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Monday, January 01, 2007 Uninspiring VistaHow Microsoft's long-awaited operating system disappointed a stubborn fan. By Erika Jonietz
For most of the last two decades, I have been a Microsoft apologist. I mean, not merely a contented user of the company's operating systems and software, not just a fan, but a champion. I have insisted that MS-DOS wasn't hard to use (once you got used to it), that Windows 3.1 was the greatest innovation in desktop operating systems, that Word was in fact superior to WordPerfect, and that Windows XP was, quite simply, "it." When I was forced to use Apple's Mac OS (versions 7.6 through 9.2) for a series of jobs, I grumbled, griped, and insisted that Windows was better. Even as I slowly acclimated at work, I bought only Windows PCs for myself and avoided my roommate's recherché new iBook as if it were fugu. I admitted it was pretty, but I just knew that you got more computing power for your buck from an Intel-based Windows machine, and of course there was far more software available for PCs. Yet my adoration wasn't entirely logical; I knew from experience, for example, that Mac crashes were easier to recover from than the infamous Blue Screen of Death. At the heart of it all, I was simply more used to Windows. Even when I finally bought a Mac three years ago, it was solely to meet the computing requirements of some of the publications I worked with. I turned it on only when I had to, sticking to my Windows computer for everyday tasks. So you might think I would be predisposed to love Vista, Microsoft's newest version of Windows, which was scheduled to be released to consumers at the end of January. And indeed, I leaped at the opportunity to review it. I couldn't wait to finally see and use the long-delayed operating system that I had been reading and writing about for more than three years. Regardless of widespread skepticism, I was confident that Vista would dazzle me, and I looked forward to saying so in print. Ironically, playing around with Vista for more than a month has done what years of experience and exhortations from Mac-loving friends could not: it has converted me into a Mac fan. A little context and a caveat: in order to meet print deadlines, I had to review the "RC1" version of Vista Ultimate, which Microsoft released in order to gather feedback from over-eager early adopters. Such post-beta, prerelease testing reveals bugs and deficits that in-house testing misses; debuggers cannot mimic all the various configurations of hardware, software, and peripherals that users will assemble. And Vista RC1 was maddeningly buggy. Although I reminded myself repeatedly that most of the problems I encountered would be fixed in the final version, my opinions about Vista are probably colored by my frustrations. Still, my very first impression of Vista was positive. Quite simply, it's beautiful. The Aero visual interface provides some cool effects, such as translucent window borders and a way to scroll through a 3-D "stack" of your open windows to find the one you want. Networking computers is virtually automatic, as it was supposed to be but never quite has been with Windows XP. The Photo Gallery is the best built-in organizer I've used to manage digital pictures; it even includes basic photo correction tools. |
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Comments
McMillan968 on 01/08/2007 at 8:42 PM
38
How crazy to think EVERYONE is going to run VISTA!!
There are OTHER OS!! Nevermind that people are cheap it will be at least 5 years before most people have VISTA or whatever is next.By then who knows where computers are goin to be at "DUAL QUAD 512 bit?? Aren't we getting close now to having the max power that will be required to do whatever the home user needs to do.
I dont think the usefullness for medium powered machines is in jepardy anytime in the near future.
markroder on 01/17/2007 at 10:56 AM
1
http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/36120.html
http://home.xnet.com/~cmaddox/mac/Of_Course_Macs_Are_More_Expensive_Arent_They.pdf
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Home/660E746C-F388-4AC7-98F5-6CB951501472.html
..................
mark
kraylus on 01/17/2007 at 6:47 PM
4
timo on 01/17/2007 at 7:32 PM
1
ppgreat on 01/17/2007 at 7:42 PM
2
And if you don't think people are believing that, just check out their quarterly report and look at the record setting percentage of Macs year over year (not iPods, which were 50%) that were sold last quarter.
Talk to someone who works at Google. What is the machine that people are requesting more than ever? Macs.
