Entered CNET Catalog: 11/03/2006
SKU: CNETWINDOWSVISTARTM
Manufacturer: Microsoft Corp.
CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 11/08/2006
Before installing Windows Vista, there's an option to go online and use Microsoft Vista's Upgrade Advisor on your current PC. The downloadable ActiveX component will inventory your current hardware and determine which version of Windows Vista is best suited for you: Windows Vista Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Business, or Windows Vista Ultimate. On our test laptop, an Acer TravelMate 8200, Microsoft recommended Windows Vista Business. Microsoft suggests that you run the test now to see if new hardware makes sense for the holiday season, then run the Advisor again in January 2007 to see if your hardware still makes the final requirements. (Microsoft says the Advisor is dynamic and will be updated as more and more software and hardware vendors post updates to the Microsoft site.)
For us, the installation took a little more than one hour. It's pretty much an automated process, with the installer first copying the ISO image onto the new hard drive or partition, then expanding that image. Once again, we experience uncomfortably long plateau at Expanding: 27 percent, as with previous builds, we waited about five minutes before the expansion continued. About halfway through, the installer reboots and continues the installation in Windows Vista.
Once fully installed, Windows Vista first asks for your country or region, then time and currency, and, finally, the desired keyboard layout. Next, you'll choose a username, a user icon, and a password. Then select your desktop wallpaper and security settings: Automatic, Install Important Updates Only, or Ask Me Later. After reviewing the computer's time and date settings, there's one more message: "Please wait while Windows checks your computer's performance." Here, Microsoft grades your computer on a five-point scale, with the overall rating based on your system's lowest score (in our case, that was for the video card).
This final build of Vista includes the new sounds for Windows Vista, written by veteran musican Robert Fripp. Compared to the familiar start-up tones for Windows XP, Windows Vista is lighter, almost spritely. The sounds for User Account Control and Log Off are also perkier than those found in Windows XP.
Right away, first-time users will be greeted by a Welcome Center, complete with tools to migrate data from another partition or hard drive and various services offered by Microsoft, plus the new Sidebar component, preloaded with three Gadgets--one each displaying time, a photo gallery slide show, and an RSS feed. Other than a rounded, more stylized Start menu, the changes aren't immediately apparent.
Longtime Windows users will appreciate the built-in file metatag and desktop search capabilities within Windows Vista. For instance, within the Start menu there's no need to use All Programs; instead, simply type the name of the app you're looking for, and a shortcut will appear as a search result. If you miss All Programs, it's still there, but now it's a hierarchy with expandable sections; instead of application lists building out onto the desktop, they push down the Start menu list. For Windows Explorer, type the author of a document and save the search results as a virtual file folder of that author's works. This a paradigm shift from Windows XP; now you can create folders of similar content, even if the content resides within different physical folders on the system's hard drive. There's no longer a need within Windows Vista to move files among various folders in the directory.
The new Aero graphics engine within Windows Vista is dynamic, so file icons not only show you the contents of the file but also scale to the size of the page. And now you can view thumbnails of any open task across the bottom of the screen. These, too, are dynamic; you could, for example, monitor the progress of a sporting event just by passing your mouse over the open application.
Until now, we've seen builds of Windows Ultimate, the full-blown version of the new operating system with all the bells and whistles turned on. Going forward, Microsoft will issue keys that are specific to each edition of Windows Vista. For example, most people will purchase the Windows Vista Home Premium edition, which includes Windows Gadgets, Windows Vista Media Center, and Windows Tablet PC, along with the ability to author and burn DVDs. Office users will get Windows Vista Business, which includes Windows Meeting Space, for setting up secure ad hoc wireless peer-to-peer collaborations, and the Windows Mobility Center, for controlling laptop functions and PowerPoint presentations on a display screen. At the low end is the Windows Vista Basic edition, which doesn't include the entertainment or mobile features, nor does it contain the Aero graphics system. Designed for older hardware, Windows Vista Basic includes the new file search capabilities and parental controls, with a lot of extra media functions.
All editions of Windows Vista will include Windows Sidebar, Windows Media Player 11, Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Movie Maker, Windows Firewall, Windows Defender antispyware, Parental Controls, Internet Explorer 7, Windows Mail, Windows Calendar, Games Explorer, and several other features. For a full list of the programs in a certain edition, see the Microsoft site.
With the release of Windows Vista RTM, Microsoft is not really finished; in fact, the company will continue to work on Windows Vista code up until the business release on November 30, 2006 and the retail release in January 2007. We identified a few glitches that struck us as significant and were apparent as recently as last month (in Windows Vista RC2). According to Chris Flores, Microsoft Group Product Manager for Windows Vista, the visual glitch on our laptop when the User Account Control notice appears is a known bug within the ATI device driver and should be fixed by January 2007. The battery drain issue we identified in Windows Vista beta 2 is a bit more complicated to resolve, but Flores says it should be improved by the general availability date in January 2007. Finally, we called out that the Program Compatibility Wizard was missing; it was not user accessible via search, nor was it apparent as an option from the Start menu. The Program Compatibility Wizard, which allowed you to tweak the operating system to behave like Windows 95 with only 128-bit graphics in order to run older applications, was totally buried under Start, Control Panel, Programs and Features. Now, in the final Windows Vista release the Program Accessibility Wizard is accessible only after an incompatible program crashes under Windows Vista.
Overall, we find this Windows Vista RTM build very stable and feature rich, and we look forward to reviewing the final release on January 30, 2007. Given the way the installation process checks for program updates, Microsoft has the opportunity to roll out the operating system with a few known bugs. So long as Microsoft is able to fix these bugs by its self-imposed general availability date, we think Vista could be a worthy upgrade for most PC users.
User opinions
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User Rating: 
2/10
Terrible product
Pros: Absolutly ynothing
Cons: it does not have a start-run.
i could not install his printer which he bought last year. It kept saying it was incompatible with Vista. So I tried to install mine. A HP All in one printer. It said the same thing-Incompatible. I have 4 printers, If I buy a new computer with Win Vista all my printers are obsolete.
User Rating: 2/10
Hard to use XT much better
Pros: nothing so far !! about as good as the economy. would like to send it back but am buying a Mac
Cons: almost everything you try to do has problems. I tried to download I-tunes and it locked up my computer. Could not use Photoshop again locked up my computer. I have plenty of memory and power its judt Vista. media player is a joke!!!
User Rating: 
1/10
Nothing special.
Pros: It's kinda cool looking.
Cons: It doesn't work well!
User Rating: 2/10
Very dissatisfed!
Pros: I can't find any positive quailities
Cons: Too many to name in one review
It is the most unreliable system I have ever used. It rarely functions the same twice and to do the most miniscule changes in one area effects many many other functions as well. And forget trying to get help form the Phillipines!!!!!!!
They don't have a clue what they are talking about and that is if you can even understand what they are saying.....big mistake....NEVER BUY VISTA...NEVER!!!!! They have a long long long way to go before they get this system straight!!!!!!!!!!!!!
User Rating: 
3/10
Good, but XP can still do evreything vista can
Pros: Looks better, and thats it
Cons: Runs dog slow on brilliant hardware compared to xp
User Rating: 2/10
vista sucks
Pros: it looks pretty and... well thats it
Cons: resources!!
User Rating: 2/10
unstable, crashes constantly
Pros: few if any just fluff
Cons: Everything seems to be more complicated
User Rating: 2/10
a microsoft disaster
Pros: pretty face
Cons: unstable crashes you're hdd
Updated on Dec 25, 2008takes out you're hdd to a piont where the hard drive won't even register full of bugs very unstable the worst nightmare on the market personally i won't give vista to my worst enemy. stick with xp or go linux.
