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Above the din, the refrain is "Don't upgrade to Vista"

Those of you that follow the blogosphere (yes, both of you) may have caught the recent Miscrosoft "scandal" (actually, a non-scandal). Apparently MS sent out around 90 free laptops, with Vista installed, to high-profile bloggers (there are 90 of them?). While Dwight Sliverman and Dave Taylor aren't seeing eye to eye on what the controversy is actually about, there is one conclusion that us average computer users can come to: Don't upgrade your current machine to Vista.

"Oh Patrick, everyone knows you should keep the OS that came with you machine," I hear you say. Yeah, right. Most people who know that are either actually tech-savvy or got burned when they did try to upgrade an OS. I got burned upgrading a hand-me down laptop from 98 to 2000. But really what concerns me is the hype around all the new feature in Vista will lure the unsuspecting into switching.

And I'd be careful if I bought a Vista-ready machine recently. Read those specs, your machine should be well over any of the minimum requirements. And watch the language the Microsoft uses when they say Vista Capable and Vista Premium.

"All Windows Vista Capable PCs will run these core experiences at a minimum. Some features available in the premium editions of Windows Vista—like the new Windows Aero user experience—may require advanced or additional hardware." - From Windows Vista Capable and Premium Ready PCs website.

In other words, a Vista Capable machine probably won't run the feature that are the main reason to upgrade to Vista. Keep your OS up-to-date, but don't bother upgrading.