So I’ve had some time to evaluate windows Vista. Since it’s release I’ve heard nothing but bad things about it. It’s slow, It crashes, Nothing is compatible with it, The UAC is annoying, It’s just crap! I adopted this opinion for a long time. I listen to a lot of tech pod-casts, especially those hosted by Leo Laporte (from Tech TV’s, The Screen Savers), and he’s been commenting a lot about how after a year and a half, the problems with vista have mostly been addressed. With the investment of the new PC, I decided to add Vista Home Premium to my cart and come up with my own opinion.
Installation of Vista was a breeze. I got it up and running in no time. I stepped through all my hardware and installed the specific drivers and everything just worked the way it was supposed to. The system flys, I can multitask like it’s nobody’s business! I can see how there would be a lot of issues when Vista first came out. Like XP, it takes time for manufacturers to adopt the new platform and develop the necessary drivers and software.
As I stated above, I also heard a lot of complaints about the User Access Control (UAC) that Microsoft implemented in Vista. Basically, any time I go to do something that will affect the system (i.e. requires administrator access) I am prompted. I don’t get why this is a big deal. It’s a single click that only occurs when I’m performing an “administrative” task such as installing software, changing settings, etc.. It’s perfectly acceptable and for me to know there’s that extra level of security, I have tossed my plans to turn the UAC off. It’s benefits far outweigh it’s cons.
So, here’s what I’ve been told (and believe) – When it comes to Vista, if you’re planning on upgrading a Windows XP machine, don’t. XP is a great OS. I use it on my Laptop and it has given me almost 7 years of reliability! If you get a new PC, leave Vista on it. There’s no reason to shy away from it.
And either way, if you do or don’t agree with me about Vista, Wait a year or so and you’ll be able to play with Windows 7 which I’m hearing great things about. I’m looking forward to checking it out!