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Make no mistake, Windows Vista Beta 1 is the most important software release this year. For the first time, Microsoft has unveiled its next-generation operating system for all the world to see, and we've spent the last five weeks prodding it, kicking it and seeing whether its improvements are skin deep or truly substantial.

It's difficult to avoid being distracted by the eye candy - transparent window effects, glowing buttons, an ominously green Start button - but there's a huge amount riding on what lies beneath. Windows Vista needs to be easy to use, fundamentally secure and deliver enough clear benefits that an unprecedented number of people will be convinced to make the move from Windows XP.

Luckily, there are plenty of good signs when it comes to ease of use. I'm already a firm fan of the ability to press the Windows key, type 'calc' and for Calculator to appear before me (extend this to 'word', 'excel', 'nero' or whatever other apps you might have on your system, and you'll start to see its power). Manoeuvring through my ever-growing Programs menu, then through Accessories until finally hitting Calculator has never been my favourite way to spend ten seconds.

Features like Virtual Folders are going to make life easier too. It seems a long time since I was using XTree Gold to navigate my 20MB hard disk, but the directory tree view

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of a computer still reigns supreme. This doesn't suit the way I work or, I suspect, the way most other people work. If you've got several projects happening at the same time, they'll quite frequently share some resources - save a spreadsheet in the 'wrong' folder and it can take several minutes to dig it out. With Virtual Folders, you just type in your keywords and all the relevant files appear in one handy place.

Vista's security credentials are more difficult to establish, but Microsoft is certainly making the right noises. PC Pro columnist Jon Honeyball has long been denouncing the fact that so many XP Home installations give the main user administrator access, frequently with no user login or password. To use Jon's own words, this means such a PC 'becomes a neon-illuminated target for every bit of spyware, virus, trojan or other malware that's floating around the Internet'. With administrator access, even a complete wipe of your hard disk is just a command away. Finally, Vista removes this thorny problem.

Another vital weapon in Microsoft's battle for security is Internet Explorer 7. Key to this is its Protected Mode, which means IE doesn't have access to any of your PC's resources, so it can't install applets or cause havoc in any other way. In fact, you could argue that IE 7 is an even bigger release than Vista: it claims 87 per cent market share for web browsers, and Microsoft has finally announced that it will be available as a download for XP, not just integrated into Vista.

With IE 7 ripped out of Vista, though, are there enough benefits to convince hordes of people to upgrade? We'll be very interested to hear your views. On September 22, we'll be launching an online poll to discover when PC Pro readers will be upgrading. So read the feature then go to www.pcpro.co.uk, check out the PC Pro forums and you'll find the poll at the top of the page.