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Friday, October 20, 2006 A First Look at Windows VistaMicrosoft plans to introduce its new operating system to consumers in January. Is it worth upgrading? By Erika Jonietz
"You never get a second chance to make a first impression." It's a tired saw, quoted in articles on topics from interviewing for jobs to designing websites. But it concisely conveys a basic truth of human nature: we draw conclusions about new experiences, new people, and new things very quickly. My first encounter with Microsoft's new Windows Vista was no exception. Last week, I installed the "RC1" version of Vista--officially post-beta but still not yet ready for prime time--on two computers. My experiences on the two machines were quite different, but my overall impression was the same: Microsoft has a long way to go in the next three months if it hopes Vista will revive its image the way that Mac OS X revitalized Apple's. Installing Vista on two computers might seem a bit excessive, but the Windows operating system is made for two different kinds of processors: 32-bit and 64-bit. By working with bigger chunks of data, the newer 64-bit processors can better handle intensive tasks such as video editing and playing advanced games. But most desktop and laptop computers in use--and plenty of those on store shelves--have older 32-bit processors, so Microsoft built two versions of Vista. I started by installing the 32-bit version of Vista on an older Dell Latitude laptop. While it's possible to upgrade from Windows XP to 32-bit Vista--leaving all of your programs and data intact--I elected to do a clean install. Downloading Vista and burning a bootable DVD was simple, and the installation went smoothly. My first reaction: Vista looks slick. The old squared-off windows now have rounded corners. The rectangular "start" button in the lower-left corner of the screen has been supplanted by a spiffy circle with the Windows logo. A transparent rectangle, called the Sidebar, runs down the right side of the screen. The Sidebar holds "gadgets," mini-applications that provide quick access to frequently needed information and tools. Vista comes with 11 such gadgets, 3 of which load the first time you start up: an analog-style clock, a slideshow viewer, and a newsreader with a collection of headlines from MSNBC.com and Microsoft. It's all unquestionably reminiscent of the Dashboard and Widgets in Apple's Mac OS X Tiger. Of all the Sidebar applications, the Feed Headlines gadget--which can be customized with your favorite RSS feeds--stands out. Although Apple and the Mac community have created more than 2,300 Widgets to date, I have yet to find an RSS newsreader as flexible as Vista's. The new Instant Search feature is also handy but, again, reminiscent of OS X. As with Apple's Spotlight, search boxes appear at the top of every window, making it easy to hunt down the file you're seeking. And searching with Instant Search is both faster and more effective than searching in Windows XP. After copying files from my personal PC to the test laptop, I typed "DNA sequencing" into the search box.
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Can Microsoft Conquer Cloud Computing?
10/15/2008
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Comments
qmarais on 10/20/2006 at 3:04 AM
1
cradle on 10/20/2006 at 9:30 AM
1
reriker on 10/20/2006 at 12:48 PM
1
"If the GPU uses shared memory, then no additional graphics memory is required beyond the 1 GB system memory requirement; If the GPU uses dedicated memory then 128MB is required."
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capablefootnotes.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capable.mspx
crisrich on 10/20/2006 at 3:15 PM
4
My PC has a Pentium 4 HT 3GHz processor and a videocard with an NVidia 6200 Graphics chip with 250 MB. This rated only 2,2 points from Vista and doesn´t qualify for Aero.
After installing some of my usual XP programs, problems also started to arise: constant total freeze ups of the OS which only hard reset would resolve (Ctrl Alt Del never makes any impression at all --> Vista OS much unstabler than XP). Basic devices like HP Lasejet 1020 didn´t work. Couldn´t find a suitable driver. HP isn´t supporting Vista publicly so far.
New security features: I totally agree with Erika: "...Vista's User Account Control is the most annoying "security feature" I have ever encountered". I have installed Vista on a separate HD in my PC and tried to move some data from the original XP HD on the same PC: basically impossible. I think one first has to share all the folders to Guests while in XP before they can be accessed through Vista.
Another big annoyance is the new automatic file structure in Vista which is different from the My Documents hierarchy and transferring data from XP to Vista seemed quite confusing to me.
