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So In two weeks I get a new computer. Unfortunately (for me, you may feel differently) it comes with a new and unfamiliar OS, Windows Vista Home Something. So what can I expect in the way of problems? And do I immediately have to upgrade it on the Windows site to avoid crippling security vulnerabilities?

The Vista version is Home Premium, if that helps.

If it's preinstalled, it should work, I think. Give it a try and if you feel it's not your thing, you can always install something else.

And do I immediately have to upgrade it on the Windows site to avoid crippling security vulnerabilities?

I don't know about "crippling", but it might be a good idea to install a good AV and firewall before you go online and it's always best to immediately update the system.

I get a free anti-virus and firewall from my internet provider which is pretty good which is the first download on my list before I do anything. I was just wondering if Vista had the same problem that XP SP1 had with the immediate trojan virus that you would get if the first thing you didn't do was download SP2.

If you have a HP printer more than six months old you may not be able to do shared or network printing.

I get a free anti-virus and firewall from my internet provider which is pretty good which is the first download on my list before I do anything.

Download them on your current computer, burn them to a CD and install them on the new PC before you connect to the internet. Better safe than sorry...

a fresh install with one of the newest builds - no problems unless you have hardware and peripherials more than six months old.

I've been using Home Premium on my desktop at home since I built it earlier this year, and I've had no problems. The Windows Firewall is sufficient for the firewall, just install a anti-virus and maybe a malware scanner, and you'll be alright.

There's no immediate threats to security you need to worry about, and I keep it doing Automatic Updates, so i don't have any problems with it all.

Seriously, the OS has come along a good bit since it's release - especially with the security patches.

DarkSilver wrote:a fresh install with one of the newest builds - no problems unless you have hardware and peripherials more than six months old.

I've been using Home Premium on my desktop at home since I built it earlier this year, and I've had no problems. The Windows Firewall is sufficient for the firewall, just install a anti-virus and maybe a malware scanner, and you'll be alright.

There's no immediate threats to security you need to worry about, and I keep it doing Automatic Updates, so i don't have any problems with it all.

Seriously, the OS has come along a good bit since it's release - especially with the security patches.

That's good to know, this will essentially be a stand-alone machine used for surfing the net and playing games. All the peripherials are being kept on the old machine.

Thanks for the input everyone.

Its safe enough to run even without an AV if you know what you're doing. Wouldn't recommend it though. Nothing out there like the XPSP1 unpatched getting raped inside half an hour of connecting to the internet. I'd recommend you use Vista's built-in firewall instead of a third party solution - it is much better integrated then most solutions (less compatibility problems), while offering more then sufficient capabilities for home use.

The main issue you should be worried about is driver support - most stuff should be OK by now, and for a lot of the rest XP drivers do work with possibly some workarounds, however there is a possibility of running into stuff that simply isn't supported. Mostly relegated to weird stuff, but there are also surprises coming from established manufacturers (like the HP example).

All in all, try it out - most people who don't run smack into driver hell consider it a pretty decent upgrade. I've been running Vista since RC1 (currently running Business) and going back to XP for any prolonged period of time is a pain - the interface improvements, while not seeming like such big changes, really are useful, for example.

If you use PDFs Adobe may not work the way it's supposed to. And the folders will almost never remember the settings you leave for them.

Also, unless you have a Creative X-Fi, all sound processing is done in software, since they rewrote the audio stack to run entirely in user mode and it no longer has direct access to the sound card drivers. The upside, though, is that crashes in the audio stack usually won't take the whole machine down as well, like they would under previous versions of Windows.

Thats actually a good thing since doing the effects in software (with minimal cpu overhead) allows you to have what used to be reserved for only Creative owners (and a few others) on every sound card, including the crap integrated ones. It only sucks in the case of legacy games that only support hardware accelerated sound effects and as such, on Vista, those aren't available (Creative did release its Alchemy solution for that though - only they're peddling the entire story under the "Big bad M$" angle because they've been made utterly irrelevant except for a few niches thanks to this change).