It's easy to make fun of Windows Vista.

Associated Press

Custodial workers distribute signs promoting Windows Vista on Thursday at Microsoft's cafeteria in Redmond, Wash.

It's been delayed and mocked so often that it's a little hard to believe it's now actually a finished product and will be sitting on store shelves in various flavors Tuesday.

But, after testing the final version of the operating system for the last week, I'm grudgingly impressed.

All the criticisms still hold: A lot of the coolest features that were on the drawing board didn't make it, some of the new menu schemes are confusing, and the biggest changes all seem cosmetic.

Even so, I like Vista.

But I still wouldn't recommend installing it for at least a few months.

The first thing you'll notice is the look of the OS.

Sleek and sharp.

It looks a lot better than XP, and while it may not be as pretty as the vaunted Mac OS X, I don't own a Mac and neither do the majority of computer users.

So this is really the first time I've ever looked at my operating system and not been vaguely embarrassed.

And with the Aero Glass feature turned on, most menus get a nifty translucent effect at the edges, where you can see a blurry image of the menus and windows behind your current application.

Pointless, really, but so are Ferraris.

Microsoft also claims Vista to be the most secure and stable operating system it has ever produced.

It's hard to evaluate that statement right now, with hackers not really having had much time to hammer at the thing.

But Vista does do a good job of informing you what security measures you need to take to keep your system impregnable.

Almost too good a job.

Installing software, changing settings and visiting Web sites all result in a seemingly endless barrage of click-through menus asking if you're really, really, really sure you want to do what you just did.

Even when you're mucking about in the supposedly all-powerful administrator mode, Vista never seems to stop nagging.

That's not the only nuisance.

Since this is spanking-new software, a lot of older programs that you have installed may not be Vista-ready yet.

My Hewlett-Packard printing software, for example, beeps at me every 10 minutes with an error message.

That's par for the course with any new OS.

More disturbing was that Windows Live OneCare, Microsoft's own subscription-based Internet security suite, refused to run on my machine once Vista was installed.

A beta Vista version is available but would not install until I deleted the old version.

And Vista wouldn't let me delete the old version.

Microsoft says OneCare users will get an online patch before Vista hits retail, so paying customers won't run into that problem.

But it's a little disconcerting that such an obvious conflict between two Microsoft-developed programs is being fixed almost literally at the last minute.

Another issue – more annoying than crippling – is the lame online upgrade adviser that Microsoft recommends you use to determine if your current PC can handle Vista: www.micro soft.com/windowsvista/get ready/upgradeadvisor/default .mspx.

My home PC is a Pentium 4, 3.2 GHz, with one gig of RAM, DVD and CD drives, and a 256-megabyte video card.

The upgrade adviser determined that my machine was only capable of handling the most watered-down version of Vista: Home Basic.

Pshaw!

I went ahead and installed the most feature-packed and hardware-intensive version, Vista Ultimate, as I was determined to conquer the OS or die trying.

Sure enough, it ran fine.

So don't be fooled into thinking you can only use the pretty Vista if you buy a new $2,000 PC.

Of course, that doesn't mean that you should get Vista right now.

In a few months, most of the major peripheral makers will have had time to fine-tune their Vista drivers and Microsoft will have probably patched the inevitable first wave of bugs and flaws.

After that, go for it.

Pros: Vista is a worthy upgrade. It looks better, runs smoothly, and in general is a more pleasant experience than XP.

Cons: If my brief one-week test run turned up a few bugs, there are probably dozens more I haven't seen yet.

Bottom line: Hard-core computer geeks comfortable dealing with wonky drivers and software hiccups won't mind the initial rough edges. But everyone else might want to wait for Microsoft and the vast universe of Windows hardware and software makers to refine things a little bit.

Here are prices for the three versions of Windows Vista home users will be most interested in. Although prices are lower for upgrade versions than for stand-alone versions, not all previous versions of Windows can be upgraded to Vista. When an upgrade is not possible, you must purchase and install the stand-alone version.

Windows Vista Home Basic: $199 for the stand-alone software, $99 for users upgrading from Windows XP Home

Windows Vista Home Premium: $239 for stand-alone software, $159 for users upgrading from Windows XP Home or Windows XP Media Center

Windows Vista Ultimate: $399 for stand-alone software, $259 for users upgrading from Windows XP Professional, XP Home, XP Media Center or XP Tablet PC

Victor Godinez