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Issue #9 - 12.19.06
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Looking at the Vista
If you are a fan of computers or technology, then you’ve probably heard of Microsoft’s long-overdue and much-delayed operating system, Vista. Originally scheduled for late 2003 (if you can believe that!), it has already been released for Enterprise customers and will be available for the rest of us in January, 2007. Here are some of the basic questions that I get all the time about Vista, and my best attempts to answer them:
Q. Should I get Vista on my new computer?
A. After January, you won’t have much of a choice. As with Windows 2000 when XP was released, most major vendors, like Dell, will provide you the option to have XP installed on any new systems, but probably only for a month or two. All new systems will come with Vista preinstalled by default, and after a few months, you won’t have an option.
Q. Should I upgrade to Vista on my existing computers?
A. This is a more difficult question to answer. I rarely, if ever, recommend that an office install the first version of a software update, whether it’s Windows or your practice management software. There are always bugs and glitches, and as dental offices need to run smoothly, it’s hard to justify putting an untested product into that environment. I expect Vista to be more reliable as it’s had an extremely long development cycle; they started the initial work in 2001, and the Beta testing has also been quite extensive.
Q. If I’m happy with Windows XP, should I switch to Vista?
A. Again, that’s hard to answer. Having tested Vista myself, my basic response at this time is a qualified “no”. There are some interesting new features in Vista. The one that everyone talks about is the Aero interface, which allows you to stack multiple Windows on top of each in 3-D space. Cool? Absolutely. Necessary? Not so sure on that one. Other features include far greater security than XP, easier and faster setup, a much improved search engine, and better multimedia applications.
Q. I’ve heard there is more than one version of Vista. Is this true?
A. Unfortunately, there are six versions of Vista. The Windows Vista product lineup consists of two for businesses, three for consumers, and one for emerging markets: Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise, Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Ultimate and Windows Vista Starter. Most dental offices should look at Vista Business, while for Home users, I’m suggesting either Home Premium or Home Ultimate.
Q. Can my existing computer run Vista?
A. In their wisdom, Microsoft decided to further complicate that question by having two levels of compatibility: Vista Capable, and Premium Ready. In plain English, Vista Capable means it meets the minimum requirements: a processor that is at least 800 MHz, has 512 MB of RAM, and has a DirectX 9 video card. Don’t even try to run it if your specs are this low. The specs for a Premium Ready PC are quite a bit higher, and include a 1 GHz processor, IGB of memory, a video card with a minimum of 128 MB of graphics memory, and a 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB free space. Most modern computers in the past two years will easily surpass these requirements. I would suggest that anyone who gets Vista have at least a 3.0 GHz processor, 1 GB of memory, and a 100 GB drive. Dell announced a few weeks ago that they will be recommending a minimum of 2 GB of memory for Vista, which is more than about 99% of the computers that we’ve installed in the past few years.
Q. Can I find more information online about Vista?
A. Absolutely. There are a few key sites I would recommend. Here’s a great site that explains the difference between Vista Business and XP (click on Evaluate, then click Windows Vista vs. Windows XP); this will be of specific interest for dental offices. If you want a good overview of Vista Business and a jumping off point for more information, go to the Vista Business site. Finally, for an objective review of Vista, go to PC Magazine’s Vista site, which not only reviews Vista but also the software that will accompany it, including Internet Explorer 7, Office 2007, and Media Player 11.
Lorne Lavine, DMD is the Founder and President of Dental Technology Consultants. Dr. Lavine holds two prestigious certifications, the A+ Certified Technician designation and the Network+ Certified Professional. These designations demonstrate proficiency in computer repair, operating systems, network design and installation. Dental Technology Consultants provide dentists a full range of services relating to the implementation of technology.
Dr. Lavine can be reached directly at 1.866.204.3398.
Interested in speaking to Dr. Lavine about your technology concerns? Email him at Drlavine@thedentistsnetwork.net
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