I have been a fan of Vista ever since Microsoft launched the Beta program and became very open about the development of their next operating system. Through the program hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world were able to test the operating system as well as give their input. It was something no company has done before on such a scale.
Before you go too far into this article it might be a good idea to read
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista and get familiar with some of what Vista has. Because there are some things I don’t touch on, like BitLocker, etc.
This is just an article to give a initial response from installing Vista through an upgrade and how it went within the first couple of days of using it.
Now a lot of people took it as Microsoft using people as guinea pigs, letting Microsoft off the hook for R&D and leaving it up to the people to suffer. Well, that wasn’t the case. As Web 2.0 has proven, letting the public get in on things prior to commercial launch is a good idea. Through an interactive process of development better ideas rise to the top and usability always comes out better than if it was kept behind closed doors until launch.
What confused me was how every designer these days seems to love open source and the things that come from the open source movement like MooTools, Scriptaculous, time tracking tools, etc. Yet when it comes to help in a possible sacrificial way, few take the plunge. It’s confusing because those who don’t help in something like a beta test complain and take shots at the company when the product isn’t what they wanted. Well, if you didn’t take the chance to better the operating system when you were given a chance, who are you to complain? I don’t get mad at who wins the presidential election if I didn’t even vote.
Without getting into how Microsoft can’t seem to do anything right in an Apple fan’s eyes, I will take a brief moment to talk about Apple’s marketing against Vista. The first, and most obvious fact about Apple’s approach to Vista is how targeted it is. Apple doesn’t put anything in their crosshairs unless it knows it is a threat. Meaning Apple fans should take a look at Vista, since Apple themselves have done so since the beginning. A few things Apple said have been bogus, to be fair. They claimed that Microsoft hasn’t done anything but Longhorn/Vista in five years… Anyone that has been keeping an eye on Microsoft knows that is a bit of a skewed statement. Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox live, Windows mobile, Windows Server, Windows XP 64 (both Amd and Intel chips), Media Center, MSN Live, Office 2007, and a few other things. What is important about knowing Microsoft’s progress in the last five years is that all those products I just mentioned, work together. If doing that long but still incomplete list of products in the last 5 years amounts to “nothing” to Steve Jobs, then there is a word for Apple’s marketing… Propoganda. Before you go off, thinking I don’t like Apple for categorizing them as a propaganda marketing company, I do understand why they need to market the way they do, and how they can say Microsoft hasn’t been doing “anything” but Vista for 5 years. But knowing what Microsoft has done, and knowing
I know, I’ve been dodging the heart of the article but I did want to preface how I came to look at Vista. Not just as a five year polished terd, but something pretty new compared to what Microsoft has done in the past with their operating systems. But more importantly, someone who uses all the features of the operating system or at least someone who uses more than what I have seen in reviews.
To be clear with how I use Vista, I am a Creative Director of two companies. I serve as the standard roe, but also as a bit of an IT guy. Being very in touch with technology I offer a helping hand to clients and business partners with suggestions on what to invest in for hardware and software. But most importantly from an unbiased perspective as much as humanly possible. For most of my family, I’d suggest a Mac Book Pro, for younger friends going through art school I do the same. For the tech savvy I suggest a DIY using NVidia and AMD setup. “To each his own” is the point, and each person has a story and a set of requirements for hardware and software and guidance should keep that in mind.
So let’s begin…
It begins… The install.Since I have installed Vista from a clean partition before and ran into no problems, I’m focusing on an upgrade install on my Sony Vaio AR190G which is a Vista Capable computer. This also meant I had to install through Windows Xp instead of booting to the Vista DVD. As I started the install it loaded updated install files and did a compatibility test. I mostly passed except having to uninstall the Toshiba Bluetooth stack and a few programs that Vista didn’t think was going to work after wards, the upgrade went smoothly. Luckily Sony has been very solid about driver and program upgrades for Vista and offered all proper updates needed on their support site. The upgrade took a long 3 hours… Yes, 3 hours. The only reason I can think is how it needed to move files around and my user folder was a bit large at 5.5gb.
One thing that stuck out was how graphical the install was. XP was a big leap from Windows 2000 and previous versions of Windows, but you could tell they spent a lot of time on the install portion of Vista and it did pay off.
Drivers installed and up and runningOnce all my drivers and updates from the Sony site were installed I had everything I needed. I ran through a series of tests to make sure audio, video, dvd, and blu-ray were working properly. They all did and the video and audio testing was a pleasure. My roommate just invested in a rather lage lcd screen so I gave HDMI a test run. My laptop played Blu-Ray on the LCD with few hiccups (blu-ray still has a bit to go on the software side) and the audio was transferred over the HDMI.
The interface has been running smoothly, everything is quick to react and running Aero proves to be a nice experience. It’s a unique experience after using previous versions of windows for so long and have an OS that has nice things like drops shadows and Gaussian blurs to separate windows. The reason I bring up the new Aero interface here is because it’s smoothness relies on the video card and the drivers. If the drivers aren’t what they should be, then you won’t get the most out of Vista. That goes for any piece of hardware too.
