In Introducing the Vista Virgin, I explained that I’ve taken pains to fend off Windows Vista’s advances until I could document the experience of my journey into the ranks of the sadder but wiser. Given my job, opting out of months of Vista print coverage just to write about it in my blog hasn’t been easy or well-received by my editors.I took a month to research Vista and to stuff the pipeline with distilled notes that split the experience into short takes on that which Vista does well or poorly, where it imitates rather than innovates and where it blazes new trails.OS X Tiger is as familiar to me as a worn-in robe, Vista is new and, make no mistake, engaging once one scrapes off the irrelevant top-layer GUI. I waited a month to let Vista’s “wow” factor drain away, but Vista maintains an advantage of newness for which I’ll have to compensate. My ethics forbid comparing released to non-released product for the purpose of drawing a conclusion. I am also bound by a far-reaching NDA where OS X 10.5 (Leopard) is concerned. Where comparisons between Windows Vista and the Mac platform are warranted, Apple will be represented by OS X Tiger 10.4.8, and 10.4.9 once that ships. Software Development