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Well though it seems like a silly question, I believe they are minority of them wanting to upgrade.

Well Microsoft Vista is a good OS; though as much I prefer Windows XP for customizability.

I think it is important that I share these facts so as nobody would make the wrong move before moving to the “Vista ship”. Here are some important facts which you need to take note before upgrading your current Operating System of your notebook to Windows Vista.

1 - System Check

Download and run “Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor“.This software will examine your notebook and will give you a report whether is your notebook capable of meeting’s Vista requirement.

2 - Processor Check

Your CPU processor must be at least running at a clock speed of 800MHz. For Premium OS models, it must have a 1 GHz minimum requirement.

3 - RAM Check

If you think XP consumes a lot of RAM, Vista might be you worst nightmare. Make sure you have the minimum 512 mB installed. 1 GB of RAM is recommended.

4 - Graphics Check

To run the beautiful Aero theme, your graphic must support the 64mB VGA Ram. Beware this theme is nice but consumes a lot of memory.

5 - HDD Check

Make sure you have enough hard disk space. Vista requires quite an amount of space for its system files, etc. An 80GB hard disk can be served as a minimum requirement.

6 - Optical Drive Check

Make sure you have a DVD drive installed. You can forget about Vista if you only have a Combo drive installed only.

7 - Vista Versions

Choose your Vista OS. One thing about Microsoft is that they have so many versions of the releases… (it sucks)

Vista Home Basic - The lowest end of all. No Aero-theme function.

Vista Home Premium - More like the Windows XP Media Center if you like to compare.

Vista Business - Similar to functions of Windows XP Professional except it is in Vista.

Vista Enterprise - With added security and encryption tools like BitLocker and Drive Encryption. More application compatibility tools and multi language support.

Vista Ultimate - The King of Kings ( nothing to do with Triple H’s entrance song from Motorhead). The all in one package of all the rich Vista functions.

8 - Application Compatability Check

Just like XP, Vista has its own woes when it comes to programs compatibility. Run Application Compatibility Toolkit to help you identify programs that might not worked on the Vista platform.

9 - Data Backup Check

Always before doing any form of upgrade, please remember to backup your files. All the documents, pictures and important files must be backed up so that you won’t loose those precious files. Data is essential and backup is always a must. You might not know what will happen during you upgrading installation.

I hope the 9 things can give you guys a detailed thought before any upgrade you’ve might want to make. Be it from XP to Vista, XP to OSX or XP to Linux or any other operating system which you might want to pursue.

Your comments are obviously welcome.

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