User Rating: 3/10
Vista comment
Pros: I don't know any pros.
Cons: many many cons
User Rating: 
5/10
System crashed
Pros: To early to tell
Cons: System crashed
User Rating: 
4/10
slower than XP with a higher performing pc, handling more difficult
Pros: looked only good at beginning as its new; easier for establishing first connections
Cons: Explorer less clear, slower, too expensiv with all changes
Would not recommand buying Visat at mom
User Rating: 1/10
obviously microsoft execs don't use computers
Pros: none over XP
Cons: all the changes disrupt well-known XP methodoly
I give it a 1 rating, after getting the "note" from "cnet" if I'm sure. I'm sure. Never has a product from such a major company been such a huge step backwards in all ways.
It's the triumph of the notion that good 'marketing' can sell anything, or at least enough of something to enough people to make a clear mistake into a "winner."
I do not think Microsoft will get away with this. Slowly but surely the marketplace is clearly not accepting Vista. Referring to the millions who have adapted is similar to referring to the employment #s during the depression and crowing about how over 50% of the people have jobs....hmmmm.
Success exceeds expectations. Vista fails to even meet them for the consumer.
The "enhanced security" I believe does exist, but it was disheartening to realize part of the "enhancement" was inserting "approval required" step by step interaction before Vista did something deemed unsafe. This might be useful for the newbie, but for an experienced used. It's extremely annoying.
It singlehandedly turns the initial user experience into a nag-fest after the user realizes that Vista's default settings seem to think virtually every action you take needs to go through this process of asking 'are you sure, are you really really sure, well ok, but you better be sure."
After having enough of this idiocy, I disabled the feature via the registry.
Now it's not so secure I guess, but I really don't care.
Vista is also more sluggish. It simply does not respond like XP. Simple clicks take up to a minute to process, like the one I just completed to download Vista Tools.
Why this happens I don't know right now. It's quite annoying, but not annoying enough to spend an hour trying to figure out why Vista takes so long to do something XP always does instantaneously.
The OS is full of such little annoyances. By themselves they matter little, but when there are a couple of dozen of these little changes, disruptions using Vista becomes an unpleasant pain in the butt.
Oh and who's the genius who decided the folder system needed to be redesigned? If it was essential to creating vista, couldn't they have left the XP facade on and used shortcuts to connect the facade to the Vista folders, at least initially?
I can only surmise that those who designed Windows Vista rarely use the actual OS to do any of the things that the typical user at home or at Business use a computer to do.
The changes all clearly reflect that Vista was the product of an "absract exersize" in designing something based on knowing a product only conceptually, but almost not at all in terms of using it.
Seriously, if they did, they'd have realized that these annoyances are unjustifiable changes in a system that was working fine.
Sure there were gripes re: XP when it replaced 98, but they were the exception not the rule as in Vista, and they truly did fix some major flaws.
Other than some "behind the scenes" security issues that could have been fixed via an XP update, Vista doesn't fix anything.
It just muddies the conventions and adds a level of irritation that will probably drive users away, or as in my case go back to XP
One thing Vista does do is reveal just how terrible a businessman Jobs is. Microsoft basically gave him a golden opportunity to steal huge chunks of marketshare. For the first time in a generation, Mac could have claimed to have more software Etc. than the latest and greatest from Windows, but the fool that he is, decided to copy Vista in a many ways with lepord(?) which suffers from a lot of the same issues, and so the big Mac oppty just disappears.
User Rating: 3/10
Windows Vista is out the window
Pros: New GUI, new box, new load screen.
Cons: Incompatible with most existing software, annoying confirmations which add no real protection.
As a software developer, I know no software is truley bug-free, but Vista seems like they failed to even go through a BETA test. In addtion, the annoying pop-up that asks if I want to continue running an app is a complete waste of time and voilates some of the basic Human-Computer Interaction principles, and to what end? Would anyone in their right mind run an application again knowing that it is infected? This is mearly a "snake-oil" attempt in fixing what ails you.
In a cruel twist of irony, when installing Visual Studio 2005, it was the "Windows Compatibility" (whatever it's really called) service that preventing me from installing VS 2005. As explained in a technical forum, I should copy the contents of the VS 2005 DVD onto my hard drive and install from there because Windows Compatibility was interfering and marking the install app incorrectly. I've even seen error messages that say you need to install Windows XP Service Pack 1, on a (fresh) Vista install!
This is a classic example of "catch-22", as the tools necessary to create these applications (e.g. Visual Studio) will not work on the OS it is targetting. I smell something akin to complete incompetence. I mind as well as try to create an app for OSX.
Now I have a question directed at Microsoft, have you considered what hell you've release on to this earth? These new implementations, at their current state, are useless in what they achieve. Frustration is through the roof, and any promises of these new features are overshadowed by their complete failure to do what "you've" promised. There's nothing worse than breaking a promise, Bill.
I hate to end a rant without contributing something in the form of a solution, unfortunately even considering the vast resources microsoft has at its disposel I can only suggest everyone to revert to Windows XP and voice their opinion to microsoft, someday they'll check their email. What do you guys do at work all day anyways?
I know that I may be a marginal portion of Vista users, but as someone who contributes to the most sold type of software (i.e. games) I feel that microsoft has left many loyal users with a very expensive bill to pay for. You can expect no more support from me.
User Rating: 2/10
vista : a not much useful os
Pros: secured os.any malware can not run as and when pleased
Cons: over secure.it even doesn't recognize its own programs or software
User Rating: 1/10
Slow irritating and unreliable
Pros: Pretty to look at
Cons: Slow, irritating and unreliable
User Rating: 3/10
Poor performance, no real advantage over XP
Pros: Pretty front page
Cons: VERY slow; many peripherals have no drivers
User Rating: 5/10
How can I get a lap top the does not crash?
Pros: A Lot of potential,
Cons: Still falls short of OS X
By the time I am a month or two in to IE 7 crashes every two minutes, Citrix logs off every 15 minutes, frustration begins! Do I need to get a better computer (I have a sony sz470n), better utility programs? I use Vista ultimate. I am so frustrated how do i get a better experience?
Can some one point me in the right direction?
User Rating: 1/10
Vista is the new O/S 2
Pros: Has the potential because of memory addressing
Cons: Sloooooowww, stalls, hdd intensive
The Office "Trial" loses real functionality long before the 60-day trial. Can't even send New " or "Reply" messages form Outlook. What's the point.
On a scale of 1-10, this is a 0.5!!
User Rating: 3/10
I have the horsepower, Vista still premature
Pros: Looks almost like an Apple!
Cons: Many key drivers - even Vista certified - are not stable. Memory hog.
(1) Don't upgrade. Not yet anyways (September 2007), probably a year or so away. ALL Nvidia drivers are not stable - yes ALL cards, even the highest end, and Nvidia has been trying hard with a new driver release every few days. Creative drivers are also unstable and irratic. These are the two most common architectures. This is simply not acceptable.
2) If you are eager to get the look, keep XP on a separate drive so you can still boot with it since 95% of your software doesn't work on Vista and many drivers WILL freak out on you.
A final point: DO NOT consider less than 64-bit Home Premium. 32-bit doesn't recognize much over 3GB of RAM, and Vista alone runs at around 1.3GB with nothing else running (unless you optimize by shutting features off, which may as well be XP). MSoft shouldn't ship the 32 bit version in my opinion.
XP is stable (finally), and anything you want to run probably works very well with it.
In summary, sadly, I would hold off. Recommended buy date for any new Windows O/S = release date plus 2 or 3 years.
User Rating: 
7/10
Best thing about Vista is...
