We've been hearing about it for a couple years, and the day has finally come.

On January 30th, Microsoft will release their next generation operating system and replacement for Windows XP, Windows Vista to the public.

Vista offers new levels of usability and security. Vista brings a completely redesigned user interface which brings a beauty and elegance to Windows that we've never seen before.

We here at Turcotte Data & Designs belong to a partner program with Microsoft where we were provided a pre-release copy of Windows Vista and have been running it in a production environment for over a month. I must say I am impressed. While things have definitely changed, the average user should have little problems adapting to the new user interface.

One of the new things that has changed in an effort to prevent virus infections, is a confirmation box that pops up every time a user attempts to do something "important". An example of this would be installing software. Each time a user attempts to install software, a box pops up asking them if they have authorized the installation of this software. While this takes some time to get used to, it is not overly intrusive and something other operating systems like Apple's OS X, have been doing for a long time.

The biggest "problem" with Vista, at least right away, for users will be the lack of hardware driver and software support. For example, we needed to update our version of the popular QuickBooks software in order to run it on Vista as the old version was not supported.

If you're ready for the next generation of operating systems, but want to make sure your current computer, software, and peripherals are ready for Vista, contact us today for a technology evaluation.

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