1. There haven't been many reports as yet on installation of Vista, but eWeek - a usually reliable source - has strongly recommended - a full installation on a clean machine, as opposed to an "upgrade" installation with WinXP already installed. They report problems in their labs with attempts to "upgrade to Vista."

That was the recommended method for all Win versions, at least when first released, from Win98 and after. Later (more mature?) versions were more successful at upgrade as opposed to clean install. With Vista, this may be less a problem since fewer old machines will have all the hardware resources you'll want for Vista(?).

2. The practice of licensing OEM products to the machine on which they're first installed will probably continue with Vista. It's unclear whether purchase of an "over-the-counter" Vista will allow you to transfer it to a different machine (it did through WinXP) or whether some other EULA conditions will apply. It likely will be several months before you can buy the FRP (full retail package) from a store, as the present release appears to be to OEM builders only.

3. There are several versions of Vista, and at present it's very difficult to tell which one you might really want to have. There are "descriptions" but they tend to be something like "this one's magic," and "this one's magic too but it's different." Not really too helpful. Caution is advised to be sure you're looking at the same version that the reviewer described when you were convinced it's what you want. Reviewers often don't mention which one they're talking about - and the are different.

4. Expect MUCH STRICTER registration and "licensed copy" checking than was the case even for WinXP. Microsoft has stated that they intend to DISABLE unlicensed copies of Vista when they find them, which is a change from prior practice. (Not all threats/bluffs get carried out, but ...)

John