Is Vista Right for You?

Bass's take on Vista, help deciding about the Vista upgrade, and three diabolical games.

"Hey Bass, you doing anything with Vista?" It was my newsletter editor. I was about to say that I was doing my best to avoid it, but thought I'd placate him.

"I'm playing around with Vista, but it's still on a test PC," I said. "For the time being, I'm going to stick with XP."

What's neat about writing for PC World is that I have lots of freedom to say what I think. And I've been thinking about the Vista upgrade for a while knowing that what I say can have an impact on many of you.

So this week I'm telling you what I think. I also have a few Vista articles that may help you make the upgrade decision.

Here goes: There are only two reasons to upgrade. One is if XP is giving you trouble. The other? If you buy a new PC with Vista on it.

I have to upgrade in order to keep working for PC World; otherwise, I wouldn't. (And actually, I'm not upgrading my production PC.) I mean it when I say upgrading is overrated. I get Intuit upgrades for free and I'm still using QuickBooks 2000; my wife's using Quicken 1999.

Are you still on the fence about a Vista upgrade? I have something for you try while you're pondering.

Microsoft's Vista Upgrade Advisor tells you which of your programs and drivers won't work in Vista. The tool is handy, revealing, and in a typical Microsoft fashion, almost useless.

When I ran the program, it came as no surprise that I had hardware inadequacies. If I wanted the fancy video features of Windows Aero, I'd need to get a new graphics card.

But I was blown away when I learned that I'd need a new sound card, too. My Voyetra Turtle Beach wouldn't work with Vista.

There were a dozen other drivers that were branded with "There is no compatibility data available for this device" warnings, including Acronis True Image, my two ViewSonic monitors, a DYMO LabelWriter, and both the primary and secondary IDE channels on my systemboard.

I'm guessing I'll be able to find current drivers, but call me cranky if you want--I'm not happy about having to track them all down.

In all, Microsoft's tool rejected a dozen programs, including Nero Ultra, Spyware Doctor, Total Recorder, and RealNetworks Rhapsody.

Most disappointing, but not surprising, was the fact that that Upgrade Advisor didn't even look at the many shareware programs I rely on. For instance, it had nothing to say about As-You-Type, my on-the-fly spell checker; UltraMon, the utility for managing my dual-monitor setup; AdMuncher, the ad and pop-up blocker I won't browse without; WinPatrol, the program that guards my startup group; MyUninstaller, and a dozen others.

But don't take my word for it; try the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor yourself. Good luck with it--and let me know what it finds.

Dig This: New York's fascinating history is available in a collection of wonderful old images at Wired New York. I spent an enjoyable hour browsing through them. [Thanks to Sandra C. for the lead.]

Contributing Editor Dan Tynan spent some quality time with users who switched to Vista early on. Dan's story is worth reading because it'll give you insight into how they adjusted (or in some cases didn't) to Vista. If nothing else, take a look at the User Surveys section that outlines the problem products.

Dig This: It's linguistic hell. That's what my buddy Zachary is calling it. He wrote and asked if I remembered a puzzle I wrote about a while back, one with numbers that forced you to figure out how to get from one Web page to the next using representations on the page. (The "Dig This" he's referring to up next.) Lexicon is just as difficult, he said, and he admonished me not to ask me for clues. I agree, it's a toughie.

Dig This, Too: You're not going to like this one, even if you're a mathematician, an engineer, or a nonlinear thinker. The puzzle doesn't have a name. It doesn't come with instructions. When you start, you're just there, plunging in and doing it. Well, maybe doing it. I wasn't doing much of anything besides struggling for the first 10 minutes. (Okay, stop whining. Here's a hint: the next page is http://n.nfshost.com/2.html; watch the pattern.)

I'm guessing Contributing Editor Scott Spanbauer spent weeks writing "The Right Operating System for You." The article is lengthy and detailed, and does a terrific job of comparing each of the operating systems. If you're interested just in Vista, jump to "Vista Sightings"; you could also go straight to the chart comparing the OSs.

Dig This: If you didn't like the number or linguistic game, here's another that you won't like. It's the Everybody Panic! Line Game. I did so poorly I won't give you my embarrassingly low score. The only instructions? Stay in the black. [Thanks to Paul C. for this gem.]

Steve Bass

Steve Bass writes PC World's monthly "Hassle-Free PC" column and is the author of PC Annoyances, 2nd Edition: How to Fix the Most Annoying Things About Your Personal Computer, available from O'Reilly. He also writes PC World's daily Tips & Tweaks blog. Sign up to have Steve's newsletter e-mailed to you each week. Comments or questions? Send Steve e-mail.