Pros: Very customizable look and feel of the user interface
Cons: Not much improvement over Windows XP, not as stable as Windows 2000
With Windows Vista, you can customize the theme and user interface with Vista desktops, skins, widgets, icons, and more. And many are available for free to download at websites like Vista-Skins.com/ or by typing in "vista skins" at Google.
For several years, Mac, Unix, and Linux users always bragged about how Mac OS X or their GUI interface outshined the dated, aged, tired Windows interface. Now, you have a chance to leapfrog or even get a comparable Mac OS X experience by updating the Windows Vista's skins and themes.
User Rating: 
9/10
The best yet
Pros: Beautiful, stable and secure.
Cons: Not as speedy as XP - yet.
User Rating: 1/10
really awful
Pros: ships preinstalled on new machines
Cons: unstable, incompatible, and painfully slow
User Rating: 1/10
Not worth the $$$ or the aggrivation
Pros: Can't think of any
Cons: Price, incompatibility issues and memory consumption
User Rating: 2/10
What a nightmare!
Pros: Looks good when a program works.
Cons: Too many to list.
User Rating: 2/10
Vista - Wow, it sucks
Pros: improved search capability
Cons: security bottlenecks, incompatibility
I don't remember having to purchase so many new versions of software since the jump to Win95. Furthermore, most of the software which will run under Vista only does if you run it under the WinXp simulator AND run the program each time as an Administrator (so why bother upgrading or buying a new machine anyway?).
Most of the intriguing improvements in Vista are just eye candy, the only worthwhile improvement is the search feature does a much better job finding what you're actually looking for and much faster as well. And that's a good thing because you'll be using it to figure out how to do the most basic of commands and opening the most basic of resources - which are all different compared to XP.
And then there's the security hurdles. Everything you've heard about how annoying they are is probably true or worse. The constant security notices made installing programs take three times as long as it should have taken plus running programs as an Admin or in XP mode will usually bring up ANOTHER security pop-up every time you start the program up.
User Rating: 3/10
Am I the only one who hates this?
Pros: You can kinda see through the formerly opaque window frame
Cons: So many conflicts with drivers and new software.
User Rating: 2/10
as good an upgrade as from win98/2 to ME . HA HA
Pros: nice looking icons
Cons: for the money Bill G. is the only winner with Vista
User Rating: 1/10
I've Given Up On Vista!
Pros: Very quick install and the program is pretty!
Cons: OMG Security overkill!!!!!
If I had to give an anology for this product it would be Stephen Kings' Christine. It does what it wants when it wants and you're just along for the ride! And boy are you taken for a ride! At this point, be afraid, be very afraid!
After running Vista, other than the pretty face there is no good reason to upgrade to this big brother version of windows. I'm starting to believe those apple commercials!
User Rating: 2/10
Windows Vista is not ready for Prime Time
Pros: It has a whole lot of Bells and Whistles, but that's it
Cons: Alot of small minor things keep pilling up. I love listening to music and Windows Vista downgraded my Sound Card and other hardwares that i have.
User Rating: 9/10
I dont understand the outcry
Pros: great compatibility and interface
Cons: expensive and basically a service pack
To conclude, don't upgrade unless you're getting a new PC.
User Rating: 3/10
Windows Vista - Don't Bother
Pros: Flashy GUI
Cons: should still be in Beta
Well let me use this tired old analogy..... If this was a new car I would be back at the dealer today, giving it back.
Previously I could access my Outlook Server via Web Access flawlessly. Now when trying to reply to emails via OWA i get the Left upper hand X of doom..... oh well, I didn't need to reply all those pesky work emails, after all, I need the time to fix Vista problems.
Almost all icons on my computer or new folders I create have the "i don't know what the f#$|< I am icon. And I can't change them. Further more, my blackberry desktop manager is doing strange, random things. Guess I need to reinstall that too.
Oh, and now for the final kick in the groin. Right before writing this my computer completely froze while trying to access the microcrap email support online.... cowinkydink? The "Who Shot Kennedy" side of me sez no way.
I've never owned an apple. I thought my dad's apple IIe was okay.... But maybe now it's time for a Mac PowerBook. Great advertising Microsoft... Come up with a OS called Vista and "view" your customers go to the competetion in droves.
Nick C.
RN and Business Manager
Seattle, WA
User Rating: 2/10
Why I did upgrade? :(
Pros: nothing to say
Cons: stay tune with tech
I received a lot of "blue screen" but now is pink, blue light... Network and Sharing center is a nightmare. Serious!! is a nightmare.
But I still love my PC . But I feel MS is doing the worst favor to PC age.
64 is a lie at this moment. Why lie MS? My Lapy have 64 and promise 64 windowsVista. But is only a MS's joke.
Serious, NO 64 SOftwares, No Vista 64 Why Sell 64 based????? Need UPGRADE TO 64 AND PAY FOR IT????
MS should receive a case because this.
I willl not say about a lot of confirmations need to do bacause a simple task like copy a file.
And I would liked fill worst rate in cnet but isnt possible because system is not authorized. Probably Cnet is based in Vista
No regards
macm
User Rating: 5/10
Windows Vista is too new
Pros: Very visual if you like that
Cons: not compatible with anything, too new
User Rating: 7/10
Great but not good enough
Pros: Beautiful GUI, and interesting new things
Cons: occasional slowdowns, blue screen of death, program incompatibilities
User Rating: 9/10
an AWESOME addition to the windows family
Pros: Much better design and much sleeker. Has alot of needed features such as the Sidebar and Sideshow programs.
Cons: Too much security. You cant get anything done with all of the popups asking are you sure you want to do this.
User Rating: 
6/10
It's fantastic, too bad it's so power hungry.
Pros: great new features, much though put into it!
Cons: too power hungry - forget about glitches
Windows Vista is very well though out from what I can see - the new features certainly do add convenience and productivity. I'm sure they have very high paid engineers working on improving the usefulness and productivity on the operating system. HOWEVER, they're missing the point. An operating system should not require half your computer's resources to run.
I am running an Inspiron 8500 2.4GHz P4M with 1G Ram. My ATI MR 9000 only has 32MB memory which is kinda measley but not unusual for a laptop these days. Explorer.exe uses between 5 and 50% CPU time doing very basic tasks.
If you want your operating system to run smoothly so that you don't notice sluggish performance, you'll need to spend big bucks on the newest dual core processors and lots of ram. I won't lie, the Vista experience is quite nice, but seriously power hungry.
As stated in another review somewhere, I forget where, Windows vista is a "nice-to-have" - not a "must have". Personally I don't think you should require an ultimate super computer just to run an operating system. We have games and applications that demand alot of power and rightfully so - but the operating system should run in the "background".
If you want to play around with featrures such as fantastic new "Aero" graphics and fascinating new looks and functionality, go for Windows Vista. If you want to maintain productivity and performance, and you're not rich, stick with XP for now, or else start learning Linux.
That said, I think Microsoft has released Vista a little bit ahead of the market, and by the time people have the money to afford better computers, Microsoft will have worked out all their glitches and will be making big bucks as usual. So should you buy Vista? No, of course not. If you're reading this review it's because you're not sure about spending the money. Wait another year, and when others talk about how wonderful it is, just remember it's mostly toys and meaningless power-hungry features.
I installed Vista, and although I really love it, I'm removing it from my system and using XP until I can buy a better computer.
P.S. If you want to try it out, use something like PartitionMagic to make a new partition on your hard drive and install windows vista without disturbing your XP installation. You will be glad you did so.
User Rating: 7/10
Catchy..but can't dance to it!
Pros: Lots of gimmicks to play with and features to explore
Cons: MS OneLife didn't work once I upgraded. That and Download Accelerator were the only two "problems" I had.
