My advice is to avoid taking the plunge for at least six months, maybe more. Vista is an immense and complicated system, one that will need time in the field to shake out the bugs. It's been in the works for so long that some people think it has to be ready for prime time by now, but software of this complexity is bound to have a few kinks.

So if you're a Windows user, I would wait till the fall of 2007 to upgrade, by which time you'll be able to profit from the experience of others. That's a fairly easy call to make. (I never trust the first version of anything.)

What's trickier is what to do if you want a new computer. Do you wait for Vista to be installed on a new machine, or buy a PC for the holidays, along with some kind of upgrade package?

Here, things get a bit thornier. The Windows computer you buy today will come with Windows XP preinstalled. And you'll see computers advertised as "Vista Capable," meaning that down the road you'll be given Vista as a free or reduced-price upgrade.

After looking at this program, I advise you to use it with caution. The version of Vista offered in the upgrade is one called Home Basic, and it lacks the Aero interface that is a major part of Vista's appeal, as well as various media features, including DVD burning tools.

I'm not a fan of Aero (it burns up a lot of computer resources to make your PC screen prettier). However, if you're starting from scratch with a new computer, you'll probably want the capability of running the complete Vista experience, and for that, you need to look for a computer marked "Premium Ready." It's one that contains the full interface package, and because Aero puts demands upon the hardware, you'll also find that such a machine is going to cost more.

There are other Vista versions for business, but Home Premium is the one for most consumers. The bigger the hard disk, the better. My other caveat is memory: 1 GB of RAM is simply not enough for an optimal experience, and you won't add that much to the cost by specifying 2 GB for your new machine. So if you look for a Premium Ready PC with 2 GB of RAM, you should be able to make the upgrade.

But do consider putting off the purchase. The worst time to buy a computer is in a transitional time between two versions of an operating system.

The only PC I can recommend without qualification this season is a Macintosh, because its already stable operating system has proven that it can go through upgrade cycles without major user headaches. The new Leopard operating system comes out in 2007, but Apple's upgrade history makes a Mac a safer buy this Christmas.

I seldom watch television (I'm too busy at the computer!), but a friend recommended an NBC show called "Kidnapped," so I gave it a try. It was interesting (and I like Dana Delany), so I tried to see it the following week, but the show was missing from the schedule. Turns out the marketing geniuses at the network gave it three episodes and then decided it couldn't succeed in the ratings game.

Enter the Internet. NBC is now running "Kidnapped" on its Web site, and I see that Fox has put a canceled show called "Vanished" up on the Net as well. That's interesting from a marketing perspective, because CBS has just conducted a poll that shows that downloaded TV has unique benefits. To be precise, people who come to shows over the Internet sample a wider range of shows and, in the process, wind up becoming interested in series they might otherwise have ignored. And that, in turn, can lead them back to the TV with new interest.

People have been saying something like this about downloaded music since the early days of Napster. Despite the efforts of watchdogs such as the Recording Industry Association of America, there is a change in user behavior going on. Downloaded songs lead people to new artists and thence to bigger audiences for their new releases. When it comes to TV, the Net allows a show to stay alive long enough to build a nontraditional audience.

It may not save "Kidnapped," but at least we'll get to see the rest of the shows already filmed.

And ponder this: When you get caught up in a show, it's great to be able to go back and see the earliest episodes, something the Net makes it easy to do.

Remarkably, an ABC report recently studied Internet advertising and discovered that people who watched shows online were far more likely to remember the advertisers that appeared during those shows. They also found less resistance to online, as opposed to TV, advertisements.

Now that's the kind of datum that will win over network moguls as TV experiments with building its base.