Here's the deal: Now that we've seen the beta version of Vista, we know that with Vista's tighter security, users suddenly won't be able to do things they did before. And Vista's fancy new user interface will break a decade's worth of efficient user habits.

Ooh, they're gonna hate that.

Your opportunity? It's in a few key decisions that will make users' transition to Vista either miserable or much easier. Those decisions are whether you'll help them install their personal software, whether you'll adjust Vista so it uses classic Windows menus and whether you'll help them with Vista at home.

Personal software: You know how annoying it is that users install just about anything on their PCs? Vista's tighter security makes that harder to do. Users will no longer have administrator privileges, so they won't be able to install some software. Other software may not install at all, because Vista is designed to reduce registry changes and other problematic practices.

For IT people, this sounds like a dream come true -- no more users messing up PCs with their own software. Trouble is, some of that software is actually useful to users, and even crucial for getting real work done, even if it's not IT-approved. If users can't install it once you roll out Vista, you'll make enemies and damage productivity in a single shot.