Walk into an Apple Store, eavesdrop on a salesperson, and notice how many people are considering becoming first-time switchers.
This is a trend that ain't going away.
savanahrose on 01/18/2007 at 10:34 AM
1
I found that macs and mac users are the best all around. I love my mac. For what I paid for this computer I feel like I got my money's worth.
If I had gotten a windows I don't think that I would be just as happy with it. After reading about Vista I am glad that I got the mac.
And the Vista ready computers? That new computer you just bought? Will it really take the os Vista? I know for a fact that when Leopard comes out my computer will be able to handle it.
eShinn on 01/18/2007 at 11:03 PM
5
jdhouse4 on 01/21/2007 at 2:37 AM
1
I dare anyone in the Windows world to say they can run Vista Server on an 8-year-old Wintel box with only a simple memory upgrade.
It probably is bad business for Apple to allow hardware and software to seemlessly work so well that really legacy hardware can still perform well as a server, but it does.
ratty1 on 01/24/2007 at 4:04 PM
1
yves128 on 01/27/2007 at 4:25 AM
1
How did you do it? Did you have to format the disk first?
Thanks for tips.
Rgds
fyreniyce on 02/14/2007 at 11:49 AM
2
mikesign on 01/29/2007 at 10:02 PM
1
Pecos Bill on 01/30/2007 at 7:16 PM
1
nstewart on 01/23/2007 at 7:20 PM
2
lattedude on 01/24/2007 at 10:27 PM
1
architosh on 01/18/2007 at 7:06 PM
4
suburbanites on 01/19/2007 at 1:25 PM
2
Since then, I've purchased 4 Macs, 2 notebooks and 2 iMacs, and could not be any happier with them. Dollar for dollar against Dell or HP, I'm getting a much better unit with fewer problems, and much more robust support (which is still on the North American continent, by the way). Like many posters here, I also priced a similar unit against a Dell and HP, and found out quickly that the iMac I have as equipped comes out slightly cheaper. Bonus!
Knowing what I know now, I probably would not go back to Windows in whatever variant it has, and I know I'm not the only one just by virtue of walking into an Apple store and seeing the number of first-time buyers who grew tired of the problems with Windows. Although I still chuckle when someone mentions Vista.
Jimmyijoe on 01/22/2007 at 5:46 PM
2
rogerw on 01/22/2007 at 11:20 PM
6
There is nothing wrong with Macs but I think most Mac users whether they have always owned one or converted are quite insecure in the choices they make.
Towerofjam on 01/23/2007 at 1:08 PM
1
"PC's aren't for the simpleton user" seems to describe the joy many PC users feel in the superiority of their will to use such difficult machines, sounds good. I just want a computer that works... all the time.
lupyonderboy on 01/25/2007 at 9:21 PM
1
I have technogeek friends that are PC lovers and seem to thrive on the amount of minutiae knowledge they have in dealing with their PC's but unfortunately, I need to spend more time working rather than dealing with my machine. A computer is ultimately a tool. How would a carpenter like it if he had to reconfigure his hammer every time he had to nail something together?
The mac plug and play system for the OS allows me and other professionals that use macs to be more productive.
gfielding on 01/26/2007 at 10:17 AM
2
PlumbLunatic on 01/24/2007 at 4:15 AM
1
There's no doubt that Windows works perfectly if you know how to look after it; if you know where to get the third party apps that allow you to tweak your registry and clean out the system on a regular basis... The question is; should you have to?
Case in point; I've lost track of the number of people who point out Mac OS's lack of a bundled defrag-app, saying that the system must be monumentally inefficient as a result. It's at that point that I take great joy in pointing out that Mac OS defrags any file under 200MB on the fly every time that file is opened. Do you notice it happening? Nope, to a bit. Mac OS just gets on and looks after its self.
BwanaD on 01/24/2007 at 11:48 AM
1
But with the advent of OSX and the arrival of the Intel-based Macs, they have become huge Mac fans. Every one of them has a Mac, and they now 'strongly encourage' everyone in need of an upgrade to switch to Mac.
