Although most of us are aware that Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows Vista, is an improvement to yesterday's XP, few are convinced it's worth the pain of upgrading.

Further hurting Microsoft's efforts have been a plethora of sensationalist reports on Vista shortcomings, many of which overlook the available improvements. Despite the negative light, Vista appears to be shining on the global stage, accounting for some 20 million licenses sold in a month.

Still love XP? It's worth noting that Vista's initial sales are double that of XP, Microsoft's previous operating system. By comparison, it took TWO months for XP to sell 17 million licenses. Although the North American media may enjoy poking fun at Vista, clearly global buyers like what they see.

Vista fan sites report that much of the buzz has been over Microsoft's Windows Update, which automatically takes care of the hassle associated with constantly repairing and upgrading the system's security.

According to reports, during the first month after launch, some 1,600 drivers were shelled out to users, bringing the Vista driver total to some 27,000 compatible. (Source: lockergnome.com)

Granted, Microsoft is far from through with Vista and many loopholes exist. Many business users have admitted that it's company policy to wait as much as 18 months to upgrade to something as radically different as Vista, hurting sales that could be even higher. (Source: microsoft-watch.com)