Vista Second-Guessing

The first copies of Vista were shipped to the company's largest customers in November, but writers for trade and consumer publications have had the software for some time.

"The general consensus is pretty guarded," says Harry McCracken, editor-in-chief of PC World. "Everyone agrees there is good stuff, but everyone also agrees that after waiting so long since XP, this is not a huge improvement."

Even so, McCracken notes that interest in the software is stronger than he had expected, and says that "under the hood" features of Vista, such as the ability to work better with Intel's(INTC Quote - Cramer on INTC - Stock Picks) new dual-core processors, and support for powerful new graphics cards, will tempt buyers as new applications that take advantage of the software's hidden strengths come to market.

But that, he says, could take some time.