My birthday gift this year was a Toshiba Portege Convertible laptop running Microsoft Windows Business. Seeing as the best OS before Vista that we used was Windows XP, I discovered that Vista had a lot of surprises in store for me. The 'breadcrumbs' mode of navigation, the odd style of users (your user folder is on your desktop instead of hard drive access and it comes preloaded with all the folders you should need--Documents, Pictures, Videos, Games, Downloads, Links, Favorites, Music, Contacts, and Searches), the weird Start Menu, the transparency of certain items, Windows Flip 3D, etc. for example. Breadcrumbs are the directory of the folder currently open, but instead of Username\Documents\Custom Folder, it is Username (down arrow), Documents (down arrow), Custom Folder. The down arrows open up into menus with every folder in the folder for which you hit the down arrow. When I brought all my data over from XP and put it in my Username folder, it automatically took the contents of each folder (Documents, Music, etc.) and put them in the corresponding User folder. The others it left alone for me to deal with. Microsoft Office 2007, as a warning to all possible Vista buyers, comes AS A TRIAL in most cases. Make sure that the laptop comes with a product key for MICROSOFT OFFICE 2007, not just MICROSOFT OFFICE ONENOTE 2007. There is a huge difference--OneNote does notes (more than one, I might add), Office 2007 is Word, Powerpoint, the whole 2003 suite upgraded. The trial only gives you 25 runtimes per application before they revert to the most basic mode. On Vista's upside, it has very powerful programs, updated security software making it impossible for a program to carry out a malicious act (we hope) because any installations must be verified by user. Internet Explorer is quarantined from the Operating System, and the Temporary Internet Files folder is inside the quarantine as well. IE only bridges the quarantine when downloading to a user-defined spot, and then requires user verification. It is like a castle and moat--plague in castle does not affect countryside until someone leaves, and then you need the king's and gatekeeper's permission. Windows Vista also comes with a whole suite of antivirus and malware programs such as Windows Defender to ward off any programs that attempt to bypass IE's quarantine or enter through the email portal if you have a separate email program like MSN or Outlook. Vista also has revamped Contact, Calendar, and Mail programs if you do not like Outlook or Outlook Express. The Contact program simply opens the User\Contacts folder where all its data is and allows you to add from there, requiring less CPU than running a Contact/Mail/Calendar/More program like Outlook. Windows Flip and Windows Flip 3D allow the user to 'flip' (hence the name) through all running programs without putting them on the screen, one by one. The user, you, simply starts the Windows Flip or Flip 3D program, the little blue button in Quick Launch with three windows on it, and uses the arrow keys to navigate through the open windows and presses enter to select the foremost one or simply clicks the window they want to bring to the forefront. Flip 3D gives an image of the windows in a diagonal down perspective (desktop, window1, window2, etc.) facing at about a 45 degree angle away from the screen so they are visible, but from the perspective of a front side. Using the arrow keys takes away the image of either the front or back program and moves it to the other end, depending on the key. Enter always selects the program in front. A good battery in Power Saver mode can provide a quality runtime of Vista and any programs inside for over three hours with less CPU power and therefore slightly lessened performing power and speed, and High Performance gives about an hour forty-five of exceptional performance. The difference is not greatly visible on simple programs, but games such as Civilization IV are incredibly different--medium graphics, slightly delayed for Power Saver, smooth graphics, instantaneous response on High Performance. You may also add your own power schemes of various battery use and CPU drain levels. On computers with a fingerprint sensor, the user can store password information for sites in the fingerprint storage database and have the fingerprint program fill them in for appropriate sites with a simple finger-swipe. Your fingerprint can also be used as a password to log in on startup or access various parts of Vista code. All this (and much much more) is simply the middle version of Vista. For true power, try either Premium or Ultimate. For less expensive, simpler needs, see Home Basic and Home.

This says--

A warning to potential convertible tablet buyers:

1. CD Drive--If you want it, purchase the tablet with it included. Finding the correct bay CD drive separately will be a pain.

2. Screen Hinge--Although this flipping the screen around and down is handy [for drawing and sending handwriting], you usually only get two directions--one way to go down, the reverse to go up. Spinning the wrong way puts you back in the market for a [new] tablet--a bad thing.