Vista is coming, and if you are on the bleeding edge of the technology wave, then you had better be prepared for what's in store.

"Release to manufacturing (RTM) signifies the completion of our development work and the start of the next phase for Windows Vista," Sven Hallauer, Microsoft director of program management and release manager, said.

That next phase for Vista started November 8, 2006 and will end on the official launch date. The RTM version left Microsoft and went into the hands of independent hardware (IHV) and software vendors (ISV) to get their products ready for the January 30 launch date.

A month has passed since the RTM build hit the ISV and IHV, and I thought it would be interesting to see how well prepared the consumer graphics industry is for launch. I'll take a look at what Vista has to deliver as it is available today. I'll also show the graphical interface and talk about the current status of the new operating system (OS). Lastly, I'll present my findings on the performance differences between Windows XP Professional and Vista Ultimate.

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