What to do about anti-virus? You'll have to buy or download a third-party program. Not all anti-virus software works with Vista yet, and it's not clear which will work, and which won't, so this may be problematic for anyone upgrading to Windows Vista. Also not clear is whether the license you've bought for a Windows XP version will be able to be used for the Windows Vista version.

But some anti-virus software does work. If you're looking for a very good free program for personal use, avast! is a good choice -- it's lightweight and uses very few system resources.

Parental controls

If you're a parent, are worried about how your children use the computer and the Internet, and believe that a software tool for blocking access is part of the answer to your worries, you'll be pleased with the new Parental Controls feature built into Windows Vista.

Microsoft has managed to give you exceedingly fine-trained control over all aspects of how the computer is used, from Internet access, to games, to even the exact times and days the computer is being used. And it's managed to do that in a simple-to-use interface.