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Windows Vista is essentially warmed-over Windows XP. If you're currently happy with Windows XP SP2, we see no compelling reason to upgrade. On the other hand, if you need a new computer right now, Windows Vista is stable enough for everyday use.

Vista is better looking, better designed and better insulated against the annoyances of the Internet. At the very least, it’s well equipped to pull the world’s PCs along for the next five years — or whenever the next version of Windows drops down the chimney.

Vista offers a lot of improvements over Windows XP, but most of them are conveniences rather than essentials.

Gradually, all Windows computers will be Vista computers, and that’s a good thing, if only for security reasons. But you may want to keep your older Windows XP box around awhile longer, until you can afford new hardware that can handle Vista.

If you want to keep up with the bleeding edge of technology, and make the most of the innovative applications that will make the most out of Vista's advances, the temptation to upgrade sooner rather than later will be hard to resist.

The extra security tools and new applications are worth the money and the hassle of the upgrade alone, and there are enough improvements to the interface and basic productivity tools to make living with it a lot easier than earlier versions of Windows. Compared to XP, Vista is a breath of fresh air.

As Bill Gates winds down his roles at Microsoft, Windows Vista may be the chief software architect's swan song. It's a shame his legacy is something so utterly unimaginative, internally discordant and woefully out of tune.

Without considering the gaming advantages of Vista, it's clear to us that the new MS OS is worth the asking price ... get a disc and start the installation - you'll never go back to bland old XP again.

In most respects, Vista is a better Windows. But you'll need patience, money and a powerful system to upgrade. The overhaul isn't so dramatic that you couldn't hum along with XP awhile longer.