One thing to note about drivers is that they have made it easier in the Device Manager to modify software drivers. Sometimes they make all the difference. So things like Starforce can be deleted or updated without looking for other software updates. The reason this is nice is because the software drivers are a part of the Windows Update process.
Using the new Explorer interfaceOnce you get used to it, it’s rather intuitive. The introduction of shortcut links makes getting to where you want rather easy. The defaults go to the Public folder (previously Shared Documents), favorites, and the various folders in the current user’s documents (pictures, videos, etc). You can drag and drop any folder(s) for quick access into this area… Makes going to your most common folders rather quick.
One of the very nice things about this shortcuts column is that the folder view is also in this column. Just click on Folders and the tree menu of your computers directory structure comes up. Click it again and you get your favorites back.
One thing that is definitely new in Vista is the breadcrumb navigation and dropdown menu in the location bar. As you go more in depth in your folders the breadcrumb acts like it should. Making the use of a back/up button minimized In everyday use since you can click and get up 3 directories without an issue. What helps even more for navigational purposes is the drop down built into the breadcrumb. When you click the arrow next to a directory, a drop down of its sub directories show for easy navigation. Sounds simple, and is, but helps immensely when moving around in Vista. Truth be told the breadcrumb is something that OSX could use immensely. I love OSX for multiple reasons but the lack of something like a breadcrumb makes some of the views in the Finder window a bit of a pain.
Tags and other file informationOn the bottom of the Explorer window is a new area for setting the tags and attributes of a file. The benefit is pretty large. I have over 20 gigs of my own photography on my laptop. Selecting a photo and setting tags on it helps a lot. It makes for quick searches and easier finds when I’m looking to print out a series of photos to print or to use in design work. The nice thing about this new area for file attributes means that the search bar does much more since it indexes information you set.
Built in applicationsOne very nice addition in Vista that I played with was the Dvd Maker. I had downloaded a high quality Divx video once I got up and running (wireless drivers installed with Windows) and wanted to see if the new dvd program could use it. So I opened up Windows Dvd Maker and added the divx video file and played with a few of the options. Needless to say I was a bit impressed. It had multiple layouts for menus and came with a good amount of customization. Background images, videos, audio, etc. The nice thing was is that you could add video or photos, so taking those photos of my niece’s birthday party and making a dvd with a sound track of Deathcab for Cutie was painless and efficient. The encoding was in good quality and worked in a couple different dvd players and computers without a hitch.
Windows Movie Maker is also rather easy to use. It might seem somewhat difficult to use, but I have been using it every once and awhile since Windows Xp and never had any problems with it, nor have I had any family members or friends that where less tech savvy have issues with it. I found nothing new except a few small options here and there from what I could tell.
Windows Photo Gallery is an upgraded version of Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. It’s a mix between Windows Media Player and the old Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. It adds the ability to easily tag, rate, and navigate through your photos. It’s definitely a useful upgrade
Windows Defender is solid as well. Albeit being something available in Windows Xp it’s nice for it to be included. One of the important additions in Defender is a straightforward interface for startup items. This means no more msconfig in the command prompt to manage your start up items that aren’t in the Startup folder. This will let you modify startup items quickly and painlessly since the interface in Defender tells you useful information about the startup items and you aren’t shooting blind.
The games that come with Vista Ultimate are well done. The graphics won’t blow you away, but they are what they need to be if not more when it comes to that stuff. I will say I apparently suck at chess, but who knew. The game genres provide something to kill time for you, or keep the children from painting the dog. It’s nice to go beyond solitaire and mindsweep.
Overall, the upgrades to the programs built into Windows and even new ones prove to be useful and well done.
Previous Versions…All folders have a Previous Versions folder. Now before any uneducated people talk about how Apple did that with the Time Machine you need to realize that Microsoft did it in Windows Server 2003. Restore points had some of the same functionality but Microsoft did that in Windows Server 2003, they just didn’t add a galactic interface to it since reverting to old files could be a very bad thing in some cases. Either way, Microsoft has been working on it prior to Apple. I bring this up not because it’s about who did it first, but the fact that it’s a good idea and both Apple and Microsoft did it.
It’s a good feature regardless of Microsoft doing it and Apple taking a hint. It’s in Vista and it works well.
Media CenterWell, there are few things I can say about MC. To be truthful but risk sounding biased I have to say that Media Center in Vista is just phenomenal. It’s completely smooth and just works. If there is anything I think that can be directly compared to from Microsoft and Apple, it is Media Center and Front Row. When you purchase music from inside Media Center, or through Windows Media Player it shows up in Media Center.
In Windows XP, my built in tuner worked right away. In Vista, I am unsure since I have yet to hook it up to a digital cable source or something of the sort. However in Media Center I did a few times and I was able to record digital through the tuner card and have no problems. It is just a matter of time for full drivers at this point. In fact I could be able to use it now but I haven’t had the chance to hook up to a digital cable source.
The interface in Vista Media Center has been slightly updated in a very good way. Menus are clearer and background effects have been added. Media Center has always been an impressive piece of programming and Microsoft spent a good amount of time on the new one.
