i am planning on buying a new laptop and am not sure which Vista i should install. i am planning on upgrading to 1GB of memory, and i do not know if that will be enough to run the new Aero feature........ will i have enough RAM to run Premium with 1GB, or should i stick with Basic?

On a new PC, notebook or desktop, running Vista, I'd recommend 1G RAM as a minimum. Make sure it is upgradable to 2G at a minimum, too.

Otherwise, there's more differences between Vista Basic and other versions than just whether it will run Aero, although Aero does look cool.

Here's a website explaining and showing those differences: Winsupersite - Vista Product Editions.

if i have windows vista home premium installed, how much RAM am i going to be left with for use when using the Aero feature

The RAM that Aero uses is video RAM.

If the new system has Vista Premium on it, then it has enough video RAM to run it, obviously.

In general, if the new system is using "shared" RAM, meaning the video is using a portion of that 1G system RAM, then it will use that RAM whether Aero is turned on or not.

ok so in your opinion, do u think that 1GB will be enough to run premium and still have fast performance?

here better yet i will give u the specs of the laptop i am planning to buy....... tell me if u think it will work....

dell inspiron 1501
AMD Turion™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-50
1GB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
60GB Hard Drive

do u think that will be good for vista premium?

What about your Video RAM? You should have a minimum of 128MB, with 2 or more pixel shader and capable of running DirectX 10. But again, if Dell is providing you with a pre-installed Home Premium, then it will obviously meet the requirements including the Aero feature.

Also, I would try for a 100GB Hard drive or more especially if you download photos, movies and music.

I have a Dell Dimension 5150 which I bought in June 2006 with XP Pro. It came with 1GB of RAM but I added 2 more 512MB sticks, to make it 2GB. I also bought a Vista compatible Video card with 512MB ram just in case I want to do some high end gaming.

As soon as my firewall program comes with a Vista compatible version, I'll be wiping the drive and going to Home Premium, fresh install.

Happy computer huntin'!

well teh included video card is as follows:

ATI RADEON® Xpress1150 256MB HyperMemory™ (Integrated)

so you think that will be sufficient?

Speed, as they say, is relative.

At that price point, you can't expect blazing, high-end performance.

You will be able to upgrade the RAM in that notebook in the future, and, don't forget, Vista's ReadyBoost will allow you to use some USB flash drives as additional system RAM, speeding up the OS a little.

If you aren't doing anything that is heavily RAM intensive and don't have a lot of programs using up RAM in background, you should be OK, again, considering that price point.

I'm actually using that ATI in my Gateway notebook, with the TL-52 CPU and 2 G RAM. I'm getting what would be called "middle of the road" performance, which I feel is acceptable considering my cost, too.

FWIW - the hard drive is pretty small, I've got a 60 gB hard drive in my laptop and it's about 1/2 full - no music or videos.

i have been watching reviews of vista on youtube and have been seeing a lot of negative feedback...... i am now second guessing whether or not i should install vista or XP......... anyone have advice?

Personally, I prefer Vista over XP as I haven't had many problems especially related to drivers and all my programs at least work. If you can afford it, I suggest getting the XPS laptop at the cheapest price and getting at least 2GB of RAM and upgrade the video card. The XPS unlike the Inspiron notebook allows for a dedicated graphics card which will increase performance with Vista.

Yes, ignore the naysayers unless the problem specifically refers to software you may have to run or hardware that you have.

Even then, check to make sure that what the person is saying is a problem really is. For example, they may not have the current drivers for a video card, and they are complaining that Vista won't run.

I would say that unless you have a compelling reason not to run Vista, why not use it since is will only improve, just as XP did? Remember, people were saying those exact same things about XP when it first came out. If we had all listened to them, we'd still be running Win 98se, or Me. (Even though some still are, they can't run some of the newest software, so they are having similar problems to some Vista folks waiting for Vista capable versions of programs.)

Those of us that have been around PCs for years will remember these same things being said about newer versions of DOS, the original version of Windows, then W95, etc., etc., etc.

What you will want to do is make a list of all the software you wish to install. Then go to the vender's website or google the product to find it. See if they have a Vista compatible version. If so, then download these software's if possible and burn everything to a CD or DVD.

Then, when you get your Vista computer (probably pre-installed), you will do the following in this order

1) Make sure Vista firewall is on.
2) Install your Antivirus, update it and make sure it is always running in the background, autoupdates, and loads at startup (Do NOT go on the internet until this is done).
3) Go to Windows update and get all the updates.
4) Install the latest Java Runtime, ver 6, update 1 (essential software to view many web pages).
5) Get Flashplayer & Shockwave Player. If you plan to install Firefox, I think, there's specific versions of these softwares for that browser.
6) Install all your security apps including Firewall (turn off Vista firewall, if you're going to use a 3rd party firewall), anti-spyware and standalone scanners like Ad-Aware, Spybot. Update them and run scans.
7) Install all your remaining Vista Compatible software.
8) Go through your hardware and see if there are any specific driver updates for your system. You can also do this through your computer manufacturer's website.

Take any negative reviews of Vista with a grain of salt....many of the complainers either have incompatible software, drivers, insufficient RAM or hardware or they are on the "learning curve" and are too impatient.

I remember when I went from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95. I hated 95 since it was so different than 3.1. However, after I got used to it, I loved it.

I've been using Vista since the 52xx builds and find it to be much better than XP. That being said, the software industry hasn't caught up with it yet - so running programs on it can be frustrating.

My advice to most folks is, if you can't live without a certain piece of hardware or a certain program - then find a way to test it out first. It's an awful lot of money to spend just to get a new OS that you can't use.

There are ways to force quite a few apps to work in Vista, but these "tricks" won't work for every program. I've installed WFW 3.11 games in Vista that work just fine, yet I've found XP games that just won't work no matter what you try.

If you're willing to work at making it work for you, you'll grow to like it. But if you're expecting it to work the same as XP - then you'll be disappointed.

EDIT: BTW - If all you use the PC for is surfing the web and checking your email, then Vista will work fine, and a prebuilt system with Vista already installed would be your best bet.