Like the new look and feel. Will play with a little and get under the hood of all the features. So far, I LIKE IT.
User Rating: 3/10
Beware of Time Involved and Compatability Issues
Pros: None Yet - Need More Time To Evaluate
Cons: Massive Amount of Data and HOURS of Load Time
User Rating: 4/10
oh...wow :(
Pros: its pretty...
Cons: hardware requirements, compatibility issues, price, etc etc etc...
when i told my best friend, after our discussion on the new OS, i was leaning toward linux, he put out his arms and started screaming "take me with you!"...
thats all i have to say.
User Rating: 4/10
so much hype but no real access improvement! Must do Better!!!!
Pros: Yes its a new Os
Cons: they should have worked with blind people!!
Having tryed Vista, using the commands crtl shift & space on narrator; it is still the same basic screen reader!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why on earth, should I have pay out £660+ for a dolphin flash pen which has full screen reading software on it?!!!!!!!!!!
Take Heed Microsoft; Apple are aready working with the RNIB to improve VoiceOver;
Leopard is coming & if Steve Jobs has his way, more blind & partially sighted people will go & get Macs!!!! Be smart talk to blind people; listen to Us & we might stay?
User Rating: 3/10
Yay for Vista... not
Pros: Looks like Mac OS X
Cons: doesn't run like Mac OS X
Regarding the upgrade in gfx card; couldn't MS just have attempted to be efficient when writing the OS? Unix has a better UI in the KDE builds and it uses a fraction of the processor to achieve it.
Basically, Vista appears slightly more stable than XP in terms of cancelling running processes; but it's not worth it.
Vista offers me nothing that I couldn't have achieved with XP SP2, LiteStep and Yahoo Widgets.
Also; who the hell thinks it's fair for UK customers to pay TWICE what the US are?
Microsoft MUST try harder.
User Rating: 
10/10
Cnet need to seriously cease with their love for Apple
Pros: It looks hot, it's far more functional than XP (or OSX) and there's enough variety that you can get exactly what you want.
Cons: Not QUITE as much of a "wow" as you might have envisioned.
Particularly the con that there are too many versions narked me off. I LIKE CHOICE. We're not all simpletons (like Cnet apparently), and are capable of making the right choice for us, while if you can't then a salesman or quick review will sort you right out, and your use of computers is clearly so limited that you'll neither care nor notice the differences anyway probably.
Pretty much gave it a 10 over a 9 to account for all the Apple fan boys who'll be here vista bashing.
User Rating: 1/10
Fatal Flaws
Pros: Nice Aero Glass interface; lots of features, incl. media center app
Cons: Expensive; DRM and WGA;
DRM limits what you can do with your software and media content (including music). Media lovers, beware!
WGA and Product Activation, what a pain! This also includes MS spyware.
$260 to upgrade to Ultimate? Are you kidding?!
You don't even get *all* of the much-vaunted security features unless you get the Ultimate edition!
Fatal flaws make Vista abysmal. And let's not forget, this is "Version 1.0" software with lots of bugs. MS is pushing Service Pack 1 out to us before the end of the year to fix what should have been fixed at release date (today)! This is nuts.
User Rating: 1/10
If there was a 0 on the scale I would have picked that rating
Pros: Trying to look like mac OSX
Cons: Does not work like mac OSX Dependant on hardware config
With Mac OSX and Mac Computers, everything just works.
I used PC for many years, and once I tried OSX I was hooked. I have always used Mac at work, but did not think about it at home due to the cost. Well, its worth the cost to go with Mac. They never crash and never get viruses. The cash up front is a good investment, as you dont have to pay money for anti virus software and other PC hardware.
I have also noticed that my friends that use PC's are constantly trying to fix problems with software and hardware, installing drivers etc. That is non-existent with mac.
I do understand that PC is great for business users, for cost and programs available. Lots of high end accounting software for big business is only on PC based systems.
For home, I would say go with mac.
Everythink Mac just works.
User Rating: 1/10
To little to late. Microsoft continues to punish their users.
Pros: It's not WinMe.
Cons: It's not as good as Linux, Mac or BSD.
I finally got sick of them when they released all the spyware they did this year.
Vista will be the worse case of customer abuse Microsoft has ever done.
For years they have dictated what the PC makers can and can't do.
Now the want to tell the hardware and 3rd Party vendors they can and can't do.
Security is the biggest issue. Push out the 3rd party security software to sell their own version.
You folks have other choices. You really need to explore them.
I moved my entire office to Linux last year and have not looked back because Microsoft refuses to look ahead.
User Rating: 4/10
Thanks but no thanks, I will have to stay with XP.
Pros: Nice interface and good stability
Cons: Cost of updating or replacing existing computers.
The bottom line is that the cost of upgrading from XP to Vista is too great and possile benifits are far too small.
User Rating: 10/10
At Least it's Not Apple Feline OS
Pros: Great experience, better than Apple's
Cons: No cons to note
User Rating: 1/10
Does anyone remember WINDOWS ME?
Pros: Haven't seen anything to justify a change.
Cons: Appears buggy, even when reviewed a shill!
User Rating: 
8/10
Best Windows yet! Is it the "Applization" of Windows?
Pros: pretty, user friendly, lots of great stuff!
Cons: Beware of non-Vista everything! Especially drivers.
I did note that things were a little quirky at first, but lo and behold, updates from MS has stabilized it and it is working fine. But enough of my testing it on a meager platform.
Take a look under the hood, the control panel shows a lot more stuff to play with for the geek at heart, although, the inner geek may be frustrated at not being as "in control" of their machine as they are used to, such as making it difficult to even watch a drive defrag. It's doing it, but it's much harder to see what's up. Perhaps Microsoft's goal was to reduce "nag messages" and screens that might make some fearful.
This "Appliztion" of Windows is a little distrubing, but it is making it more user friendly for the average person, just wanting to get something done rather than play computer geek. But then,too, check out the Reliablity and Performance monitors and the reports that can suggest improvements.Yes, there ARE things for geeks.
So much more to play with yet, far from knowing this OS inside and out. It has been a pleasure (mostly) since installation and has often self repaired any problems it did have, thanks to automatic updating.
First review here... be kind!
User Rating: 2/10
Why do I have to buy a new computer
Pros: It almost works like a Mac
Cons: It's way to processor intensive, have to buy new computer.
User Rating: 8/10
Not just a pretty face!
Pros: Some real, solid improvements both in useability and functionality
Cons: Upgrade procedures need urgent attention. Cost?
Been 'in the business' since 1991.
I've seen, and worked with, every offering from Microsoft.
Every time; they claim it's going to be faster. It never is; it's usually slower - but I expect that.
EVERY time a new OS is released there are cries of 'it's no good ....'. My experience is that there are always improvements but people tend to comment before they've put in the effort (and it does require effort) to really find out what a new OS 'is about'.
My experience with beta versions of Vista were disappointing (to say the least).
I received the RTM Vista Business upgrade a few days ago.
The upgrade was a nightmare. The online advisor assured me there were going to be no problems (apart from an old version of Nero which I uninstalled). It fibs!
My test machine was running RAID 0 (SATA). I wasted hours just to keep seeing the same blue screen of death (with no pointer to a resolution). That the advisor says otherwise is very, very poor. Wake up Microsoft.
At this point my user rating should be a solid 1 (abysmal).
I so nearly threw the whole lot in the bin; but persisted and installed to a single SATA drive (without incident).
And I'm so glad that I did persist.
I've now had three days of exploring Vista 'in anger' and I have to say that, despite my usual cynicism, I think it's tremendous. A bigger leap than the change from Windows 3.1(1) to '95.
