To all my friends who have been asking me whether they should buy Windows Vista when it comes out, I wanted to make a public announcement: No. Don’t buy it. Stick with XP. Rule #1: never buy the first edition of any Microsoft software. Wait till they patch the hell out of it or release updates to fix all the holes and bugs. Rule #2: do your research. Read reviews. Don’t fall prey to the hype.

For 99% of you, XP is good enough, and you already own it. You won’t need to overhaul your computer to install anything and you already know how to use it. You will probably have to buy more memory to run Vista. For the law students among you, upgrading to Vista could cause problems if you plan on taking exams on your laptop. There’s no telling if ExamSoft will work. Also, there’s no telling if you’ll be able to take the Bar on your laptop. And if there’s one thing you don’t want to mess with, it’s your chances of passing the Bar. If you’re strictly a “type exams” kind of person like me, you don’t want to risk having to write all those essays by hand.

The other strange thing about Vista is its licensing. If you don’t activate the software, it will stop working. I don’t think Microsoft has ever done this. Activation is usually an option. Read the use terms yourself and see what I mean. The other issue is that you can only install Vista on one “device.” What’s a device? What happens if you get a new motherboard? A new processor? A new hard drive? That might be a new device, and you’d have to buy Vista again. This problem is not unique to Vista, but I was hoping they’d clarify the question for Vista. I guess not.

If you’re curious, you can find the use terms to most Microsoft products here.