Statutory Warning – I am kind of MS hater so all MS fans please read further only at there own risk. Though I use MS software’s 24*7(not many in this world who doesn’t) but its more by force then choice as all companies use MS and I have to earn my bread and butter too.
Some how I feel each new update is centered towards MS and other of its associates bank balances rather then customers convenience which all there marketing people keep shouting at top of there voices. Will Vista convert me.?
I have been using MS products since DOS. I have really been through all the ups and downs and pains with MS over many years both personally and professionally.
Some people say – once a techy always a techy; some how I also fall under this category. Though I left my hardcore techy job few years back but I still have that bug of playing with technology. So what should a person like me do when he is feeling bored in job and has nothing to do in his social life and still has friends who keep reminding him of his tech skills by asking small helps once in a while. I need to find what this wow is all about! I ask one of my friends to get a copy of windows vista(pirated or legal? is all yours to guess) and start doing R&D.
Jan 30 – The day All Editions of Windows Vista were finally available to anyone and everyone in the general public. Windows Vista is here at last. One of the largest software projects ever undertaken; Vista is indisputably a milestone—despite MS having abandoned many of its most ambitious goals for the OS. Trying to kill too many competitors by one stone- Did some one said Jack of all trades. Yes MS tried to do that.
So let’s start the WOW experience –it comes in 32-bit and 64-bit versions; tried my luck with 64bit(and faced drivers issue later)
Editions available –Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate, Business, Enterprise.
*Before starting -Can your current PC run Windows Vista?
*First download and run the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor 1.0 to find which edition of Windows Vista is right for you and most important to see if your current PC is ready to run it. If you have slight old computer I mean around a year old. ya the same which you used to flaunt till last week. answer will be negative… you will need a upgrade. at least on the memory front.
What I figured out -1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM and pretty much any graphics adapter can perform acceptably under Vista, but consider each of these to be bare minimum requirements for performance you need to add a multiplier In short, you need a hell of a computer just to run this OS.
If you don’t have a DVD Rom forget it. this OS no more comes in CD.
The installation was the smoothest I have ever seen from Microsoft. It took the better part of 20-30 minutes and the system was up and running and Microsoft can certainly be commended for that. Nothing except Linux I have ever worked with has loaded in such a short time. For large corporations and system admins this is going to be the biggest time saver ever.(Thanks to Vista’s image-based setup, which replaces the ages old method of copying files one by one)
Vista didn’t find drivers for all my devices during the installation process, but right after booting it connected to Windows Update to download additional drivers. Seeing the download size of around 300+ mb I dropped the idea of updating drivers and settled for what I got and updated the few most imp.
I then took a look around this snazzy and snappy new Vista(Aero) interface. Of course Microsoft spent a lot of time on creating a really great interface. At first it’s a bit confusing but it took me an hour or two and it was second nature; till it started to hang and get slow and brings me back to my world. I did turn on Windows Classic start menu; the new start menu(while intelligent) is a lot slower than the classic menu.
There were many more changes like Vista’s directory naming conventions, for instance, are much improved from a command-line user’s perspective: Gone is "Documents and Settings" and the "My" prefix for "Documents, " "Pictures" and other folders of their ilk.
Having been built on a Windows 2003 base I can certainly say this is one of the most stable Desktop operating system I have ever worked with(Linux excluded)
Features that stand out –
Windows Aero user interface, New dynamic security protection and integrated anti-phishing technology in Windows Internet Explorer 7, Windows Defender, Windows Meeting Space, Parental Controls, advanced search, Windows Media Player 11, Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Sidebar, ReadyBoost Sync Manager and windows backup User Account Control, Windows Mail and Windows API incorporates the.NET 3.0 framework.
Unable to post in detail here. so moved to Comments section. Sometime this MS also sucks on character limit( sorry u all MS fans)
But there’s no WinFS(Windows Future Storage), the database-backed file system that was to be one of Vista’s core innovations. As a result, Vista’s support for tagging and relating files is less extensive than Microsoft promised back when the OS was still known by its code name, Longhorn.
I also ran into a variety of small but annoying glitches and found plenty of features that didn’t work as seamlessly as MS was portraying. I can’t shake the feeling that Vista’s release was rushed.
Now an interesting fact on Vista -On the official launch day of Vista about 8 updates were released for Vista and the next day another update was released and many more till now. That is excellent as far as Microsoft goes, quick releases of patches means this product gets off the ground a lot quicker than any predecessor. Earlier patches used to come after a longish wait. Of course blogs all over the web has started saying like "just launched and already patched" . YOU BET! WAIT until Service Pack 1, 2, 3. scenario
One more peculiar thing I noted you cant change time by double clicking on clock. ditto for network connection settings it require more clicks. somehow. the thing which made MS the most preferred OS manufacturer. easy of use. its losing it. its compelling people to relearn. which many will hate.
Anyways I am just really sick and tired of bitching about MS. Those who will run legit copies of Vista will know that this OS ROCKS! Those of you trying to run cracked copies(like me) are no doubt going to be disappointed. Microsoft is closing the gaps in their software fast. If you want it -pay for it. so will wait for official update on my laptop till then back to world of XP
*So what’s verdict?
*Vista is good—in some respects very good—but not spectacular. Call it a nice-to-have product rather than a must-have.
Ratings, Comments and Criticism are more than welcome.