Windows Vista is Microsoft's next operating system (OS) scheduled for release sometime in 2006. Hopefully we'll get some more info on this new OS at this years CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas. CES should be starting later this week. While I don't know a lot of technical aspects of Vista, all I do know is that is looks awesome - design wise. Vista has a more updated, modern design look than Windows XP did. It just looks more streamlined and smooth.

One of the cool looks of Vista is its 'glassy' look. Some things look like they're made out of smooth, colored glass. Quite attractive if you ask me.

Above you will see a cropped version of Vista's taskbar. Again, you can see it looks like it's made out of a cool smooth, black glass. Way more attractive than the blue and green or silver taskbar that came with XP.

Another cool design feature of Vista is the transparency effect that most windows have. Some windows you open in Vista are kind of transparent in that you can sort of see what's behind them. Great when you have multiple windows open and need help seeing or accessing them.

I know these are just a few of Vista's new designs, but what great designs they are. And let's not forget that Vista contains a whole lot of technical/backend improvements over XP as well. Vista is not an updated version of XP - it's a whole new OS all together. You can check out a lot more Vista screenshots here >> Vista Screenshots.

I like the Vista theme so much, that I'm currently working on a new 'Vista' theme for this site. It's still a work in progress but you can check it out by clicking on the 'Vista' link on the top right side. Finally, you can also download the Vista theme for the Windows XP computer if you like. This download will just update XP to make it look like Vista. It wont actually change XP to Vista. You can download it here >> Vista Transformation Pack. I've used the Vista update on my XP machine and love it.