Now is definitely the time to begin planning, but an immediate upgrade is most certainly not in the cards.

If you're a home user, you've got a few key considerations. First, is your box powerful enough. We discussed that earlier. Second, do you want to spend on the new OS? Third, do you have the technical skills to clean up any messes you create. Remember, even the uber-IT geeks you know haven't had much experience with Vista or Office 2007.

Are you experiencing system difficulty now and expecting to do a Windows reinstall soon?
Windows is known to suffer from the creeping crud. Over time, the system gets polited and a Windows reinstall is the only viable solution.

Notwithstanding all the other issues in this article, if you're about to do a reinstall and if you've got a powerful machine and your problems are software only, you might want to consider going directly to Vista and Office 2007. We always recommend installing on a fresh machine and this might be your excuse to do just that.

Of course, these are new products, so they're going to have their own problems.

Are you a developer?
If you're a developer, you most likely don't want to upgrade your development machine right away. But you should definitely equip a test machine with Vista and Office 2007.

You're going to need to test your software against both these environments and make sure everything works. If something doesn't you're going to need to start fixing things right away.

Are there specific features you need now?
Are there specific, functional features to Vista or Office 2007 that you've been waiting for? We don't recommend upgrading simply to get the new user interface features. These are nice, but there's no good justification to upgrading just to get the ribbon or the Aero interface.

On the other hand, if you're a business user and need Vista's data protection like the BitLocker Drive Encryption or the Encrypting File System, then you might want to consider upgrading. If you're an Office user and need better SharePoint connections or in-Outlook RSS, then you might want to consider upgrading earlier.

Otherwise, we have no doubt you'll upgrade, but give it all some time to settle.

Do you use specific addons that are critucal to your productivity?
If you're like us, you use a pile of programs and add-ons. I use three or four Outlook addons I couldn't live without.

If you need specific addons, do not consider upgrading until you're sure those addons are supported by Office 2007. Likewise, with Vista, do not consuder upgrading until you're sure that all the applications you rely on are fully supported under Vista. Check with the developers if you're not sure.

Do you have the skills to troubleshoot problems on your own?
I mentioned this briefly earlier, but it's worth repeating. All upgrades require troubleshooting skills. Most likely, your favorite geek is not yet an expert on either Vista or Office 2007.

So, if you run into a problem, either you'll need to have the "mad skilz" to solve it on your own or you might need to rely on someone else who might know as little as you.