For those of you staying true to Windows Vista, there are a few good alternatives available in the way of instant messaging clients. Yahoo!, maker of a popular instant messaging client among other things, has just released a new beta for Windows Vista, and there are a couple new perks that should entice instant messaging addicts everywhere.

Having used several iterations of Windows which goes all the way back to a limited understand of Windows 3.1 but I didn’t really start using it until Windows 95, I’ve been around the block.  There is lots of freeware out there and sure we have a list of 30 freeware applications on this very site which presents you with several options if you want that but maybe you don’t, maybe you want to know what’s the very best.

Windows Vista 64-bit is an entirely different animal from its 32-bit counterpart; some of the software you have become accustomed to using may have to be tossed out the window (no pun intended) and replaced with something else.

Ok, ok, we can all laugh and joke about some of the rather humorous ends eBay has gone to in the interest of protecting its customers, but there’s a real chance that the latest caper moves from lighthearted humor to rather arguable controversy.  Ebay has removed a laptop that contains an attack code used to crack Vista in the interesting of its buyers’ “safety.” 

The list of users who are experiencing more than a little difficulty with the new Service Pack 1 grows longer every day; it seems more and more users who boot multiple operating systems are experiencing grief as well.  Before installing Vista Service Pack 1, be sure to check out the boot systems you’re currently using if you use Windows Vista Enterprise or Vista Ultimate, otherwise your PC might end up the victim of a faulty SP1 install.

Many Vista users are justifiably a bit skittish when talk drifts to service pack 1, recently released by Microsoft; though home installations aren’t particularly difficult (though they could make you a nervous nelly), many larger companies will doubtless spend a good chunk of cash on IT help to ease the transition.  Microsoft has an answer for all those businesses who are looking for something a bit more streamlined, and it is a toolkit that should expedite the process quite nicely. 

Windows Vista have you down or experiencing problems?  Time to reinstall it.  But before you do, you’ll either have to manually hunt down the drivers for your system or install them from a disc the manufacturer provided.  Either way it will take longer than having a single utility install all your drivers automatically for you.

There are ways of improving system performance; those looking for a one click solution might want to turn towards this free program.  Glary utilities is an all-in-one system maintenance utility.

Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 8 beta 1 to the masses.  My intention was to take a look at the new features and write a review of this early version but that became an impossible task.  Internet Explorer 8 beta has got to be the worst beta software ever released by any company.

The much-anticipated 8th version of Microsoft Internet Explorer has finally been released in Beta to the public.  Internet Explorer 8 comes with quite a few new and nifty features that all Vista and XP users should look forward to.

Vista has been an all-around disappointment and even those with SP1 have reason to complain.  Those with problems are probably more outspoken than those that don’t but the issues keep piling up and Microsoft does little about them.  This program may brighten up your Vista experience a tiny bit.

There are several free defrag utilities on the market but this one is relatively new and is made by the same developer which brought the popular “clean up” utiltity, CCleaner to the market also as freeware.  It’s important to defrag your hard drive from time to time, why not do it with a free utility.

You can never be too safe with a computer that’s connected to the Internet.  In addition to your firewall, antivirus and antimalware protection, here is another layer of defense to be considered.

Ever since Vista was released to the market many have said that it used too much memory and hard drive space.  Some of you may be familiar with nLite which was used to reduce the footprint of XP.  Now, vLite does the same thing for Vista.  It can be used to remove features and slipstream Vista with installed drivers and hotfixes to (another) disc.

The most common way to uninstall programs is to use the “Programs and Features” function in Vista’s Control Panel.  If you’re lucky, the developer of the program wrote an uninstaller to specifically deal with that program.  If not, Vista will rely on its built-in uninstaller to get rid of the program.  This can leave behind unwanted files, traces of the program and errant/corrupted or extra registry entries.  There is a better way, Revo Uninstaller.