Dell is still unmoved by Vista

DELL IS NOT enamoured of Vista. It's a bit bizarre, because when it comes to flogging PCs there's normally nothing like a Windows upgrade to get punters buying new PCs.

But not so long ago the once direct outfit began slipping XP onto some of computers because that proved to be what customers wanted.

Now, it has taken to warning customers that Vista's hardware demands are a turn-off.

Even Colin Barker has noticed. Chatting to Dell's European client services business manager, Niall Fitzgerald, yesterday, Barker couldn't help noticing that the man confessed that Dell was "stepping back" from suggesting customers upgrade.

"We are not here to promote Microsoft and tell people they should buy it (Vista)," he said. "We can show them the advantages of Vista and what they need to put in place to begin to move across."

One disadvantage of Vista, however, is the fact that it needs a 2GB drive image.

Volish claims that a 1GB image would suffice have proved unfounded, Fitzgerald suggested. "A 2GB image for each user will have a big impact," he said. Customers mulling Vista "need to be looking at the number of images they will be installing and the size of these images," he warned.

And then there's the complexity of the beast. "Vista is big and complex and there is a lot to it. It requires a lot of testing. You can't just shut off XP on Friday and start Vista on Monday morning. There will be training. There are things to learn," he ejaculated. µ