Time to switch to Vista?

(FSB Magazine) -- Dear FSB: I keep hearing that the new Microsoft Vista software for small business offers better security, more efficient file-sharing, and other great features. Should I switch my travel agency over to it? -Jess Kalinowsky, Managing Partner Friends Travel, West Hollywood, Calif., FriendsTravel@earthlink.net

Dear Jess: Probably not right now. For one thing, it might not be a simple upgrade, because your current hardware could lack the computing power to handle all of Vista's bells and whistles.

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"If you buy new computers, they will come with Vista already installed," says Forrest Koch, CEO of tech consulting firm Omega Group (omegagroup.com) in Portland, Ore. Unless you were planning to buy new PCs anyway, he says, hold off for at least six to nine months, "at which point most of the bugs will have been worked out."

By waiting, Koch adds, "all the pain you would suffer by upgrading now will be experienced by somebody else."