Anilrgowda

I need to know if it is possible to upgrade my Dell Dimension computer to use the Windows Vista operating system. It has a Pentium III microprocessor. The memory is 384 megabytes, SDRAM. It has a 32mb Nvidia TNT2 M64 graphics card and a 20.4-gigabyte Ultra ATA hard drive. The operating system is Windows 98. With these facts, could I upgrade this PC?
In a word, no. As Microsoft pulls out the stops for its marketing schemes to sell upgrades to the coming Vista operating system, millions of people with computers will share your curiosity about whether their machine has the horsepower to run the enticing software. Your Windows 98 machine fails to meet even Microsoft's notoriously overoptimis tic stated minimum require ments. At prices starting around $150, the company hates to tell possible customers that they shouldn't buy in. The biggest visible features Vista adds to the well-known Windows display deal with viewing photos, playing videos, recording and downloading music and, of course, running memory- gobbling programs like Office Live that will be available along with Vista when it arrives Jan. 30.
Microsoft says all these bells and whistles can be had with a machine endowed with at least a microprocessor with 800mHz speed, while your dated Dell languishes at 600mHz. It's been maybe three years since desktop computers were being sold with chip speeds less than 1gHz, and I'd suggest that these be considered the bare minimum.
Speed and memory are the biggest issues with things like highly animated displays and memory-hungry transparent overlaying of individual windows and heavy use of software run ning in the background.
Again, your 384mb of RAM are below the minimum of 512 stated by the company. I do agree that 512mb of memory will be pretty much sufficient, but it should be noted that Vista tends to run a lot of stuff in the background, and this can deplete 512mb when running more than a couple of programs. When the 512 is exhausted, it forces the computer to slow down to a nightmarish pace as the machine uses the hard drive instead of the ultrafast memory chips to crunch data.
I find it bizarre, but the 20.4gb hard drive in your clunker does meet the Microsoft minimum of 20gb for computers to run Windows Vista, which all by itself eats up, maybe, 8gb. It wouldn't take long for a Vista-enabled PC to clog the remaining 12gb with temporary Web files, photos and music.
Worst of all is your old-fashioned video card with 32 megabytes of memory on board. While the official Microsoft specifications say any SVGA card will do, testers have found it is all but hopeless without a separate video card with its own memory and the ability to run the DirectX 9 graphics software built in to Windows. As to video memory, consider 128 or even 256mb.
To summarize: Windows Vista needs a PC with a 1gHz chip or better and a 60-80gb hard drive is all but essential. Be particularly sure that the video card has a stiff amount of memory of 128mb or more, and I'll wager that those who try to get by with 512 megabytes of RAM soon will find themselves at Best Buy's memory counter for an upgrade to 1 giga byte or more. I bought a Dell Desktop computer two years ago, which came with a free preview of JASC Software (for pictures etc.). I am not interested in buying the software, but I keep getting the following reminder every time I access various pictures