If you have been wondering whether your PC will run Vista – Microsoft finally has the answers, they released the Minimum Hardware requirements for Vista. Read this eweek article for details. Basically, you need a 1Ghz CPU, 1GB RAM, GPU, 40GB HDD for Vista to run and this should be a majority of the PC / Laptops sold in the last few years except for the RAM part which can be easily upgraded.
Personally for me, though my Laptop is 2 years old and time for a replacement; I am not opening my purse yet. I will wait for Vista to get released and Vista Certified Laptops to come out. In the past I have been burned twice, by doing the mistake of buying a new Laptop just before a major Windows launch to find out the laptop doesn’t provide drivers for the new OS. It happened for me with Windows 2000 and then with XP. Hopefully, with growing old, I am becoming wiser.