Windows Vista, previously codenamed Longhorn, is Microsoft's long-awaited upgrade to the Windows XP desktop operating system. According to the design objectives, Vista promises to deliver increased usability, security and manageability.

Initial releases of Vista will be shipped on a limited basis during the second half of 2006, with full rollout into the market taking place during 2007. Both the rollout schedule, which has suffered from numerous slippages over the last couple of years, and the value and impact of Vista in practical terms, have been the subject of significant interest in the press and general IT community. Awareness of Vista's impending arrival is therefore reasonably high. The question is, however, how will Vista be received when it eventually gets here?