Windows Vista Home Premium user reviews

Pros Eye candy?

Cons Hidden costs

Summary If I were to install Vista I would have to 1.Buy a new film scanner. 2.Buy a new printer. 3.Buy a new flatbed scanner. 4.Replacement for Norton security. 5. Not sure about system mechanic. That alone would make the real cost to me to be in four figures. "If it aint broke don't fix it"

Pros More stable, looks beautiful, more features

Cons requires a great deal of hardware, expensive, lower battery life...

Summary Well I recently got to try Windows Vista. I'd have to say, this was an OS that Microsoft delayed releasing for years (originally Longhorn, 2004), so naturally, my expectations were high.
The first look of Vista is glorious--I have to admit, Microsoft did a great job in terms of graphics. Aero is awesome-the new alt-tab features, screen previews alone are great to look at. Furthermore, the 3d screen flip is amazing. However, Vista came with more than looks--theres many new features, such as a Search feature (which is STRANGELY similar to Mac OS X's spotlight feature), data encryption (ultimate), gadgets (which is nothing but a rip of Mac's widgets), sidebar, new start menu, added security for protection from viruses, worms, etc. The installation was also really clean and effortless. BUT MOST OF ALL IT IS MORE STABLE-NO SYSTEM CRASHES!!!

Unfortunately, while vista may be more stable, other outside factors cause it to crash. For example, Vista took up over 490MB of my RAM, even with no programs running!! TO get premium performance, especially with Aero, you are going to need at least 2GB of RAM. Furthermore, many applications and games are not compatible with Vista-I tried to load counterstrike on Vista but it failed. Furthermore, it is fairly expensive-Premium, which gives you aero starts at $300 and up.
The worst part has to be the obvious rips from Mac Tiger--it really is pathetic how many aspects of Vista have been taken from Mac and have given a small remix, and then have been called amazing Windows features. Just to name a few: every window in Vista (ex: explorer) has a search feature, which was not present in windows XP. It perfectly resembles Mac's search feature, which was available on Mac years ago. Furthermore, Windows "gadgets" are the saddest thing-it just shows how Microsoft has lost its innovation, and as a result, has to take Steve Job's ideas, such as widgets which were available several years ago on Tiger,and change the name and put it on Vista.

Whats interesting is how Microsoft has put alt of effort into graphics-Mac has been known for looking stunning, and Vista seems to be Microsoft's response. However, their response requires top of the line hardware--with a Mac, the same stunning looks can be achieved on slower hardware.

Moreover, if your a laptop user (such as myself) you will be pleased to know that because of Vista, all laptops with Vista only have half the battery life of XP-so it is not convenient at all for business or heavy users.

ALL IN ALL, IF YOUR BUYING A NEW COMPUTER, AND WANT A MICROSOFT OS, VISTA IS NOT A BAD CHOICE--IT HAS MANY PLEASANT FEATURES. BUT FOR BUSINESS USERS, HARDCORE GAMERS, AND PEOPLE WHO WANT ALL THESE FEATURES AND MORE, GET A MAC OR STICK WITH WINDOWS XP.

Pros New UI makes things easy to find and is more intuitive than OS X by a long shot

Cons Driver support is still somewhat elusive in some hardware. Get with the program manufacturers!

Summary Although it took a long time for this release to become available, I think it was worth the wait. Not only does the OS have truly innovative features and functionality in hardware, but the software is of the highest quality MS has put out to date. Vista is a fantastic business, home and gaming platform. Many services are disabled by default making it the most secure OS from MS to date. I have put RTM on 5 machines so far. A brand new MacPro, a Mac Book Pro, a Dell Optiplex GX260, and my two systems at home, Athlon XP 2400+ and a Athlon x2 4000+. All of these machines scream (well, besides the Dell). Building of the framework of the 2003 kernel makes this an extremely solid, reliable and secure OS. After installing it on the MacPro, I won’t even go back to OSX except for Filemaker Dev, Apple Scripting and XCode dev (rarely). Vista Home Premium is great for the average person, but if you want to see the true power of the OS, go with Ultimate. The beauty of this OS surpasses OS X by leaps and bounds, I’ve even used the latest seed of leopard only to find that its another kernel panicking POS like the rest. Sorry Steve, my money will go to Bill again..But hey, stay smug!

Pros Fun to use

Cons none really

Summary A quick read of many of the reviews here shows that it is impossible for a Microsoft product to get a fair judgement from many. Microsoft bashing is both fashionable and hip. Folks that bash Microsoft think they are sophisticated (especially true with journalists). The same folks who gush over minor Firefox upgrades bash Microsoft at every turn. (I read one review that rated Firefox superior to IE 7 because of the placement of the forwward/back buttons - does anyone really care? ) Asking for an open public rating of Microsoft is a bit like asking the general public to rate George Steinbrenner and the New York Yankees. The vocal bashers will crawl out of the woodwork.

It's simply human nature to hate the "haves"

Have a nice day everyone