Deciding whether You Need Windows Vista

If you have a PC with Windows XP installed, and it works well enough for what you want to do, leave it alone. Keep your Windows XP machine updated with the latest security patches, as soon as they're tested and found to be reliable. But don't throw it in the trash heap yet.

Some programs that Microsoft created for Vista run just fine on Windows XP. Windows Defender, the antispyware product, works on XP. Vista's initial version of Windows Media Player, WMP 11, runs rings around its earlier incarnation, as does Internet Explorer 7 — but you can run both on Windows XP. Don't pay for Vista if you have an XP system and you only want the latest versions of Defender, WMP, or IE.

More than that, if the computer you have only supports Vista Home Basic (probably because of an older video card), don't bother with Vista; stick with Windows XP. You won't see much benefit.

On the other hand, if you want to take advantage of the many compelling goodies in Vista, you could consider upgrading in the following cases:

• If you own a fairly modern PC (say, an Intel Pentium 4 running at 1.8 GHz or so, or an AMD Opteron 144 or higher), with several hundred megabytes of free disk space.

• If you have 1GB of memory or you're willing to shell out the money to get it.

• If your video card can handle the load. Many laptops simply can't run Vista, and video upgrades rate as too expensive — or just plain impossible.

You shouldn't try to upgrade to Vista unless you have enough video power to drive the Aero Glass interface. For most Windows XP users, that's the crucial upgrade decision point: The video card represents the biggest — and costliest — hurdle.

Most (but not all!) video cards that run Aero Glass use chipsets from the Big Four video chip manufacturers. For the latest info on these manufacturers, see the Web sites listed in Table 1.

Table 1: Manufacturers' Vista Sites

Want to know which video card inhabits your PC? Click Start, right-click Computer, and choose Properties. In the ensuing dialog box, click the Device Manager link at the top. If you have an Administrator account, click the Continue button to get through the User Account Control warning. (If you don't have an Administrator account, you have to beg, borrow, or steal an Administrator ID and password.) Double-click the Display Adapters line.

Technically, at a minimum, the graphics card must have DirectX 9 and Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) support, but it's easier to let the chipset manufacturers guide your decision than to wade through detailed spec sheets.

Here's the bottom line: You probably will be more productive with Vista, and if your machine (particularly your graphics card) can handle the load, you should upgrade.