Well this time last year Windows Vista wasn’t ready for consumers buying new PC’s in the run up to  Christmas (2006).

This year is pretty much the same a “better” version of Windows Vista (SP1) is on the distant horizon but new PC’s won’t be shipped with Windows Vista SP1 pre-loaded until  late Q1 2008 but more likely Q2.

If you get Windows Vista this holiday period chances are you are going to be upgrading to SP1 sometime early next year and good luck with that. The upgrade process as I understand it, is painful.

My buying tips for getting a PC for your home this Christmas are:

1) Skip Vista and go buy an Apple iMac. See www.apple.com/uk 

On a serious note at least you can take one for a test drive at their retail stores.

However If you insist on Windows Vista then:

1) Get the fastest one you can afford, Intel Core 2 Duo is a great way to go.

2) Get a minimum of 2GB of Ram and a decent video card.

3) Stay away from Windows Vista Basic, Go for Windows Vista Home Premium.

If you want a different form factor then check out the HP TouchSmart IQ772

Link: HP TouchSmart IQ772 

It has a touch screen interface which would be a great way of getting kids to use technology or for flicking through your music collection on screen.

I don’t really like the styling all that much but a touch screen would be cool.