Vista is Microsoft’s newest operating system, which eventually is going to take the place of Windows XP. Released January 30th to mixed reviews and luke-warm sales, Windows Vista is at its infancy. So I decided to kick-the-tires on the latest from Microsoft…
Just like Windows XP, there are several flavors of Vista: Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate. Home Basic has absolutely no backup program included for you to backup all your important files. Stay away from it! Home Premium is the preferred edition for home and small office applications. This is the one you want! Next, the Business edition offers almost everything a small business needs including advanced search capabilities both on your network and on the Web. Finally, there is Ultimate. With Ultimate you get all of the features found in Windows Vista Business including business networking, centralized management tools, and advanced system backup features. Whew!
Since most users will be going with Home Premium, I took a look at it. The first thing I thought upon my initial inception to Vista was “ooo, how pretty…”. This definitely isn’t XP! The look was fresh and things appeared neatly organized and relatively easy to find.
When I licked on my program menu, they were listed on the left side of my screen, instead of using a cascading menu like XP, so I could still see my desktop while I was looking for a program. An automated backup program is included also so I can set it to backup my files automatically. Nice touch!
One of the key features and selling points of any flavor of Vista is its advanced security capabilities. With built-in spyware protection and an easily annoying pop-up window asking you to verify a program installation, Microsoft’s latest offering has come a long way in the area of security.
On the fun side of things, Vista has you covered. Windows Media Center makes organizing and enjoying photos, music, DVDs, recorded TV, and home movies easier and more fun. It also makes it easier to burn your photo slide shows and home movies to a professional-looking video DVD that your friends and family can watch. As far as games go, the old favorites are still there. They finally added chess, which gives me an entirely different issue with my computer.
On the down side, Vista is a beast requiring a fairly stout computer to run it. The requirements grow as you progress up the Vista ladder from Home Basic to Ultimate (as does the price of Vista).
Another issue was the compatibility of hardware and software. Some pieces of hardware, like your video card or sound card, simply won’t work with Vista, requiring an updated driver (software that tells the computer how to work a certain device) from the manufacturers website, if they have a driver for Vista at all. Software is the same story. I found that a lot of older software (1 year old) won’t install or simply won’t work running on a Vista platform. Bummer!
Before running out and jumping on the Vista bandwagon make sure all your gear is compatible. Everything from peripherals to mobile devices and everything in between should be checked out. This also includes any “older” software you may want to run on Vista. Download and run the Vista Upgrade Advisor to see if your current hardware is up to snuff.
If you remember only one thing, remember this: DO NOT use an Upgrade CD. Spring for the full version or better yet buy a new computer with Vista already installed. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Overall, I like Vista a lot. But I’d wait at least six months to a year before I take the plunge. That should give the hardware and software manufacturers time to adjust.
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