KEY POINTS:
What is it?
Microsoft's long-awaited new version of its Windows operating system, the successor to Windows XP, which has seen PC users through for the past five years. Microsoft took a long time to redesign Windows, learning from the likes of competitors Apple and Google and trying to get to grips with the web services revolution.
What makes it tick?
Vista sees Windows redesigned, virtually from the ground up, as Microsoft decided in 2004 to effectively abandon previous work on the operating system and redesign it based on Microsoft's Windows Server 2003 code. That has led to a long delay in Vista's availability but Microsoft claims Vista is now better equipped to handle our demanding computing needs.
What makes it cool?
The most obvious change to Windows is the revamped graphical user interface and a nice feature called Aero, which lets you display open documents and window panes in 3D.
A much-improved search function is built into the Start menu, building on the popularity of Google's search engine and desktop search. Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Media Player 11 have been improved, as have most Windows applications.
Windows Media Center, which lets you play music and video and record live TV if you have a TV tuner card installed in your computer, used to be a separate product but is now included with all but the basic version of Vista. Beefed up security features try to correct Windows' patchy safety history.
It's not all that expensive because ...
As we increasingly use multimedia applications and services delivered via the internet, we'll need an operating system for our computers that's more robust than Windows XP.
Vista is that operating system and there's enough in there to make it a compelling upgrade. Local pricing for Vista, which goes on sale this month, hasn't been released but the "home" versions will likely cost $200 to $500 depending on whether you are upgrading or buying a new copy off the shelf.
