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• There are four main editions available: Windows Vista Home Basic The elementary version is indeed very basic. It features the Vista OS core, but doesn't come with the fancy AeroGlass interface, nor lots of other features. It is, however, sufficient if you simply want the latest operating system and its security. Instant Search and the features described earlier in this article haven't been removed. At $199, this is the cheapest version of Vista. Windows Vista Home Premium The premium edition is $40 more expensive than the Basic edition and comes with AeroGlass and the Windows Media Center, but it lacks some features that only come with the Business, Ultimate and Enterprise editions. DVD authoring and HDTV video quality are supported, as well as Meeting Space (the successor to NetMeeting) and Remote Desktop Client capabilities. We consider the Vista Home Premium edition a nice mixture between a Home and a Media Center Edition. Windows Vista Business The business version is $299 and does not feature the multimedia capabilities of the Home edition. Instead, it comes with Internet Information Server (IIS) web server, fax support, offline file support, file system encryption and support for two processor sockets. Windows Vista Ultimate Ultimate has everything, but it is the most expensive edition at $399. It combines everything from the versions described above. In addition to these, there is a Vista Enterprise edition, which is available to Volume License customers (VL). In terms of capabilities, it lies between Vista Business and Ultimate. You will find a more detailed overview on the Vista editions on the Microsoft website. Should You Upgrade Now? Upgrading can be important if you care about Mac users not laughing at you anymore - after all, MacOS X (Tiger) has had lots of Vista's features for a long time. But let's be serious. Windows Vista certainly is the most significant Windows release ever. From a feature point of view, it implements lots of new items and additions to make use of today's technology, though this is something that we take for granted in a brand new operating system. We want indexed search, a decent interface with improved input/output options for interacting with the user and more. From an additions point of view - think of Windows Mail, Internet Explorer 7, Media Player 11 and Windows Gallery - there is not much that you cannot get from 3rd party software. Mozilla Thunderbird and Firefox, various media players or iTunes and Picasa will do the job about as well. So why upgrade? For old Windows hands, the improved security should be the strongest reason to switch, but it is the overall experience that makes Windows Vista so smooth. It installs quickly, it can easily be customized, it connects to other devices and networks much better, and finally, it just "feels good". This overall impression is likely due to performance features such as SuperFetch and ReadyBoost, which we will cover in greater detail in another article. If your PC is only average, or you hesitate to spend $199 to $399, think twice, because you may easily end up spending more money than that on hardware upgrades. Although Microsoft asks for 800 MHz and 512 MB RAM, realistically we consider 1 GB RAM and 1.2 GHz the minimum for a smooth Vista experience. If you care about good looks, be sure that your graphics card is no older than two years. Driver support can still be an issue if you need exotic hardware to work, too. For example, we are missing drivers for a webcam and a fingerprint reader. If you care about maximum system performance and responsiveness, you should try running Vista with its performance enhancement features on a decent machine and turn off all the visual goodies. Who Should Buy Windows Vista Right Away? Only you can decide if upgrading from Windows XP to Windows Vista right away makes sense for you. We do recommend, however, going for Windows Vista right away if you plan on buying a new system anyway. Five years after Windows XP, Windows Vista undoubtedly is the better operating system, period. For new systems, it isn't more expensive than Windows XP, but it gives you more comfort, better connectivity, more security and a future-proof software platform. We found it to be more accessible as well, so go for Vista if you are a beginner, rather than fighting with the difficulties of Windows XP when it comes to doing things. Join our discussion on this topic

• The first thing to understand is that Amimon isn’t using a typical data model involving compression (we’ll add lossy to this, since the technology still sounds like a form of lossless compression), transmission, and decompression on the receiving end. Instead, the company classifies its technique as a specialized video mode, which prioritizes the video data (similar to what a compression algorithm might do) and allocates channel resources. All of the data is sent all of the time, according to Amimon, so nothing is ever lost. However, “the most important” information will always be first in line for transmission. Inevitably, wireless link capacity will dip for fractions of a second, during which time the transmitter continues sending all data and the receiver attempts to receive all data. The result, in fact, is a loss in quality, starting with the data deemed least important by Amimon’s engine. Naturally, the frequency of those dips and the bandwidth available will depend on the distance between the transmitter/receiver and obstacles in the way. But it doesn’t seem like Amimon ever intended for the technology to broadcast content throughout a house. Rather, it’s much better suited to hitting a television on the other side of a room. We had the chance to test its next generation of wireless technology, which will emerge this quarter, and were unable to correctly guess the TV connected directly and the set operating wirelessly. A Small Small Form Factor Update Although we dashed off to eight other meetings/events on the first day, the only other project that really caught our eyes (other than Microsoft’s Windows 7 beta, which we’ll revisit soon), was Shuttle’s display of X58-based small form factor boxes. Its first wave of Core i7 barebones employs the company’s existing chassis design. The first system will be called the SX58H7, and is reported roomy enough for a pair of AMD or Nvidia cards in CrossFire/SLI. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to peek inside to see if the claim includes dual-slot cards. Shuttle also had its next-generation design on display and it’s quite sharp. Rather than using flip-down doors to cover externally accessible drives, it employs a small stealth door that swings open. We had hoped to write this month’s System Builder Marathon series a little differently, using compact enclosures for each of our price points. But because there weren’t any X58-based micro-ATX motherboards available yet, we had to put that project on hold. Now it’s looking like Shuttle will follow up the i7’s launch, lagging by just a couple of months, with a complete barebones platform that might wind up serving LAN party aficionados well.

• All American Computers www.aacdirect.com Kyle Felstein, the founder and CEO of All American Computers, has been working with high-end systems for quite some time. The first time I met him was in 2003 at Million Man LAN 2. He and his crew were doing free tech support for anyone who needed help with their systems. They were also involved in putting together some of AMD's first Opteron and Athlon 64 systems, which were shown off at that event. This year they built the systems for E3 and Computex for ATI. You might remember them from their involvement at the ATI Ultimate LAN party , where they gave away a system with a one-of-a-kind X850XT PE 512 MB video card. The entire system glows in the dark. The system we have in our lab is based on a custom case designed by Kyle. It is an all-acrylic case that is UV reactive. There are other versions of the same case, like red and other colors, but ours was clear. There are two compartments to separate out the heat. The bottom section houses the reservoir, power supply, a Danger Den Black Ice Extreme radiator, and the Danger Den DD12V-D5 pump. Two 120mm fans move a lot of air through the bottom of the case. The top has two more 120mm fans to move air through the main section case. There is also a second radiator to make sure the excess heat from the two 7800 GTX cards is removed.