Here's an excerpt of a reader who recently upgraded from Windows XP to Vista: "My computer crawls and programs don't respond. My life is a nightmare. I am willing to give up my investment in this upgrade and go back to the safe and responding days of XP."

I've read other letters saying basically the same thing.

Here's what the professional reviewers are saying about Microsoft's new operating system: Vista is great when it comes installed on a new computer. Although you can buy an "upgrade" version, installing it on your existing XP computer is fraught with hazards. In fact, they say you should reformat your hard drive and install Vista on a clean slate, after first backing up all your personal files.

What's even more confusing is that there are several versions of Vista. CompUSA lists 13 on its Web site, ranging in price from $100 to $400.

The general consensus of the reviewers is: unless you are buying a new PC with Vista installed, there is no compelling reason to upgrade from WinXP. Well, there may be one; Vista is said to be more secure from malware attacks. However, I have had no problems with XP security, since I observe the normal precautions of not opening unrequested email attachments, along with being prudent about what links I click on.

Most of us are mainly concerned about having our PCs perform specific tasks, and we really don't care much about what version of Windows we're using or if we're using a Mac — just as long as the tasks are accomplished quickly and efficiently. Personally, I am perfectly comfortable with WinXP and have no yearning to upgrade to Vista. Naturally, however, I will upgrade in order to be able to answer readers' questions about Vista.

MSOffice 2007 also debuted with Vista this month, and reviewers say it is the best version ever, with many notable improvements. As with Vista there are several versions, priced from about $149 to $680.

Well, MSOffice 2007 may be the ultimate in handling complex business chores, but I still prefer my old MSOffice 2000 over my MSOffice XP. Why? Well, all office suites (including WordPerfect Office and the free OpenOffice) are tremendously powerful applications that can perform an astronamical number of complicated chores. In fact, I would guess that the average PC user employs less than five percent of an office suite's multitudinous capabilities.

In any case, I have no desire to spend more money on yet another office suite when the ones I have can do everything I need to have done. Nonetheless, at some point I'll very likely upgrade to MSOffice 2007 in order to help readers with their questions.

Getting back to Vista, an "upgrade" package costs less than a "full" version. However information on installing a full version from an upgrade is available online.