Finally, a smart review of Windows Vista

Last week it was all Bill Gates, all the time. This week, the Windows+Microsoft folder of my RSS reader is stuffed with tearful goodbyes to Windows XP this past week, coupled with craptastic punditry about the future of Windows, has made it difficult to find actual insights.

Fortunately, something rare hit my radar today: a long, well-researched, fact-filled look at Windows and its competition. Peter Kirn of Create Digital Music wrote Adieu, XP; How Vista SP1 is Doing, and Why This OS Generation Has Been So Tough. Maybe it’s because he brought the fresh perspective (that of a digital media professional) to a subject that has been pounded so thin in the past year that it’s hard to find anything new to say.

I found myself nodding in agreement as I read this piece, which contains its fair share of fair criticism and a relentlessly realistic point of view. I was especially taken with the XP-versus-Vista section near the end. The three reasons you should use Windows XP are pretty straightforward (it’s working; you’ve got an older PC; you need it for specific compatibility reasons), but the list of eight reasons you might want to run Vista are more interesting and included at least one I’ll bet you haven’t heard of unless you are a serious digital music aficionado.

As they say, go read the whole thing.