Three days and NOTHING has crashed.
I must warn at this point that the machine I'm using is fairly quick (Index Base Score of 5.0).
Further information: It's part of a domain (SBS 2003) and also has some other obscure/exotic bits.
The first couple of hours were spent just trying to find where the familiar bits and pieces had gone, changes to explorer etc etc. I have to admit it was probably an hour before I realised that, despite the upgrade acknowledging I was on a domain, I was actually logged onto the local account. And then another 10 minutes figuring out how to get the default logon to access the domain. Sloppy again Microsoft!
But now to the good stuff.
Vista ISN'T just about visuals. It is very pretty - but I think enough (too much) has already been said about that.
Running Vista feels smooth - this may not be very technical but, if you use PCs a lot, you'll know what I mean.
I'm not (yet) 100% sold on the new visuals for Windows Explorer but the functionality of copies, renames, moves etc within explorer is vastly improved.
I've seen lots of complaints about 'User Account Control' being inhibiting. Personally, I think the only question is how effective it will prove to be. It doesn't bother me in the slightest. That people, at this early stage, appear to be disabling it; I find disturbing.
I'm astounded by how well it runs existing applications. Applications that I was convinced wouldn't run, do so flawlessly. In fact one application that XP required affinity to be set to CPU 0 to avoid glitches, runs perfectly in Vista. Still early days but, apart from Nero (as mentioned), I've hit no problems so far.
Media Player 11 with XP is impressive - With Vista it's awesome.
My aging Photosmart P1100 isn't supported - but there again it was about a year before a stable driver was produced for XP. In fact Vista responded to a kludge so that it does at least print now - albeit without all the bells and whistles.
I can't begin to do Vista justice in a short review. What I will say is:
If you've used and hate it - try putting some work in. It really is unreasonable to expect to extract full benefit from an operating system by intuition alone. And therein lies the problem; so many people seem to think that expertise comes by osmosis (if that makes sense!).
If you've not used it - don't be put off by the doom-mongers. Though whether it's worth the cost; only you can decide.
So, from a 1 rating to a 8. But for the upgrade fiasco it would have been a 9 - and I don't give 9's easily.
User Rating: 4/10
Still less than an OSX
Pros: a new look especially the icons, somewhat faster
Cons: not that much different than an XP, still behind OSX
User Rating: 5/10
First thoughts
Pros: Pretty interface, some nice additions, revamps
Cons: Not much of a change
User Rating: 6/10
Improved, but not dramatically.
Pros: Smooth interface, improved security, new and updated programs.
Cons: Not much different than XP, User Account control is annoying, some incompatibilities with current software/hardware, menus and interface in explorer can be confusing at times, expensive.
The new interface adds only minimal new functionality, none of which will improve your productivity.
The user account control will protect you from unwanted programs, but it nags the user too much.
Updated IE7, Windows Media Player and Windows defender are good, but they are also available for Windows XP for free!
A few programs and hardware will not work with Vista until they have been updated.
Sidebar with gadgets takes up a lot of memory and isn't innovative- Google and Yahoo both have similar products.
Search isn't all that great, maybe a little faster and more integrated than XP. Also, Google has a desktop search program for Windows XP that does about the same, if not more!
Improved picture viewer, DVD burner, media center and movie maker look neat and perform well, but, again, a lot of this functionality was available in XP and this is hardly innovative.
Parental controls would be useful if I were a parent, I guess. Nothing I'm going to be needing for a long while. Why do I have to pay for development of these kind of features?
I'm overall disappointed in Vista. The interface needs more work, and some of the controls and menus in explorer are confusing to say the least.
I wouldn't pay to upgrade, just wait until you buy a new computer.
Better luck next time, Microsoft.
User Rating: 1/10
Awful! Expensive! Slooooooooooow!
Pros: None!
Cons: Everything!
User Rating: 5/10
An OS with alot of features that is fun to play with, but diffucult to do functional work in...
Pros: Network Connectivity Features, Wi-Fi Support, Windows Mobile Device Center, Visually pleasing AERO interface
Cons: Lack of support for Admin Tools, Configuration settings are scattered, Windows miss-diagnoses issues. LACK OF DRIVER SUPPORT.
It is difficult from an IT support role because they went from point E to point H with no paper trail to figure out why things are the way they are.
I feel I know know where everything I am used to accessing is and my comfort leve is there. I feel at times the OS is distracting to work in, I find myself focusing on a task to perform and end up in another area of the OS because I find other items along the way that distract me or intrest me in regards to how the OS works. This could also be my personality too...
Ther is alot to like about the OS, and alot to dis-liek, more to disliek at this point. Drivers aren't there yet, let alone software that runs without blue screening it.
I am looking forward to the new OS as it will present new challenges and new problems to solve.
User Rating: 5/10
I hope this is all worked out by February...
Pros: Great stability. Some very cool features. Very Simplistic. The best voice recognition system ever incountered. Will run quite well with almost minimal requirements.
Cons: At current state, not recommended for home users. Very annoying unless you know how to turn off some of the features. You have to give yourself drive access permissions to your own HDD. Nesting.
First of all, I'd like everyone to know that I am an IT professional and I do technical support for a manufacturer. With that said, I feel like I should at least speak out a bit of the new Windows Vista as it is released now. First of all, with Windows Vista in it's current state, I strongly recommend installing it as it's own separte OS on it's own separate partition instead of upgrading. One thing is that this particular OS has it's very good, and also very bad points. One good point is it's stability. Amoung all of the MS NT versions of Windows, I must say that Vista is the most stable out of all of them, however, at it's current state, the earliest version of Windows that you can upgrade to it from is Windows XP Service Pack 2. However, the good side to that is Vista's installation saves everything from your previous installation to another folder called Windows.old. I experienced this very situation when attempting to upgrade a secondary copy of Windows 2000 on an auxilary partition on my computer's hard drive. One thing I should also note is that my system at home is a 1.9 GHZ AMD Sempron with only 512MB of RAM, an Nvidia GeForce MX 4000 128MB video card, and an 80GB split up (20GB = Windows XP MCE 05 Partition, and a 60GB = Was Windows 2K and is now Windows Vista Ultimate) Quantum HDD. Whoo, try saying all that in one breath... Anyway, moving on, no, I did not get to experience Aero or Flip 3D at home, however, I am mostly just testing Vista for work and research purposes, so, really, just did not see it as a very big deal. When I first started to use it, I quickly set my usual options as I usually do (folder options to show everything, control panel in classic style, etc....), and thought I was done there. First thing I noticed is that when I attempted to get the usual icons to show up on the desktop (My Computer, My Documents, My Network Places, Internet Explorer, etc....), they were not in any usual place to be found, like within the Display Properties under a Desktop tab or something. No, you had to right mouse click on the icon in the Windows style start menu, or set the start menu to classic style in order to get them to appear, and even then sometimes, if you use the full Windows start menu (which I do in XP for the convienience), not all the icons will be able to appear. One thing I did not like about the new start menu is the "nesting" of it, which seems to be a common theme in Vista. Almost everything in this OS is nested in something else. Imean, I one who's all for an object oriented layout, but there comes a point where you've gotta say... Enough! I know the desktop search is suppossed to alieviate the pain of nesting, however, like most users, they will forget that the feature is even there, and therefore, maybe less likely to even use it. I honestly think there should be three options of everything in Windows Vista (Windows Classic Style, Windows XP Style, Windows Vista Style) at this point. As far as I see it, the Windows Explorer interface in Vista is very, very simplistic. Maybe a little too simplistic without tool tips. You also have to go into folder options to show menus even. I also noticed that the address bar has become more like the "Up Folder(s)" bar. That is a very cool feature, although, you know, I wish there was a tool tip to have notified me of this so I would not sound stupid asking "Where is the up folder button." One other thing I noticed was that everytime I wanted to run a program, install something, etc, I'd get attack by the User Access Control which, I do have to say is the most annoying feature of all and should not be turned on from the beginning when you first use the OS. Be advised that sometimes this would not let me install somethings as well. I quickly found this feature under Windows Security and disabled it. I also changed the way that security center alerts me so I wouldn't be hounded by that little red shirld for turning off user access control. What was also very annoying and time consuming was finding out that I had to give myself full permissions to use the partition that it was on, even if I was set as an Administrator. Also, I had to go in and do this because Vista locked out the partition from the other OSes on my computer, and this was my partition for storing music files, downloads, etc. One thing that I mentioned before was that I replaced the OS that was on the partition with Vista. When the install moved old windows files and documents and settings to the Windows.old folder, it created and not quite a shortcut, not quite a folder junction file to my old documents and settings on the root of the drive/partition, however, before I gave myself full permission to use that partition, I would click on it, and would tell me that "Access is Denied." I simply then went into rhe windows.old folder, and accessed my old files there, however, I try to copy my old documents and settings folder back to the root of the drive and the junction file kept redirecting it back. Once I gained the proper permissions, the junction file was the first thing I deleted and then I copied the folder back. Just a note, in Vista, the old documents and settings folder no longer exists. Instead, it is replaced with a "Users" folder in the root. I did not have much of a problem running my older programs and stuff once I got through all the afformentioned junk. My final words on Windows Vista is that it's a really good and extremely stable version of Windows, however, more tips, assistance, and maybe a slight step back and less security needs to be presented to the average user right from the get-go.
