Answering questions on Vista, Bluetooth

Tons of e-mails have flooded in this week, and not all of them are spam. Let's try to make some people happy.

Question: I keep reading about Windows Vista and the problems some people are having. I am planning to buy a new laptop in a couple of weeks, and I read in your column that Windows XP is back. Which should I get?

Answer: First of all, Vista is much better behaved on new hardware that is designed and certified for it. It is much more problematic when you try to upgrade an existing system to Vista. Secondly, given a choice of XP or Vista, I would select Vista if you didn't have any legacy software or hardware to deal with. Where Vista has fallen flat is the availability of drivers for hardware, including some new ones. Just the other day I installed two brand-new HP printers for a client and had to download 350 MB of drivers for Vista for each one to get them to work. That's not terrible, but there are many printers and scanners out there for which there are no drivers and radio silence if any are forthcoming.

All that said, if you have enough hardware (1 gig of RAM or more and 128 MB of video RAM or more) then I would get Vista.

Question: I remember you wrote about your inability to get a wireless print server working correctly. Unfortunately I never got mine working either and returned it to the store.

What is the best way to get a printer working wirelessly?

Answer: Actually, there are some new printers out there that have 802.11G wireless connectivity built in right out of the box. I have worked with one from HP and Lexmark recently and both were a relative snap to set up. Both are all-in-one printers, so you can even scan wirelessly. Both even came with USB cables in the box, which is a major step forward for printer manufacturers.

Secondly, you can opt for a printer with an Ethernet connection built in. If you connect that to your router, then you can print directly to the printer using its Internet Protocol (IP) address.

Question: What is Bluetooth, and why do I need a Bluetooth mouse?

Answer: Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology often used to connect cell-phone signals to an earpiece without a wire. It is generally used where there needs to be a strong connection over a short distance. In terms of mice, it is a way to have a wireless mouse (and keyboard) work over a short distance. In my tests it's no better or worse than other wireless connectivity methods for a mouse. I'd take a look at the Microsoft wireless mice; I have used several and found all of them solid performers.