of settings just for fun.
  • I specifically bought this laptop with the specifications needed to run Vista Ultimate edition and planned on upgrading it once Vista was released.
  • I get paid to do this first and warn everyone else about the potential pitfalls.

So, with those things in mind, my official advice and this time is the following:

  1. If you’re going to be buying a new computer, get Vista. (Really, you won’t have a choice but if you did I’d still say go with Vista.)
  2. If you have a recently-purchased machine with one of those free upgrade coupons, go for it. I’m assuming you haven’t had the computer long enough to customize it too much and you’re probably not running any highly-specialized programs. (Check with vendors if you are. Hell, OCLC software had some problems with IE7. Who knows how they’re reacting to Vista.)
  3. You’ve got an older computer and the Windows Upgrade Advisor says the hardware can handle it, don’t unless you’re a masochist like me.
  4. The Upgrade Advisor says you can’t run at least Home Premium, don’t even consider it. If you can at least run Home Premium, see #3.

To be honest, I love it despite the problems I’m having. (Second Life won’t run, iTunes is fracked, I’m having some issues sharing files between the Vista computer and my XP computer, (let’s not even consider the NT4.0 box,) and there’s still an outstanding issue with upgrading my BIOS.) The bottom line, is that if everything’s running fine on XP and you’re considering upgrading everything in the library to Vista “because I can” or “because it looks cool” don’t bother. Wait for the next round of computer purchasing and bring it into your system then. You’ll be much better off in the long run.

Published by Michael Sauers

Michael Sauers is currently the Director of Technology for Do Space in Omaha, NE. Michael has been training librarians in technology for the past twenty years and has also been a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, serials cataloger, technology consultant, and bookseller since earning his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany’s School of Information Science and Policy. Michael has also written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines and his fourteenth book, Emerging Technologies: A Primer for Librarians (w/ Jennifer Koerber) was published in May 2015 and more books are on the way. In his spare time he blogs at travelinlibrarian.info, runs The Collector’s Guide to Dean Koontz Web site, takes many, many photos, and typically reads more than 100 books a year.

2 Replies to “To Vista or not to Vista?”

  1. Michael

    I’d love to hear more about the iTunes problem. I’m wondering if Apple is holding out on fixing it, just to give Vista a little more bad press. (Though, I think it looks bad that Apple didn’t have it ready for Vista.)

    It was interesting to hear that you liked it. I’ve been reading a lot of people who are more than dissatisfied (and some who speculate about the need for it, now that web apps are taking off).

    Anyway, thanks for sharing your experience with Vista. It makes me think it isn’t so bad.

    – Alexandra

  2. For home, I bought a new laptop with Vista Home Premium, mostly because, like you, I’m a geek and wanted to see Vista for myself before undertaking our annual computer replacement purchase. Like you, I like it. Your recommendations are right on. Make sure your hardware can handle it. Be prepared to deal with apps that might not work with it (maybe run XP in a virtual PC for that app until a fix is published?) Great post.

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