Earlier this year Microsoft rolled out its latest workstation operating system, Windows Vista, with the intention of replacing the accounting profession’s mainstay Windows XP Professional, as our window into the personal computer.  Similar to virtually every other operating system release before it, the transition has been slow with most CPAs taking a “wait and see” attitude.  In the past, waiting until the release of Service Pack 1 (SP1) has paid off as it allowed Microsoft time to deliver a more stable product and our accounting vendors to work through issues discovered by early adopters of the newer operating system.  With a projected release of SP1 in the first quarter of 2008, it would be wise for firms to wait until May 2008 to begin firmwide deployment, but it would not be smart for IT departments to wait idly until then to test it out.

Microsoft will stop selling retail licenses of Windows XP in January 2008 and system builders will no longer be able to purchase it after January 2009, so the projected target for completing the transition to Windows Vista for our firms is December 2008.   Microsoft has also said that mainstream support for Windows XP will be retired on April 2009, which also supports the decision for firms to complete their transition by the end of next year.  While firms can purchase extended support for Windows XP most likely until 2014, those firms would lose out on the benefits that Vista provides. 

 Vista promises a more powerful user interface, which includes the “aero glass” interface and the ability to scroll through multiple screens to quickly jump from one application to another.  They have also added a sidebar and gadgets to provide users quick access to all kinds of utilities ranging from clocks and calendars, to live traffic and weather reports.  From a more practical level they have greatly increased security and added search features that can find virtually any information on your computer in seconds, which is the real reason that firms will want this upgrade.

 On the downside, many of your older computers will not run it as the hardware requirements are fairly robust.  We recommend firms plan on at least 2Gb of RAM and suggest at least 256Mb of video RAM for all machines they plan on transitioning to Vista.  While Microsoft recommends minimums of half these amounts, the fact is today’s digital CPA is dealing with a multitude of applications running simultaneously and a projected standard of three monitors, which will need the added horsepower.  So what should your firm do now to get ready?

 We recommend the first step is to age your current workstations and designate which desktops will be less than three years old by the end of next year and which laptops will be less than two years old.  We then suggest you download the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor from the Microsoft web site and see how compatible these models are with the new operating system.  One result of running this program now is that it will tell you not only what workstation upgrades need to be done, but which peripherals and applications will not work, so you can budget for this in the future.  When we transitioned at the first part of the year, we were surprised that our brand new color laser, PDF creation software, and fax application would not work, which caused a mad scramble for tools and upgrades not worth repeating.

 Microsoft Vista is not going away and just like every other system before it, within a year, we are much happier that the transition was made.  By running the Upgrade Advisor and planning your transition now, you can budget the move and minimize the number of surprises you will be dealing with next year.  After all, how many of you want to go back to Windows 2000, 98, 95 or even DOS?

Roman H. Kepczyk, CPA.CITP is President of InfoTech Partners North America, Inc. which works exclusively with CPA firms on implementing today’s digital best practices.  He is also an Advisory Board Member to the Association for Accounting Administration.