When I came in as director of the center I was the only Mac user out of 35 people. Macs now sit on a majority of the desks, and within two years I expect Windows will only reside on a handful of Mac machines in the office. Many of the Window users thought they'd just use Windows on a Mac, but every one has found they prefer working in the OSX environment, and many have simply deleted Windows.
islandinthenet on 01/24/2007 at 10:32 PM
3
I am a big fan of Linux and use it heavily for server related computing (with Apache, MySQL and Perl/PHP) but hated it as a desktop.
I bought my first mac ( a mac mini ) to test the waters with OS-X and I am not a convert. I have added a second mac ( MacBook ) and I am considering an iMac for the family.
I have found more and more security professionals switching to OS-X.
zeusbheld on 01/24/2007 at 7:59 AM
1
problem #1: computer dweeb arrogance. they aren't, sure, but why shouldn't they be? you can sneer all you want at computer-simpletons, but they include business leaders, academicians, artists and other cultural and economic leaders. hardly fitting of the overall classification of "simpleton."
so why SHOULDN'T any "simpleton" who has never used a computer be able to sit down, load photos from their digital camera, write a letter and email it, not to mention being able to do actual work on the thing without having to do a lot of work to learn to maintain it? seems to me, that should be the goal of both hardware and software designers, not the bane.
"There is nothing wrong with Macs but I think most Mac users whether they have always owned one or converted are quite insecure in the choices they make."
insecure? what does that sentence even mean? please clarify; here's some help from an archaic technology--the dictionary, adapted to the web via dictionary.com:
INSECURE:
1. subject to fears, doubts, etc.; not self-confident or assured: an insecure person.
2. not confident or certain; uneasy; anxious: He was insecure about the examination.
3 not secure; exposed or liable to risk, loss, or danger: an insecure stock portfolio.
4. not firmly or reliably placed or fastened: an insecure ladder.
insecure in the choices they make in general, as in not sure whether they should have a heineken or a budweiser, or watch football or 'desperate housewives?' or just insecure solely in spending their computing budget? and if so, how?
your statement makes no sense; please revise. obviously you are not a simpleton, so you must not be a native speaker of English. please get help from a native speaker, and clarify.
otherwise it looks like the usual windows-vs-mac nonsense that spews forth from advocates of both platforms--wild claims, often involving the character and intelligence of the user of the *other* platform, having nothing to do with any sort of reasoned approach to technology buying.
gfielding on 01/26/2007 at 10:15 AM
2
Guelfling on 01/26/2007 at 3:59 PM
1
Another commenter said that he doesn't use a computer for the sake of using it (approximately quoted). Likewise, I'll say that the computer is a tool for me. I'm not a OS user, I'm an Application user. In this respect, I'm not a simpleton, but I prefer not to bother with the OS. And I don't have to: I always use a Mac ;)
xtremeKenD on 01/31/2007 at 12:12 AM
1
I have tried the dual OS thing using Parallels and it works fine on my Pro but my employees using mac mini's weren't to happy with the speed loss... plus I'd rather not pay microsoft for a license to use their junk.
KenD
xtremeinvesting.net
architosh on 01/18/2007 at 7:02 PM
4
How in the hell can Dell sell any $500 PCs for Vista if you need a $400 GPU just to render out the screen?
techmama on 01/20/2007 at 8:24 PM
1
vajroli on 01/17/2007 at 8:07 PM
1
http://www.macworld.com/2006/08/features/macproprice/index.php
dinstpete on 01/17/2007 at 8:29 PM
2
Apple builds them rugged and keeps them current
I am a graphic designer, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign.. no light weight user, and in 15 years I've only had 3 Macs, "repairs" consisted of upgrading RAM and replacing batteries. Nothing else... nada.
Disc maintanance consists of repairing permissions - 5 minutes, once a week tops.
Bet I've spent less than you have.
TeachONE on 01/17/2007 at 11:04 PM
1