I hope my opinion helped a few of you and hope you'll enjoy.
User Rating: 2/10
Microsofts Lost Focus
Pros: Good for IT Industry (is that a pro?)
Cons: Windows for Dummies, no Win FS or techie features
Increased Security? You can write that claim on a block of ice and watch it melt. Microsoft has used this marketing tactic with every new release of Windows and we all know its a line of crap. Microsofts refusal to seperate Windows Explorer and Internet explorer in the shell is at the heart of their security issues, but in the end it makes them more money so they keep it that way at the users peril. VISTA is still using an NTFS based file system and a system registry that is easily corrupted. Nothing new here, and the bad guys know it, VISTA is a sitting target using old technology.
WHERES THE NEW FEATURES:
AERO SHMAERO? Eye candy is not a feature, its a skin that does nothing to increase productivity, security and defintely not performance. Yep, the GUI is pretty, but in the end it doesnt accomplish anything but give them something pretty and new to sell. Productivity improvements in VISTA are a joke. No new file management features, what happened to WinFS? User account control restrictions are frustrating to say the least and will only delay the inevitable corruption to the system when a user installs spyware and virus laden .exe's on their system.
MICROSOFT NEEDS TO FOCUS- Instead of trying to copy everything everyone else is doing with, ZUNE, Microsoft Earth, Micosoft Live, etc., etc., they need to focus on the one thing that they do best, Windows O.S. With nintey percent market share, billions of dollars, and five years in the making, I think VISTA is the product of a company that has lost vision and focus.
Save your money, and wait for the next O.S. if you have to run Windows. Vista is a complete and utter waist of time!
User Rating: 1/10
Much ado about nothing
Pros: bad idea big waste of money
Cons: too many restrictions
User Rating: 9/10
OS with great user experience potential
Pros: Fast, reliable, safe, user-friendly.
Cons: Can be too expensive for some people. Needs modern hardware to see its full beauty.
I hope people will enjoy Vista. I do enjoy it. If you think Ultimate is expensive - consider Home Premium, may be more than enough.
Read some more information about Vista on
http://www.expertvista.com
User Rating: 5/10
GOOD AND BAD
Pros: nice GUI & like the readyboost feature
Cons: lot of bugs...essentially BSOD predominantly exists
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User Rating: 2/10
Windows Vista is a Total Rip Off
Pros: No Pros at all
Cons: The Whole Thing
User Rating: 7/10
Great if you are patient
Pros: Fast, stable, looks good.
Cons: Poor Driver Support Already
User Rating: 9/10
Everything I hoped for and more
Pros: Non-obtrusive and enjoyable useability, IIS7
Cons: No Down-level version of Windows Meeting Space
As software developer working on vista full-time, I can't believe the tiny little things in Vista that provide such a large productivity boost for me. I've gotten in the habit of simple hitting the windows key on my keyboard to find pretty much any file or application on my computer.
I thought for sure that Vista would simply be all about eye candy but it really is something different and unique. Also, IIS7 is pretty damn cool, the UI is consistent and straight forward and for the first time, there's a version of Windows my grand mother could use.
User Rating: 6/10
Bill Gates' good looking, mentally-challenged daughter
Pros: Prettier, Security vastly improved, DirectX10, and more simplified interface
Cons: Cost, Hardware requirements, DRM, Less user control, harder to adapt to than XP was, Annoying "security" warnings
Vista is a significant upgrade from XP in a number of ways. There are a bunch of new features related to security. Windows Defender and the new User system are probably the most obvious examples. This security comes as sort of a two-sided blade, however. There is far less user control than existed in XP. Many of the options have been moved around and some have apparently been removed entirely. The security warnings are rather chatty and obtrusive, particularly when you put a new hard drive or other device in.
The interface is a major overhaul from previous versions of Windows. In some ways, it is easier to use. For someone new to computers, Vista would undoubtedly be more user-friendly and easier to use. But for the person used to the traditional functionality of Windows operating systems, Vista is a major shift in the tides that will take some getting used to. Although the classic interface exists, it is not even nearly identical to the true classic Windows 9x/2000 interface. XP's Luna-theme appears to have been entirely removed. DirectX 10 will be available only on Windows Vista, which perhaps could make Vista a must buy for gamers.
Potentially the worst thing about Windows Vista is the cost. While Windows has always been rather costly, Vista's top-end Ultimate edition will run $259 for an upgrade and $399 for a full. In my opinion, Windows Vista is not (currently) worth the cost unless you have a pretty compelling reason to upgrade.
All of the bells and whistles, the new interface, improved security, and new features come at an increased price in more than just dollars. Windows Vista requires at least 512MB of RAM (4x XP requirement), 15GB of Hard Drive space(10x XP requirement), and a 800MHz processor (3x XP requirement). The recommended RAM is 1GB. Windows Vista requires a DirectX 9 capable video card.
The bottom line is that it is a significant improvement from XP, but Vista isn't for everybody. If you have an older computer, you probably can't run it. Vista looks nicer, it is more secure, and in general functionally superior to Windows XP. These improvements come at a high monetary price and much higher hardware requirements.
Rent before you buy.
User Rating: 4/10
Wait for the next version and hope it's better
Pros: It's prettier than XP
Cons: Only a corporate IT administrator could love it
XP was insecure unless a user maintained constant vigilance and installed all updates, but at least you still felt like you controlled your own fate. With Vista the feeling of control is gone, now Vista controls you and everything you want to do on your computer.
Say you are a bit of a techie and want to take a hard drive from your old computer and put it into your new Vista compatible machine running Vista. After you get it installed Vista sees it, you can see it, but Vista prevents you from reading the drive saying that it is "not accessible" and "access is denied". In typical Microsoft OS fashion there's no information about why access is denied, no link to more information, nothing except for the sparse error message.
Go into Control Panel and choose "Add Hardware"; an annoying dialog box is displayed requiring that you give your permission to continue. Get used to this dialog box, you will see it over and over and over again and be required to click the "Continue" button each time. In Vista's security run amok world, things you could do in XP are now considered possible security violations and require your explicit go ahead.
