Recently in Upgrades Category

I suspect that this--How to Remove Linux and Install Windows XP--may be one of the least useful articles on support.microsoft.com; my previous sporadic encounters with installing Windows have never been notable for having trouble destroying everything on the hard drive to make way for Windows.

On the other hand, it is about installing Windows XP, not Vista; it turns out Pirates Stealing XP Twice as Much as Vista, Microsoft Doesn't Know How to Feel. Given that, perhaps this--How to go back to Windows XP after you have upgraded a Windows XP-based computer to Windows Vista is the most useful article there.

It's been a busy time for open source data intregration vendor Talend: last week, they rolled out version 2.1 of their Open Studio data integration suite.

This week, they're announcing $3.5 million in second round funding from AGF Private Equity and Galileo Partners.

While not the only (or first) open source ETL/data integration software (here's a roundup of open source Java-based ETL packages), but Talend is the first vendor to put together a comprehensive open source data integration suite.

Here's a nice little essay that's worthwhile not just for pointing out that Vista may not be worth it, but also for reminding us of why we should upgrade (or change) any software package: 4 Reasons Why Windows Vista Is Just Not Worth It.

Here's an interesting discussion about the true cost per desktop to upgrade to Microsoft Vista at Slashdot.org.

What prompted that? A little article, The Vista budget vacuum, in which James Gaskin estimates in his column in ITworld.com Small Business that the cost of new hardware, software, and servers related to the Vista upgrade may be as high as $5,000 for each and every one of your PCs.

James is a great guy, smart and funny and very knowledgeable, and he makes a good point: existing systems won't be usable with Vista, and you'll need to upgrade more than just the OS to make it worthwhile.

However, if your company assigns a usable lifetime to end-user PCs for a periodic replacement schedule, you'll have already budgeted for company-wide system replacement over that period--so your costs may be negligable.

The bigger worry will be about maintaining interoperability between different Windows versions for the duration of the replacement period.

A Microsoft-sponsored study by research firm IDC came out last week to boost a claim that rolling out Vista in Europe will drive $40 billion in economic activity and create 100,000 IT jobs in the six European countries that account for roughly two-thirds of all European IT activity.

Google Vista Microsoft IDC Study Create Jobs and you'll see a lot of articles (I saw about 270,000 hits) that reference the study, but check my first link if you want a .PDF of the actual report from IDC. It is very interesting to note that much of the study points out ways in which Vista is going to increase costs (while being good for Microsoft-related businesses): more spending on the new hardware, software, support and services related to Vista. Take a look at the bar graphs that show relative amounts spent on Vista itself, hardware and services, and you can see how a major Windows upgrade can create a major new cost center that you've now got to plan for.