So many people are reporting major problems with Microsoft Vista. I don't believe that this should stop the progress that Vista offers.

BLUF : Bottom Line Up Front: There are more computer users that have never seen an Operating System change, in order to realize that they all compatibility issues, than those of us who have seen at least one if not several. Vista is no more of a transition than XP was from previous versions.

1) Compatibility with old Operating System software isn't new.

In the early days of computing it was as regular as the ever increasing advances in technology. The first generations of Macintosh and IBM computers more often than not the new computers made old software obsolete. This required business and home users to begin purchasing a whole new set of software. At that time also, Operating Systems were more closely linked with new versions of computers.

With advances in hardware often times computer languages get refined, improved, deprecated, or abandoned. For example computer code that DDR RAM could become obsolete and even hindering when DDR3 or later generations becomes the standard. This obsolete code can cause confusion or complications within software that is currently running.

This confusion could be a result of file types that have changed or eliminated; the new software may require files to be named or have the same extensions as the old software.

You may have seen some Operating Systems labeled as 32 bit or 64 bit. Operating System bit rate refers to a hardware specifications of the front side bus connecting the processor to the remainder of the hardware. The 64 bit FSB (front side bus) allows more information into the processor in one nano-second cycle, but has some special software considerations. Early computers were built with 4 and 8 bit FSB. So you can see that we have experienced several of these changes already.

Windows 3.1x was 16 bit. Windows 95 could be set up for either 16 bit or 32 bit. Windows 98 was the first to cross over and provide dual compatibility with and support for both systems. Windows XP Had issues with 16 bit programs that predated Windows 95, and even had some problems with programs that ran well on Win 9x.

Vista supports either of two bit rates, 32 bit and 64 bit. Here the user must know their hardware and what they need.

2) Windows XP has had an unusually long run as a predominate Operating System.

Here is a timeline of Microsoft Windows products taken from ABOUT.COM

Timeline of Microsoft Windows

* 1983 Microsoft Windows was first announced in November, 1983.
* 1985 Microsoft Windows version 1.0 was released in November, 1985.
* 1987 Microsoft Windows version 2.0 was released in April, 1987.
* 1990 Microsoft Windows version 3.0 was released in May, 1990.
* 1992 Microsoft Windows version 3.1 was released in April, 1992.
* 1995 Microsoft Windows 95 was released in August, 1995.
* 1998 Microsoft Windows 98 was released in June, 1998.
* 1999 Microsoft Windows 98 SE (Second Edition) was released in May, 1999.
* 2000 Microsoft Windows ME (Millennium) was released in July, 2000.
* 2001 Microsoft Windows XP was announced on February 5, 2001.

As you can see - Windows XP is the only Operating System that has seen a 7 year run as the undisputed champ of Operating Systems.

This has created an entire generation of computer users that have known nothing but Windows XP.

3) The number of homes owning computers has increased.

Percentage of households with a computer:
1990 - 15.2%
1997 - 35.6%
2001 - 56.3% or 61 million homes
2007 - Estimated 63%

There are more computer users that purchased computers after 2001 and the issuing of XP than have had computers in all the years before (factoring in population increase along with the increase in household percentages).

4) Although there are some issues with applications, most of the problems are with locations of functions, and with changes in the graphics interfaces. This can slow productivity at first, but we must remember that the commands are all there somewhere, and the overall goal was to bring about an increase in tools and therefore much better quality and productivity in the long run.