What about new features? Oh, they are there and some of them are good ideas, but Microsoft has missed the boat on usability. New features are worthless without an intuitive user interface that works with you, provides help when you need it and links to additional helpful information. In Vista's case the UI suffers the same, if not worse problems, than XP's. Error messages are vague, UI paths to features are convoluted, help text is, for the most part, written in the same garbled techie language that plagued XP (and ME, 98, 95, for that matter).
I can hear Microsoft now exclaiming that they've rewritten help from scratch and it's the most comprehensive ever.Maybe so, but Vista help (like XP's) mostly just tells you what's wrong and then tells you to go fix it on some menu without telling you exactly how to get there.
The shame in Vista is that after 25 years of writing operating systems and supposedly improving on Windows, Microsoft is still making the same usability mistakes that have wasted our time and taxed our patience before. You'd think they'd get the idea that the UI and the user experience is at least as important as new features.
So, what has Microsoft been doing for the last 5 years besides making Vista hard to use for the common user? They've been adding features for the the IT staff at corporations. The IT staff will love the Vista features that give them new found control over every aspect of the computers they manage. Think of Vista as the secret police working on behalf of the IT department as they seek to lower the digital curtain (my apologies to whoever coined "iron curtain").
Should you purchase Vista? Not if you want to feel like you control your computer instead of the other way around. Your best course of action is to complain loud, long and repeatedly to Microsoft about their lack of regard for Vista users. Demand they do something about it instead of throwing a bunch of features together under a pretty, but incomprehensible UI, and calling it Vista.
If you complain enough maybe you'll find someone at Microsoft that still knows what "user friendy", "it just works" and "business at the speed of thought" really means. Otherwise, just buy a Mac (and being a long-time Windows user I don't say that easily), it will save you a lot of time in the long run.
User Rating: 10/10
WOW never wanted to return to windows XP.
Pros: WOW never wanted to return to windows XP.
Cons: WOW never wanted to return to windows XP.
User Rating: 7/10
Overall Not a Bad OS, Significant Improvements Over XP
Pros: Aero Interface, New Multimedia Features (DVD Maker, WMP 11), UAC, IE7, DX10
Cons: Compatibility with older programs, WinFS missing, hefty system requirements
When I was testing RC1 and RC2 I found that overall the OS was not bad handling everyday tasks like email, and the web. However, when I started to load third party applications like Adobe Flash and Reader I had frequent crashes.
(This has no doubt been fixed in RTM Build but no doubt other apps (especially older ones) will break as well.)
User Rating: 9/10
Best Windows to date; better than OSX
Pros: Security; streamlined interface; fast; Media Center is excellent
Cons: Few graphics glitches with thumbnails; Creative sound cards do not automatically install drivers
The Media Center incorporated into most versions of Windows Vista is excellent when compared to that of Windows XP Media Center 2005 Edition. The interface of Media Center is much more aesthetic and offers more options than XP 2005. Media Center is also very easy to set up - in fact no drivers or applications had to be installed at all for the Media Center to work perfectly with my Hauppage PCI TV Tuner. Graphics cards and most printers will also automatically install driver softwares so they can be used immediately after operating system install.
A few problems with Vista include a graphics glitch with thumbnail previews. Also, when previewing movies using thumbnails, occasionally an error saying "COM Surrogate has stopped working" will appear. Switching to "Detail" view will fix this. Creative sound cards require Vista Beta drivers to function. Also, for those of you who use AOL Instant Messenger, it is not uncommon for AIM to not launch when clicked on. If this happens, you must open the task manager, and end the AIM process and try to open it again. Otherwise, a massive amount of AIM processes will pile up.
Overall, 9 out of 10. Very nice user interface coupled with excellent security features and a broad spectrum of additional extras that make this an incredibly nice operating system. The minimum recommendation I would give is Windows Vista Home Premium. Home Basic is just a little too basic.
User Rating: 7/10
Another Windows version
Pros: The clean interface
Cons: Some properties are still confusing
User Rating: 6/10
MS Vista RTM
Pros: Greater and faster GUI
Cons: Defragmentation took longer time to complete...
Hopefully this product won't acting not as stupid as windefender, yeah!
User Rating: 7/10
a good sequel to windows xp
Pros: nice g.u.i ,and ease of use
Cons: lack of drivers and software
i installed a goodmans g-shot video camera and although i had inserted the driver cd in the drive it found the drivers by going on-line which impressed me
the display drivers were not too hard to find,as i was using a nvidia 6200 card,and i located the drivers and downloaded them
when i installed them ,i got the normal warning that they were not digitally signed,so like xp i continued anyway,and once i finished installing the drivers a restart was required
i was then able to enable the aero themes to the desktop which include a 3d desktop were you can scroll through your pages while on-line and then pick whichever you need to use,excellent
the vista control panel is much improved from xp and some of the options from xp have been split into sub catergorys for easy locating
vista has also include a scoring system which rates your p.c,s quality while using vista,its scores cpu,ram graphic quality and then gives a base line score which you can compare on-line
it also tells you how to improve your score in terms of upgrading
although microsoft recommend 512mb ram to run windows i would recommend 1gb as a minimun,as i use 1.5gb and this seems just about right
with regards to the graphics card requirements,you need a card that is capable of pixel and shader model 2.0 and at least 64mb ram,but i recommend at least 128mb ram and pixel and shader model 3.0,you can pick these up quite cheap if you shop around
the inclusion of the trusty media center is a added bonus,especially to users who havent seen it before,its great for anyone who uses their p.c as the center of their multimedia tasks
speech recognition has been added to vista and is remarkebly easy to set up,it only took me around 10 minutes to start dictating and producing text
however the one problem with vista i found was the lack of drivers,only nvidia and ati having produced drivers for display and very few if any device drivers,but i suppose the companys want to wait until the final build is released so they will have error free drivers
with regards to software,i have tried various programs on vista,another new addition vista has included is a option that looks for a solution on-line if a certain program fails to work on vista,but to date,it hasent found any solution for me
there are a few anti-virus programs that are vista compatible including one-care live which works well with my version,and the trusted spybot and adaware personal both work well with vista
the sidebar is a good addition to vista,and can be configured to suit your own needs
vista,s wallpapers and scrensavers are pretty disapointing in my opinion but you can use your own images and there are plenty avalible on-line
the new vista music composed by robert fripp is a warm sounding intro and the system sounds have not really changed much but are much clearer sounding
i am using vista with a athlon 3200+.1.5gb ram and a nvidia ge-force 6200(256mb) and report no problems with vista,the one thing i did notice is the installation time which considering the size of vista(2.2gb dvd)installed in just 35 minutes comapred to my windows xp(sp2) which takes around 40 minutes to install,this is due to improved installtion technology that microsoft have used in vista
windows vista will be critisised by many comentators but give it a few years and it will be the standard in home computing
excellent
User Rating: 10/10
to me this is microsofts best effort to date
Pros: has all the bells and whistles in simple terms
Cons: have not really found any except lots of prompts
User Rating: 5/10
Already a year behind!
Pros: Looks and operates just like Mac OS
Cons: Can we say VIRUSES!? adware, spyware, trojans....
User Rating: 8/10
Pretty good, but ugly pricing
Pros: Visually attractive, WPF-powered Apps, Search, Networking, the list goes on and on...
Cons: Pricing is ridiculous, way too high per computer
User Rating: 5/10
Too Much like OS X Tiger
Pros: It seems more reliable than XP
Cons: Too much like OS X, two years too late
User Rating: 2/10
Vista is not such a good deal.
Pros: Love the media center.
