In my mind, the contest comes down to two choices.
Today, there are plenty of desktop search products available for Windows XP. Since then, three years of delays have allowed competitors like Google and Apple to take note of Microsoft's strategy and release desktop search packages of their own. XP replacements for popular Windows Vista applications and features Windows Search: Windows Desktop Searchīack in 2003, Microsoft proudly showed off the WinFS-based Windows Search features it then planned to include in Windows Vista. And as I'll describe in the next section, there are plenty of excellent solutions out there that will make you forget all about Redmond's next operating system. If you'd like to stick with Windows XP for a while longer, here's some good news. Sure, you've waited 5 years for Windows Vista, but so what? Will another 6 months or a year be a problem? Really? And by doing so, you can eek some more time out of your XP investment, save up for a future Vista PC, or just avoid all the headaches that go along with upgrading to a new Windows version. These and other Vista-specific applications are really neat, but you can get identical or nearly identical applications on Windows XP too. Things like the Windows Sidebar, Windows Calendar, Windows Photo Gallery, and Windows Media Player 11. Applications that are supposed to make people want Windows Vista. I'm talking about pure end user goodness here.
But do you really need Aero, along with its annoying incompatibilities, many of which result in sudden and jarring jumps into the Windows Basic interface? And no, most of Windows Vista's security features aren't available to XP users either, but you know what? You might not need them either, especially if your system is adequately defended with a hardware firewall and a good security software suite. No, you can't get the Windows Aero user experience without Vista, though I suspect the wizards over at Stardock will get pretty close. Well, that's exactly what I'm telling you.
But what would you say if I told you that the vast majority of new end user features in Windows Vista were already available to you-most of them for free, no less-in Windows XP? And that by skipping Windows Vista, at least for the time being, you'd be left with a PC that was faster, more compatible with the software and hardware you own, and just about as capable as an otherwise identical PC running Windows Vista? Sure, Windows Vista is cool, sort of, and it's got some neat new functionality. What I'm getting at is that the Next Big Thing isn't always a given. From my side of the fence, your lawn is looking pretty darned good too. Sometimes I wish I just used my computers as the tools that they are, and didn't have to spend so much time installing, reinstalling, and fixing problems. If you're envious of that for some reason, consider this little slice of "grass is always greener" logic: Sometimes I wish my PCs just worked. Obviously, I spend a lot of time working with beta software.