I’m just going to give out my recommendation as a blanket statement to everyone.  When you start seriously thinking of upgrading to Microsoft’s Windows Vista, simply plan on buying a new computer.

In the long run, you will be much, much happier with the result.  Unless you just bought a new computer and have the “coupon” for the Vista upgrade, upgrading aging hardware, migrating your data and dealing with some hard to find drivers will be a painful experience.

So, I strongly recommend just going and buying a new PC when the time is right.  Instead of spending additional money on upgrading RAM, disk, video, etc… just put that cash aside for a new computer.

With that said, my second recommendation to go with Vista is to forget desktops.  Look at purchasing a laptop instead.  Yeah, yeah, yeah this doesn’t accommodate all the gamers out there, but you guys know what you need anyway.  I’m talking about the average computer user who is served quite well in the sub $1,000 market for laptops.  Trust me, there are literally dozens of options among the 1st and 2nd tier vendors.  Laptops are starting to head below $500 now for the low-end, but you’ll find the machine to fill your needs somewhere between $600-$1,000 at this time.

Another option to consider is the latest in mobility, a UMPCs that will provide the utmost in mobile computing convenience.

Just remember that Vista is a new experience, and the slow or troublesome computer you’ve been putting up with will be a great backup web browser, but not a good candidate for a Vista upgrade.

Disagree?  Well, let me know in the comments!