Vista Review
 

I just installed Vista Business edition on my main PC. I have it setup to dual-boot with XP Pro.

Here's my mini-review:

Installation - Cake. I ran it from within XP and pointed it to install to another drive. The dual-boot was setup automatically.

GUI - I've used pretty much everything out there (Windows, Linux varieties, Apple), and so far this is my favorite. The Windows "Aero" theme is very smooth, and everything flows together nicely. Even the way things minimize and move around is very pleasing to the eye. The windows retain a lot of the functions from XP, but there are some differences to get used to. I like the new start menu too. It's not as clunky and doesn't take up a lot of room.

Sidebar - It's kinda cool. There's a ton of gadgets for it, just like the Google sidebar. I have mine setup with a calendar, notepad, and the weather. Since I have a widescreen monitor it does not get in the way.

IE7 - Again, I've used a variety of browsers (IE, Netscape, Firefox, Opera), and this is the best one I've used. It's as quick as IE6 and all the websites appear how they should. Also, the text within webpages is very smooth and easier on the eyes.

Security Settings - There are a billion security safeguards. There's no way to break this thing unless you really try. I turned most of the stuff off because I know what I'm doing.

Profile - The "My Documents" is now organized a lot better. It has seperate folders to organize Favorites, Videos, Pictures, etc.

Speed - Runs extremely efficient. I have a dual-core AMD with 2 gigs of memory, so there's nothing to slow this down.

Compatibility - I've installed most of the basic applications one would use on here and it works fine. Quicktime, Adobe Reader, Flash Player, and all my drivers worked fine. However, I can't get AIM to install, so I'm using GAIM. Supposedly AOL is still developing a Vista version of AIM. I haven't tried any games yet.

Office 2007 - FTW

Overall - I'm seriously impressed. I've heard more smack talk against this O/S from numerous people than positive reviews. In my opinion they don't know what they are talking about. As an avid computer user and technician, this really gets my seal of approval.


I thought I'd share this for those who are interested.

just finished installing office 2007 on vista , i cant believe what theyve done with the ui, its amazing, its totally different but still easy to use

Yup, thats about what i think of it for the most part.... :?

Also Trillian Doesn't work either :(

i, too just purchased a laptop last weekend with Vista home premium installed on it, and im really liking Vista a lot too. And with just the the 2.0Ghz, 1gb ram, and only 5400rpm hard drive it runs super fast

So SOL???

What did they change if anything from RC1?

Does it still like to take forever to boot up, if you watch you Hard drive load it will go for like 4 mine caching stuff

and i have a fast PC also

AMD X2 4400+
2GB Ram
Two sata2 Raid 0 and such..

Windows Vista is a threat to internet freedom. Im sorry, but im just more concerned with whats under the hood of an OS rather than the pretty graphics of a GUI which is useless to me. There are alot of issues with the OS and it doesn't pay for me to be Microsoft's beta tester. Besides the GUI and DX10 (which has no reason whatsoever to not be on XP!), what does Vista do that XP cannot do?

I know of a large shipbuilding corporation on the east coast that upgraded their entire system to Vista as soon as it came out for businesses at the end of November last year. They have had installation issues, software conflicts, and basic productivity went down the toilet.

No idea what they changed. I'm not a developer.

It takes longer than XP to boot, but that is expected. However, it doesn't take too long.


I have yet to play with everything, and yet to test it out on a corporate network.

The overall structure of the files has changed, and looks a bit more organized. It looks nicer and runs smoother than XP. I'm sure in the next couple years you'll see applications out there that can really show what Vista can do. Like I said, I'm not a developer, so it's hard to answer this.

The same thing could have been said years ago when XP came out. "What does XP do that 2000 cannot do?"

Uuummm yeah...

Not much :lol: ;)



but yea.... MAYBE..... Vista might get better, But its still not 100% safe yet, It has Holes, It has problems, Also IE7 has some Major problems also.

I might it sooner if i can find it (Cheap!) or ill just wait a year or so when it maybe worth buying. :?

any time that ANY company changes OS, or any major software there is a large transitional period that has to take place, and always includes some snags and hold ups, thats life.

