Is your PC Vista Ready?

Microsoft's Recommendation for the Minimum Hardware specs to run Windows Vista.

CPU Pentium 3/4 or Athlon Equivalent or better।
CPU Speed 800 MHZ or better
System Ram 512MB or Higher
Video Card 100% DirectX 9 graphic card capable of SVGA 800x600
DirectX Version DirectX 9.0 or better
Free Disk Space 15GB or higher
Hard Disk Capacity 20GB or higher
CD and Sound Card yes

Expert's Recommendation for the Minimum Hardware specs to run Windows Vista.

CPU Pentium 4 or Athlon Equivalent or better।
CPU Speed 1.4GHz or better
System Ram 1GB or higher
Video Card 64MB 100% DirectX 9 graphic card with Pixel Shader 2.0 hardware support
DirectX Version DirectX 9.0 or better
Free Disk Space 15GB or higher
Hard Disk Capacity 20GB or higher
CD and Sound Card yes

The easiest way to to tell if you PC is up to the task of running vista is to run CNET Vista Upgrade Advisor

Search your PC with Vista Instant Search

The Instant Search box is downright ubiquitous in Vista, appearing not only in the Start menu, but also in Control Panel, Windows Media Player, Windows Explorer, and even certain Vista applications (most notably Contacts and Windows Mail).

There are two key things you’ll want to understand about Instant Search:

1. It’s context-sensitive, meaning it begins its search wherever it’s being run. When you search inside the Start menu, for instance, the tool looks for applications first–the items most closely associated with that instance of Instant Search. Search in Control Panel and you’ll see Control Panel results ahead of any others.
2. Instant Search is dynamic: It works as you type, narrowing the results a bit further with each letter (or number) you add to the search string. Type “mo,” for instance, and you’ll immediately see all documents, applications, and other items that contain those letters. Keep typing, however, until you get to “monthly,” and your search will narrow considerably.

To see Instant Search in action: Click Start and then click Search in the right-hand pane. This will open Vista’s basic Search window, which you can use to find, well, just about anything on your PC. Notice the “show only” buttons across the top; click one to quickly filter your search results.