Bottom line:
-To Erika and anyone else who wants to test Vista: dodn´t waste your time with RC1; try at least to get RC2. (Is Microsoft trying to fool its potential customers or itself calling these versions "Release Candidates" instead of giving them larger beta numbers?)
-To myself: it´s finally time to move back to Apple. My first computers were all Macs and I was a total fan until many of the programs I wanted to use weren´t available for that platform. So I grudgingly moved to Windows and have worked with it for more than a decade. Now that I can use all my software under the Mac OS, why should I put up with bad Microsoft products that consume a huge amount of my time just to keep it operating in a more or less stable (Registry management) and safe (additional software for Firewall, Viruses and Spams) way? Specially if I would have to substantially upgrade my hardware anyway to be able to use all the new Vista features.
McMillan968 on 10/21/2006 at 9:11 PM
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edsuareza on 10/21/2006 at 12:02 PM
1
voltasao on 10/22/2006 at 5:45 PM
1
crisrich on 10/23/2006 at 2:57 PM
4
stonethrower on 10/22/2006 at 11:39 PM
1
Don't you see - on the long run both Windows and Apple will be overrun by free Linux, where free as in freedom. Sleek design of Vista or MacOS? You can get both "sleekies" on Linux just running the corresponding window management emulator on Linux.
bmn on 01/23/2007 at 11:45 PM
25
Julian on 10/23/2006 at 1:50 PM
1
phorne on 10/23/2006 at 1:50 PM
2
for orgnizing photos. The quick search is a good addition to the system and will make searching faster and esier. I think that the article should have given a estimated cost. The major thing that they need to focus on changing is the compatiblity is has with most computers.
CompSci123 on 10/23/2006 at 1:52 PM
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introcompsci on 10/23/2006 at 1:55 PM
1
420 on 10/23/2006 at 1:56 PM
3
JNo on 10/23/2006 at 2:04 PM
3
Comp Sci w/ Rawlings on 10/23/2006 at 2:22 PM
1
The overall impression I got from reading Erika Jonietz’s article, was that there are many problems with Vista. There are always going to be bugs with newly designed computer programs. But Vista seems to be behind the eight ball with all the quirks that they have known about for a while and have yet to fix, such as speakers not functioning on the 64-bit version.
I could really relate to Jonietz’s negative experience with the Vista’s User Account Control. I have Windows XP currently and there is a Microsoft program that pops up frequently at the bottom of my screen asking if various programs can have permission to connect to the internet or automatically update. The purpose of this security features obviously, is to protect the computer. But when the user has no knowledge about the programs triggering the alarms or whether or not to block or allow the various programs form proceeding, the tool is really more of a bothersome then a safety feature.
mmg3488 on 10/24/2006 at 8:50 AM
5
October 24, 2006
Cyber Ethics
Windows Vista
After initially reading this article it seems to me that Windows Vista is the future of computer operating systems. It has a lot of new superior features such as, the transparent rectangular sidebar that run down the left side of the screen. The transparent side bar is very useful because it holds "gadgets”, that provide quick access to frequently needed information and tools. Windows Vista comes with 11 gadgets, 3 of which load the first time you start up: an analog-style clock, a slideshow viewer, and a newsreader with a collection of headlines from MSNBC.com and Microsoft. Vista also features a top-notch photo organizer. The Windows Photo Gallery is a huge step up from any built-in photo organizer. The Windows Media Center, is designed to make it easy to find, organize, and play back all "digital entertainment" files, such as live and recorded TV, movies, music, and pictures. Maybe the best improvement that will come with Windows Vista is the added security features.
juicyjuice on 10/24/2006 at 8:52 AM
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scwoojems on 10/24/2006 at 8:53 AM
2
chris2 on 10/24/2006 at 8:53 AM
2
The new version of windows xp is called windows vista. This new program sounds awesome. It is in 3D and with being a lot sharper than windows xp. It will be available in early 2007. Vista will also be coming out with the new internet explorer 7. From what I saw about the internet explorer 7, it looks a lot like AOL explorer. Some new features of the program windows vista are that the start button is a circle. Overall this is a very exciting. There are also features improving the new security.
chris2 on 10/24/2006 at 8:54 AM
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scwoojems on 10/24/2006 at 8:53 AM
2