The 64-bit edition of Windows Vista continues to gain in market share. However, some are questioning whether it’s really an important issue for consumers, or if it might even cause more problems than it solves.

Newly released court documents confirm Microsoft relaxed its criteria for declaring a computer ‘Vista Capable’ after lobbying from Intel. The chip maker complained that the original rules would exclude some of its products and cause lost business in the billions.

One of the biggest complaints I have heard about the Windows Vista operating system is the number of pre-Vista programs that either won’t run properly, or won’t run at all. There are generally three reasons why this happens.

Security experts say one of the vulnerabilities fixed by this week’s Windows Update has been a known problem since at least 2001. The Server Message Block issue has even been used in security training events.

This month’s Patch Tuesday update is, by Microsoft standards, fairly quiet. There is only one fix rated critical and one rated important, though the firm does warn both the associated vulnerabilities are at particular risk of exploitation.

The popular AVG anti-virus program has wreaked havoc for some XP users by leading them to mistakenly delete a core system file. It’s left some people unable to start Windows at all.

Microsoft has revealed that printers are the devices most likely to cause driver problems in Vista. Nearly 12 percent of attempted installations fail, around four times Microsoft’s own target.

Microsoft has unveiled steps to make solid state drives run far more efficiently in Windows 7. It’s the third boost for the technology announced this week.

While small businesses and large companies have had a hard time shifting to Vista, mid-level companies and organizations have had the hardest time overall due to a number of factors.  Beyond simple hardware complications, internally modified software isn’t meshing well with Vista.

Solid State Drives (SSDs) have always underperformed when coupled with Windows Vista.  SanDisk’s new file system method now being used on its SSDs aims to change all that.

One of the nice things about Windows Vista is the way that it allows you to directly open your Documents folder without having to know its exact physical location. But what happens if your drive is filling up and you wish to relocate your Documents folder to a different physical location such as a second hard drive? What if you want all your data files in one convenient location for backups? What if you just want to be different?

Microsoft is promising the fundamentals of Windows 7 will be a noticeable improvement over Vista. The firm has spoken of longer battery life, quicker start-up and fewer crashes.

Microsoft is paying extra close attention to device and driver compatibility with Windows 7.  Those that created special versions of drivers for Vista after the switch will have no problem making them work with Windows 7.

Microsoft has officially withdrawn the Windows operating system. (Well, the Windows 3.x series at least.)

The question has been raised several times whether to upgrade to Vista now, or simply wait for Windows 7.  It’s becoming increasingly clear that CIOs and leading IT executives are leaning more towards waiting to see what Windows 7 has to offer and completely bypassing Windows Vista all together.