Of course, virtually all computer vendors will be offering Vista in one form or another too, if not from that date onwards, then certainly very soon after.

No doubt, Windows XP will remain an option for some time to come, should you want it. But unless you absolutely have hardware or software that simply won’t work with Vista yet, you’ll want to upgrade.

Perhaps not immediately, especially if your computer is presently running very nicely, but you’ll certainly be upgrading if you intend remaining a Windows user, and don’t want to jump ship to Linux, Mac OS X or some other system.

Yes, you can get many of Vista’s features through third party software and give XP the same capabilities. But there’s nothing like having the functionality built directly into the operating system as it improves the baseline of what to expect an operating system to deliver as standard.

The market for third party applications, despite built-in search, built-in anti-spyware, built-in tabbed browsing, built-in defragmentation, built-in backup, built-in games and plenty more will be as robust as ever, with Vista encouraging software developers to create even better software and hardware that takes advantage of all of the improvements in the underlying new OS.

Windows XP is an operating system that’s been long due for an upgrade. The two service packs and plenty of third party applications have dragged XP from the world of 2001 into the world of 2007 and beyond.

But the future is Vista, and I, for one, am glad that it is finally here. Could it and should it have been better, and should it have arrived much sooner? Yes, most definitely. But then so should have the PS3, or the widespread availability of electric cars, or batteries that last an entire week or longer or any other number of technological advancements that are promised but aren't here yet.

The fact is that a new operating system from Microsoft has finally emerged, blending many advancements in technology together right in the operating system, giving millions of people access to features and benefits right out-of-the-box.

If there are better applications available, whether free or paid, that do a better job of what Microsoft has delivered within Vista, then by all means, use them! There are no iPhone style restrictions on third party content here.

Simply put, the bar has been raised. For all of Microsoft’s faults, we can be thankful for this, and keep at them to speed up the pace and continue improving Vista through the SP1 service pack due later this year, and hassle them relentlessly to work with their partners to get all driver and software compatibility issues resolved as quickly as possible.

So, despite claims it’s just a ‘warmed over XP’, Vista is a greatly improved operating system, despite the fact that the ‘ow’ start now with all of the costs of upgrading. But in my book, the sooner people start burying Windows XP and replace it with Vista (or Linux or Mac OS X for those wanting to go down that path), the better.
{moscomment}