Windows Vista and Office 2007 - Time to Upgrade?

Our campus and many others are struggling with a number of IT issues. A key issue this year has been whether or not to adopt Windows Vista and Office 2007 as a standard. Currently, we run Windows XP and Office 2003. Our academic department - which includes networking - has a Microsoft MSDN Academic Alliance subscription which provides students in our networking program access to Microsoft desktop and server Operating Systems. As you wold expect, technology students always want to try the latest and greatest - and are requesting Windows Vista. Unfortunately, most return to my office expressing their displeasure and frustration with Windows Vista. Many of our students work full-time as IT professionals and have described the operating systems as "unfinished," "buggy," or "still in beta." I've got a digital camera in my office and have started to record small video clips capturing student's complaints with Vista, which I hopw to post on the blog later this year.

Apparently, we're not alone. Paul McDougall in an InformationWeek story - Windows Vista, Office 2007 Expelled From British Schools - details similar struggles at schools in the UK. According to the article:

"The agency that governs educational technology in the United Kingdom has advised schools in the country to keep Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)'s Windows Vista operating system and its Office 2007 software out of the classroom and administrative offices.

'Upgrading existing ICT systems to Microsoft Vista or Office 2007 is not recommended,' said the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, also known as Becta, in a report issued this week.

Becta officials said a study the group commissioned found that upgrading school systems from Windows XP to Vista and Office 2007 would increase costs and create software compatibility problems while providing little benefit.

'Our advice is to be sure there is a strong business case for upgrading to these products as the costs are significant and the benefits remain unclear,' said Stephen Lucy, Becta's executive director of strategic technologies, in a statement."

Please share your experiences with Vista and Office 2007.