Microsoft promises to wow people who are upgrading from Windows XP to its new operating system, but with the joys of Windows Vista comes plenty of pain.

So I recently installed the latest Windows Vista OS on my fairly robust and new HP, ( for you tech nerds: HP Media Center PC m7350n ). I have been a Windows/PC user since the beginning. I have been through many an OS upgrade and this one by far was the most tedious, time consuming and technical. Not for the faint of heart to say the least. And all of this for what amounts to eye candy and some beefed up security.

I know, I know, I’m a sucker for technology.

The shiny new Vista disk was sitting on my desk, and I just couldn’t resist giving it a try.

Even though I fell for Vista’s promise - more security and certainly much more fun than tired old Windows XP - I tried not to be stupid.

I knew my system might have trouble coping with Vista. So being cautious, I downloaded Microsoft’s Vista Upgrade Advisor.

Microsoft’s message was blunt but useful: Yes, my computer could happily run Vista, but it would need some “minor” updates. Step-by-step instructions told me how to avoid problems:

Download a new driver for my video card;
download new software for my Logitech multimedia keyboard;
download the latest version of some audio codex software.
With a few minor exceptions, the rest of my set-up was given a clean bill of health, including my webcam and printer.

As long as you make sure the new hardware fits into the slots that come with your computer and does not overburden its power supply, it’s usually just a case of carefully lifting out the old and slotting in the new piece of kit.

Then I followed the task list drawn up by Microsoft. The Upgrade Advisor even provided direct links for downloading new drivers and other software.

Taking one more precaution, I made a full back-up of all my documents to an external hard drive.

A good start

Finally I was ready to go.

I had read somewhere that a Vista installation would take 20 minutes. ( Not if you upgrade from XP. )

After three-and-a-half hours of churning, at long last the Vista logo filled my screen.

It was the beginning of a day of anguish.

At first sight, everything had worked fine: All user accounts, complete with documents and software, were present and accounted for.

Vista looked slick. Its user interface was clear and set-up seemingly easy. The XP gobbledegook had disappeared from dialogue boxes.

Installing the new drivers were a cinch.

Software worked straight away - whether it was Microsoft Office, Firefox or my very old copy of Photoshop Elements.

Feel the pain

But soon the problems began to mount. Fiddling around with Vista’s settings, I soon found myself deep below its slick interface.

And the deeper I got, the more the look and jargon of dialogue boxes took me back into the world of XP.

But a few problems refuse to go away and are both expensive and aggravating. My Webcam still doesn’t work, and plenty of angry forum debates are testament to the distinct lack of Vista support provided by the manufacturer.

To Vista or not to Vista

I find myself caught in the Vista trap. Quite apart from the pain of having to reinstall XP, I do like Vista.

It’s slick, it’s fast, it is very user-friendly. I like its applications - for example, Windows Picture Gallery, which could become a serious competitor to my favorite image browser.

However, there are still plenty of wrinkles. The Windows “sidebar” may look nicer than Google desktop, but it crashes regularly and infuriates me because its “gadgets” can not be customized.

I’ve had two Vista crashes so far - not a blue but a black screen - and that really shouldn’t happen. I can’t even remember my last XP crash.

I cant play the customary battle games with my buds here in the office - like Call of Duty 2. And I’m afraid to try any of the other shoot-em-ups we used to play in the good old days.

And everywhere I look, there are blogs and forums full of people who have problems with software drivers and suffer the poor customer support of the hundreds of hardware and software vendors that make up the Windows ecosystem.

So would I do it again?

The answer is no. Do what I originally had planned to do. Wait for half a year until the driver issues are settled and then buy a new PC.

Once that’s in place, you can upgrade and tinker with your old machine, to give to your parents or children.

You will probably enjoy Vista, but there’s little reason to do it the hard way.