Luckily I didn't have to pay for it, cause I would have waited too.

I got a free license through MSDNAA.

I guess my tuition dollars pay for it in a sense... :lol:

there is a way to get trillian working.

1. Open Quicktime preferences by selecting “Preferences” and then “QuickTime Preferences…” from the “Edit” menu in the QuickTime player application. A dialog box will pop up, with the title: “Quicktime Settings”.
2. Select the “Advanced” tab in this dialog, and in the third section from the top, called “Video” select “Safe Mode (GDI Only)”
3. Close the QuickTime player, and exit the QuickTime system tray application as well


seemed questionable to me but apparently quicktime is used by trillians ui

for those who have AMD X2's, run vista. it runs much faster on an X2 than a C2D.

Not true at all. The golden rule of any IT department that is worth their wight is to not jump on new software when they get released and to wait a while for bugs to be ironed out. Thats why companies such as Motorola wait before upgrading their O/S and installing service packs. We didn't use SP2 until early last year. The IT department at that shipping company needs to be fired.

I think he meant if it was done at any time. Even when the place I work for upgraded to SP2 long after it was released, there were still problems.

It does seem surprising that a company would upgrade to a new OS so soon after its release. I don't see what the hurry could have been for them to upgrade so quickly.

For me I'll probably stay with XP on the PC for a long time to come. Afterall I use OSX 95% of the time. And I use the PC mostly for games and music on my surround sound.

Want the Vista GUI look...try this.

http://www.download.com/Vista-Transf...ml?tag=nl.e404

Our company I.T. people have tried it and don't like it.
They said it was so different that retraining would be required.
Not to mention all the programs would have to be changed to be compatible......so they say. :?

tried and used very happy with it
made my win box look just like OSX... i mean vista :lol:

Have any of you tried Office 2007?

I'm pretty much in love with it.

Come on SOL... :lol:

What Microsoft Product arnt you in love with :lol:

balmer and gates know the back seat of a certant grand prix very well :lol:

Hey, don't hate. 8)

I tried the whole Linux thing. It's useless to me. I can do everything I need with Windows. The only reason I'll use Linux is just to satisfy my geek side and learn a thing or two about it. Same thing with Apple.

I have found nothing else that is as functional to me as MS Windows and Office.

The features of Open Office hardly compare to O2k7.

no hating :lol: just different strokes for different folks

but whenever your ready to come to the dark side just drop a PM (don't worry i won't tell) :lol:

i just cheated and downloaded the vista visual dispaly program... it makes my puter look like i have vista on it.... :roll:

its cool but i just spent 4 credit hrs last sem so i can say im office 03 trained now i have to take that freakin class all over agin.... but i like the program!!!!!

This is interesting. I am currently looking for a new computer. I am a bit concerned with getting one with VIst because of its newness. I am having ahard time geting on still with XP though. Still trying to figure out what to do.
I am definitely a Windows guy, but I do have had problems with IE 7 myself.

One thing I have found that I don't like about Vista. I do some paper modeling, which involves having several pictures/PDFs open at the same time. I have yet to have Vista's "Group similar taskbar buttons" actually group them. And there are no powertoys yet to tweak this feature...

One downside I am noticing is that the sidebar does not want to refresh all the time. I have my Outlook Tasks and Calendar on it, and when I update to a new task or make a change, it does not update right away. Maybe there's some registry tweaks to this?

I also turned UAC off. That's just plain annoying. I'm sure it's great for the click-happy folk, but I don't need it.

In all actuality, XP SP2 works fine for me, and I can always put a nice skin over it to make it look like Vista ... or even OS/X :eek: . I got it for free though, and I have a ton of storage space, so I'll be playing with this for a while.

how did you turn of uac? i hate how it blanks out hte screen everytime i do something some what out of the ordinary haha

You need to get to the User Accounts page. Then you will see a link to get to security settings. From there you will have the option to turn it off. Then reboot.

I will be going back to XP as soon as I get time to play again. Vista quit recognizing my CD and DVD drives after the first "Live Update". I need them more than I need Vista.....