A key worry that many InfoWorld readers have expressed in terms of software compatibility rests with desktop anti-virus. With the redesigned Vista kernel, existing Windows XP anti-virus packages won't run on Vista. This situation has folks with hundreds or thousands of anti-virus client licenses concerned about how upgrading will affect their budgets. Fortunately, anti-virus vendors are taking the sensible approach.

'We had no problem with having to purchase additional Symantec licenses,' FranklinCovey's Connelly says. 'Under our corporate license, this was considered a feature upgrade, and we didn't have to pay anything extra. Symantec got us the code, and we've made it part of our WIM files.' Although grateful for Symantec's stance on the redesign, Connelly isn't leaving well enough alone. He's taking the opportunity to evaluate other desktop security platforms, notably Windows Live OneCare -- yet another benefit of an organized software remediation and planning phase.

Gut check: hardware performance

'Definitely, a managed desktop resource is a huge help when planning for Vista,' HP's Foster says. 'But you're still going to need to do some heavy manual lifting. There's no escaping that.' And it's with hardware where this lifting will be the heaviest, especially as hardware assessment will be a far more important part of the Vista migration planning process than it has been for the past couple of Windows generations.

When it comes to hardware, Microsoft has been downplaying Vista's requirements. The truth is that the OS is built to take advantage of the latest hardware developments. As such, deploying Vista over older hardware will generate issues. That means surveying the hardware landscape is another critical step -- one that simply cannot be done with software tools alone. And then there's that other thing ...