It's the day before the official consumer launch of Vista, and as expected, there are a few Vista related items in the news. Here's a quick rundown...

Just because Vista will be the latest Windows operating system doesn’t mean that everybody will run out and upgrade. For one, it’s expensive. Secondly, some people simply don’t like change. Upgrading to the latest operating system is last on their list, especially if they’re still getting used to XP.

As Microsoft continues their battle with Piracy, they have disclosed that one in five, or 22% of Windows installations are not genuine.

Despite the fact that the official launch of Windows Vista is not until January 30th, some retailers show that they have it in stock, and ready to ship.  One such store is Newegg, and their website shows that they have Vista 32-Bit Ultimate 3 Pack DVD-OEM for $599.99, Vista 64-Bit Home premium 3 Pack DVD-OEM for $349.99, and Vista 32-Bit Business Single Pack DVD-OEM for $149.99.

The Windows Vista launch date is about a week away and there is already talk about the first Service Pack (SP1) being made available as soon as this year. According to an email that Bink.nu received this is what the first Service Pack should include:

Now before I get started I want to say that I use openSUSE as my choice of Linux distribution and couldn't be happier with it. They always seem to be on top of implementing new technologies that are easy-to-use and really appealing to those who want the latest and greatest.

What a Christmas present this was! Vista Transformation Pack 6 was just released yesterday with all kinds of new goodies including 3rd-party applications for providing features like Taskbar thumbnail previews and a remarkable sidebar just like Vista's.

Vista Transformation Pack 4.0 was just released and it does a great job of giving your XP machine the Vista look. In December last year Windows Blinds released a new version of their software that was designed to provide Windows XP with transparent effects, however, it wasn't free. That is where the Vista Transformation Pack comes into play.