Taking the plunge with Vista

I have 5 years experience as a Systems Administrator for an all Windows shop. One thing I learned there, you DON'T rush into a new Microsoft OS. IT shops know this, but consumers, well they like the latest and greatest and Vista had some good numbers at first. Now reality has hit, and Vista is not moving much at all, unfortunately for Microsoft. You know its bad when OEM's are demanding Microsoft keep XP around for awhile. And they listened, but only for awhile. After June 30 2008, XP will no longer be available on a new PC. Once shelves are empty, it's gone. Oh wait, that's partially correct, here's the latest from Microsoft.

Direct Microsoft site;
"As of April 2008, Microsoft is extending availability of Windows XP Home Edition for OEMs to install on Ultra Low-Cost PCs. The new OEM end date will be the later of either June 30, 2010, or one year after the general availability of the next version of Windows"

WOW, you know its got to be bad if the king of software extends the life of a previous operating system TWICE!

Now Vista has been out for some time, and boy, am I glad I didn't rush out an buy it. I have a few family members that I told to stay away from Vista for a year, to see how it goes. But nope, they rushed out and bought it and right now we have a split decision. I feel for most folks that have purchased a new computer over the last year, looking forward to a revamped computer experience with Vista, only to come away extremely disappointed. My real world experience with Vista has been my step-daughters laptop. Issues with wireless connectivity has really been the only major issue, but I'm annoyed at Vista overall. What was Microsoft thinking? Slow speed, incompatibility galore, WAY to many mouse clicks to do the simply things we use to do in XP.

But the time has come, even with the continuing issues, as a computer professional I decided I needed to take the Vista plunge on a personal level. Keep in my that my current job doesn't expose me to Vista or really systems admin in general. We have NO plans for the foreseeable future to incorporate Vista in our office, so I really have had no need to rush out for the purpose of supporting it. But call it personal growth, trying something new, or just plain giving in, my new Vista laptop should be arriving in a week. I hope to have a lot of content added to my blog on my experience. Now I'm not evaluating Vista from the perspective of a corporate Systems Administrator, but strictly as a consumer, using it for research, games, blogging, etc. I need a new computer anyway, my trusty Dell XP PC died about 8 months ago. Since then work provided me with a laptop and I can't see myself going back to the way of the desktop PC any more. I hope to learn to like the new OS, but I'll be keeping my XP Pro CD next to me just in case.