Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium UPGRADE [DVD] [OLD VERSION]

I'm a huge XP fan (well, XP Pro). I love Linux - especially the Fedora and Ubuntu flavors. Can't say much for Macs (because I haven't goofed around on one since the Classic days - but the commercials make me want to chew my own fist off)... And now we have Vista.

I waited until now to finally get the Vista upgrade and check it out for myself. I was hesitant to do so sooner because of the overwhelmingly negative or just plain unenthusiastic response to it. Fortunately, I found a way to keep my existing XP Pro operating system, and just install Vista from the upgrade disc on a separate partition, thus mitigating the risk of plunging in headfirst.

I noticed a few hiccups from the start - like the fact that AVG 8.0 was having trouble installing, or that I couldn't run certain programs from my XP partition for whatever reason. But overall, I feel pretty good about my first Vista experience. I have to say that Aero is just plain sweet - the glass effect is about as cool as it gets. I also activated the 'secret' Administrator account so I didn't have to click through all those nagging security prompts (not that those bother me that much).

The actual Windows environment has changed, and it seems that some tasks have become a little more long-winded or certain features seem to be a little more buried, but for the most part, it has the same classic Windows feel. I was bummed that I couldn't connect to a domain with Home Premium, but a quick tweak of the registry allowed me to continue enjoying the shared directories on my Linux server (running Samba).

I think my impression of Vista is much better than a lot of people's. I also think if you're going to get a new computer, then Vista is totally the way to go, even though XP SP2 (or 3) is still a rock solid OS (and pretty hard to top). I only hope that Microsoft will put out SP2 for Vista before switching gears to Windows 7.

Do not waste your money or your time with this product. lemon laws should apply here. I bought the item at Target, Sacramento. They would not refund my money - and would only do a product exchange. They had a bin behind the exchange counter dedicated to returned Windows Vista.
Buyer beware.

Bought Vista for my older HP. The program gave me the green light so I finished the install. Now my computer acts like it is infected. Very slow and with many freezes. Tonight I am reinstalling Windows XP and getting a refund.

Had a problem with the Product Key,
Could not register this copy of Windows Vista upgrade,
Had to exchange it,

I do not know if it is me or not however my Intel Pentium 4 w/ HT according to HP is supposed to not only be set up for Vista, but is also supposed to run the 64 bit version. Maybe I did not load the program properly.