Cons: Everything else - slow, not compatable with most of my software.
User Rating: 10/10
great product
Pros: the new look feels real and features makes navigating easy
Cons: alot of memory to upgrade
User Rating: 8/10
Ahh nice os
Pros: good window backgourds a glassly look , and see thorw window
Cons: It Look like a mac os
User Rating: 10/10
Awesome OS, Microsoft has truly done it again
Pros: Smooth GUI
Cons: Maybe the prices
User Rating: 10/10
VISTA RTM ROCKS
Pros: WORKS BEAUTIFULLY ON MY COMPUTER
Cons: Additional tweaking will surely fix any software compatibility issues
And now that RTM has arrived...I couldn't be happier.
(OH yes, there will be naysayers against it...Apple-ites who oppose it...and others......but using both system...I've always gone back to Windows)
I would give it a 9.5 with obvious room for improvement with compatibility issues with some software.
But I am sure, that is short order) all that will be rectified.
They obviously have paid attention to a lot of detailed suggestions from users. And I have actually been able to install 99% of any software I have. So I can't really complain.
I don't think of it as an XP upgrade at all..there are just too many improvements to call it just that.
Like it or not....it is HERE.
And I am LOVING IT... VISTA RTM ROCKS !!!
User Rating: 3/10
Here we go...
Pros: None None None...
Cons: The list would be too long.
User Rating: 9/10
Best Windows Ever
Pros: Fast, Pretty, Great Search, TONS of new and useful features
Cons: Complete driver support still on the way
Windows Media Center is excellent as well, and if you have a TV tuner card you can use it to watch and record TV like a PVR.
I've been using Vista for the last 4 months (since beta 2) and have seen it improve dramatically with each new release. After so much time with it, I can say that it's faster than XP, looks much nicer, and is very reliable. The new technologies built in will allows amazing programs to be made in the near future.
I think the average home user will appreciate this new Windows the most, as it is just so much easier to use and removes so many of the little annoyances of the past. Microsoft has gotten it right.
User Rating: 3/10
So...what's the point?
Pros: It still does everything XP already does...
Cons: Uses more resources, nothing impressively new.
User Rating: 3/10
So...what's the point?
Pros: It still does everything XP already does...
Cons: Uses more resources, nothing impressively new.
Vista has been presented as being the most secure Windows to date, and many people point to User Account Controls as an example of that. In my opinion, this does not make my computer any more secure than XP did. All it did was prompt me (sometimes 2 or 3 times) anytime I tried to run an installer, binary, or sometimes even executables. I shouldn't need to verify everything I do repeatedly, and if they are going to implement this, they should make it much easier to turn off. I still dislike the way that Windows Security Center only lets you LOOK at your security status. You don't have the option of turning things on or off on the same window, and why they can't change this is beyond me.
As for the security of Vista itself, it's mostly just hearsay. Since it's using a -slightly- newer coding version (only slightly), there are some malware/virus types that it will no longer be affected by. But this certainly doesn't apply to the majority of problems, and the change in the source coding is so slight that a few weeks of practice will allow a good coder to learn the changes the implemented in the system. So in a month, maybe two tops, there will probably be security issues coming out of the woodwork just like XP had.
As for the stability they are boasting, I saw no improvements. My computer actually crashed the first 4 times I tried to boot it after I installed Vista (and this was on RC2, not even a full beta). I still found myself intimately familiar with my CTRL+ALT+DEL keys and the task manager as well. Although many people think that MS stole the interface from OS X, they clearly didn't steal the source. If you want true reliability, you'll still need to make a switch to Linux or Mac, as this is no better than XP.
So the real selling point boils down to the new glassy Aero look. Which, in reality, will probably sell millions of copies to the everyday consumer. I, however, am not impressed. The focus of an OS isn't supposed to be how it looks. It's supposed to be stability, security, and interface. I saw no noticeable stability improvements and the interface is essentially the same, just a new skin. Want a flashy looking XP? Buy Windowsblinds, they make a Vista skin that is almost an exact replica. Don't waste the money on an OS overhaul istead.
Let's be honest, all that Vista turned out to be is a flashy looking version of XP. In some ways, that's great, but honestly, so what? I don't see any reason why people should have to get a high-end PC (which you'd have to if you want to run Vista) so that they can simply get a fancier looking XP.
Vista has been presented as being the most secure Windows to date, and many people point to User Account Controls as an example of that. In my opinion, this does not make my computer any more secure than XP did. All it did was prompt me (sometimes 2 or 3 times) anytime I tried to run an installer, binary, or sometimes even executables. I shouldn't need to verify everything I do repeatedly, and if they are going to implement this, they should make it much easier to turn off. I still dislike the way that Windows Security Center only lets you LOOK at your security status. You don't have the option of turning things on or off on the same window, and why they can't change this is beyond me.
As for the security of Vista itself, it's mostly just hearsay. Since it's using a -slightly- newer coding version (only slightly), there are some malware/virus types that it will no longer be affected by. But this certainly doesn't apply to the majority of problems, and the change in the source coding is so slight that a few weeks of practice will allow a good coder to learn the changes the implemented in the system. So in a month, maybe two tops, there will probably be security issues coming out of the woodwork just like XP had.
As for the stability they are boasting, I saw no improvements. My computer actually crashed the first 4 times I tried to boot it after I installed Vista (and this was on RC2, not even a full beta). I still found myself intimately familiar with my CTRL+ALT+DEL keys and the task manager as well. Although many people think that MS stole the interface from OS X, they clearly didn't steal the source. If you want true reliability, you'll still need to make a switch to Linux or Mac, as this is no better than XP.
So the real selling point boils down to the new glassy Aero look. Which, in reality, will probably sell millions of copies to the everyday consumer. I, however, am not impressed. The focus of an OS isn't supposed to be how it looks. It's supposed to be stability, security, and interface. I saw no noticeable stability improvements and the interface is essentially the same, just a new skin. Want a flashy looking XP? Buy Windowsblinds, they make a Vista skin that is almost an exact replica. Don't waste the money on an OS overhaul istead.
User Rating: 6/10
Much ado about nothing
Pros: attractive, more "user friendly", more intelligent interface
Cons: too little too late
At the end of the day, Vista is basically XP with a visual upgrade, a few more functionality tweaks in terms of being more user-friendly (or dare i say it - mac like), and not much else. What with most users having to seriously upgrade their pc to run it, it seems that the trade off is a little unfair.
If you are seriously bored with XP then upgrade by all means, just don't expect to be blown away.
User Rating: 10/10
Best OS ever, IMHO.
Pros: Security, search feature, looks, stability, performance, features in general, compatibility, media features
Cons: price, hardware requirements, battery usage
User Rating: 2/10
Not for gamers or home builders
Pros: new apps Direct X 10
Cons: ELUA is Gestapo like
The version of Vista's EULA I have is the older version. I did not know that it was updated a few days ago. The funny thing is, I make this post and Microsoft sends me a varification authorization for my version of Windows. All of my software is legit - Coincidence, I think not.
User Rating: 3/10
s..l...o...w...
Pros: cool looks supposedly good security
Cons: slow high system rec, mem hog, graphics hog
had vista rc1 didn't like it
still isn't as secure as linux or as cool
FYI my computer is more than vista ready and it wasn't a pre-built computer
i am a gamer my computer is good
windows vista double my boot time from xp
by the way ever heard of gpedit.msc type it in in the run command in xp pro, but don't screw up your computer
User Rating: 10/10
I just love it
Pros: It has amazing graphics and great security
Cons: Will need a higher configuration PC
I would defnitely go for this.
I'm also confident to see some great applications that would use the power of Vista.
Way to go Vista!!
