Microsoft's Vista is starting to appear on the store shelves and in the hands of corporate users. It represents some big challenges and opportunities for the channel to sell upgrades for systems, as well as some training and knowledge issues as VARs and system houses learn what is new.

In this article, we cover what are biggest concerns for system builders.

Three reasons why Vista can be more compelling than XP for the channel:

VARs can tie in a hardware upgrade at the same time VARs can get more profit from Vista machines since they will require more RAM and graphics horsepower VARs can differentiate themselves through service and support for Vista over earlier Windows OS'

Recommended System Configuration

The biggest issue for running Vista is its graphics hardware. Don't think for a moment that Vista will run acceptably on three-year old hardware. Think of Vista as a very demanding FPS game and you'll have the right idea for the right graphics card. Microsoft has their "upgrade advisor" routine on their Web site. It does the most basic system assessment, and perhaps the most important information it provides is whether the BIOS and graphics system can handle Vista. You can download a copy here.

Microsoft uses the terms "Vista Capable" and "Vista Ready" but these really don't mean anything. Let's give you THG's own recommendations for what you really want to put inside the box. First, we recommend at least 256 MB of graphics RAM. Using any integrated graphics card isn't going to be very satisfying, and VARs will get lots of complaints from their customers if they try to cut corners here.

We also recommend at least 2 GB of system RAM in any system that runs Vista. The OS uses lots of system memory, and some early testers have found that anything less is painful. Also, we recommend a CPU with at least a clock speed of 2.5 GHz. Microsoft's Website has lower requirements, but these aren't going to showcase Vista well and your customers will complain with less-adept hardware. We also recommend a combo DVD/CD burner for any Vista machine: the Vista OS ships on a DVD, rather than on a CD.

The best situation is to do a new install for Vista, rather than a system upgrade from XP. We recommend reformatting your customer's PCs and putting a clean copy of Vista on it, rather than doing any of the Microsoft upgrades.

VAR Tip: Use Laplink or other data-transfer applications and offer a service to your customers to migrate their PCs from XP to Vista.