John Hill Talks Tablets

Who gives a rat's patoot about Vista?

I'm sure I talk to half a dozen people every day about Vista. Having been to several seminars from Microsoft and seen all the demos, I'm left to wonder what is all the fuss about?

First off, anyone with experience using Microsoft products knows that only a fool walks the bleeding edge of their products without waiting for a Service Pack release. This is not news, yet the hype has caused many otherwise rational people to foam at the mouth wondering how they can install the beta. These same folks are using their tablet PCs for critical business tasks, yet the prospect of seeing fancy graphics (MS calls it Aero Glass) causes them to panic that the powerful business tool they own won't give them the "open, lightweight environment", "dynamic reflections" and "smooth animations" promised in Vista.

Don't get me wrong, I love shiny, new things as much as the next person. On the other hand, I have a business to run and if Vista can provide me the tools I need to make more money in less time, I'll upgrade. Right now though, I have everything promised in Vista on my desktop now. I looked at the Business section on the Windows Vista Homepage. On the left are the promised benefits of Vista; on the right are what I am using now to accomplish the same thing free or at a very reasonable cost.

Find and Use Information - Google Desktop

Enable Your Mobile Workforce - VPN, Citrix GoToMyPC

Improved Security - AVG Corporate

Optimize Your Desktop Infrastructure - Windows XP Professional

So please, don't get your knickers in a bunch! Read all the blogs (especially this one :-), subscribe to PC Magazine and watch ZDNet, but unless you have a spare computer to mess around with, don't worry about the magical Vista Operating System until Service Pack 1 is released and tested. My target date to "believe the hype" - the end of Microsoft's fiscal year and the time they try to encourage all their customers to purchase large enterprise agreements - June 2007.