SecurityConfirmations are all over Vista. Due to the new security layer setup, average users can do install programs, modify system settings, and do anything an administrator can do, if they provide an administrator’s password. Sounds kind of scary? Under certain circumstances yes, but it’s a method OSX users have been used to for awhile, and is what I consider to be a practical approach.
Some of the technologies built into Vista are far superior from methods used in XP for security. There is a good write up on Wikipedia as far as the specifics on security in Vista. Needless to say at the very least Microsoft seems to have made a solid move toward better security.
SidebarIt’s not something new. Not because OSX did it or Yahoo widgets, but years ago programs like Samurize were built for Windows, and to my knowledge even Linux had it before anybody else. And like all widgets/gadgets/fandangles they have their uses. Personally I use notes, calendar, weather, and the rss feed to stay on top of my basecamp accounts. They do have an indent on the processor, but Vista’s made to be scalable. You don’t have to run Aero on all computers, and the same goes for the Sidebar. It’s a bonus if you got the juice but by no means is it required.
Gaming… I had to test C-Strike: SourceThere was a slight hiccup in gaming. Nothing noticeable or anything I wouldn’t blame on new drivers for my Nvidia Go 7600 GT. Frame rates were slightly under XP, but then again the drivers have provided limited functionality in comparison to the Xp drivers for the card. Time will tell if Vista actually does hinder things like gaming because realistically a lot of that comes down to drivers. Given Microsoft’s dedication to gaming in the past I see no reason that Vista will realistically be slower than Xp.
I did play C-Strike through the HDMI cable on the HD Lcd in my apartment (thank you Matt for breaking down and buying it). It played smoothly and keeps me hesitant to buy a next gen console.
Now for the badI hate to say it, but there aren’t any I can think of. There is a small hiccup sometimes when the screen goes black when there is a confirmation window and sometimes it captures my mouse into the dark area and throws me off a bit. I am thinking that is actually the Sony drivers for my video card since when I had modified Nvidia drivers direct from Nvidia.com I had no hiccups.
The confirmations are a bit tedious to deal with. But there is something to be said for the fact that I am installing all the drivers, installing program updates, re arranging some files due to some having a better place due to the new file structure in Vista. So I’m pretty much doing everything that can screw up a computer at once. I don’t see myself doing all these things that will call for all the confirmations once the dust settles from setup very often. But needless to say it’s nice to know that the security layers are there. Personally I haven’t had a security issue in a long time with Windows. In fact the last one I can remember is when I was running Windows 2000.
The new control panel and other setting windows take a bit of getting used to. At first it was tedious to right click and have to go through two windows to do something like manipulate the display settings. But at the same time I realized it’s now easier to change my background, the aero theme, my picture, etc. So although adding one more click for display settings they have made some things one click closer which is what I prefer now that I’ve been using it.
DRMI myself have had no issue with it. But I know those who have bought music through iTunes have had some issues. Meaning despite Microsoft releasing a series of betas for people to update their coding, Apple waited till after the final release for Microsoft to take the fodder, when realistically they could have updated their programming like Sony, Toshiba, Dell, HP, and everyone else in the freagin industry did.
DRM is a good and bad thing personally. It wouldn't have to exist if people bought music all the time. Sadly, those who are inconvenienced by DRM, don't blame those who created the need for DRM. Don't get frustrated, at all, that because your friends, and even you don't buy music legitly that those who put the time and money into it's production are trying to keep their product secure.
Honestly, anyone that says a thing about DRM better have a receipt for EVERY BIT OF MEDIA THEY HAVE ON THEIR COMPUTER.
Either way, no real issues with DRM.
The Conclusion… For now.If you just stop in to Best Buy, you won’t notice a big difference. Apple fans have been saying that a lot to me. Well, if you fall in that category then you fail to realize who Microsoft is and how big Windows is. They have to make it so it feels familiar. And they did. But Microsoft added a lot of new features without disrupting the balance of old product and new. I wish I didn’t have to compare Vista to OSX… They’re different things. One is a niche operating system AND niche hardware… So they can do huge updates that break even most used applications or don’t support old hardware.
But Microsoft’s responsibilities reach farther than most realize. To compare OSX and Windows on most things is like comparing Lotus with GM… Both companies have limitations. Vista could have been better than it is but from the get go, the public reacted violently. People called for change thinking something of the sort wouldn’t effect hardware requirements. Why? I don’t have a clue. But given the changes Microsoft wanted to do, the system requirements would have been higher and old file systems would have been invalid.
Microsoft has pushed the limits of what they could have done with the operating system without alienating old hardware. Despite the recommended requirements, you can still install vista on an older machine and run it smoothly. Will it be all that the operating system is made to be, no, and it shouldn’t expect it to.
It will have it hiccups, and possible security flaws but Microsoft did do their best to not let that happen. That was the whole point of the beta testing program. So if you aren’t a fan so be it, but from a person that loves and hates OSX just as much as Windows XP, I personally love Vista so far.
Just enough changes to make using the operating system easy but not too much change to make it unfamiliar. I don’t suggest anyone upgrading until you know the drivers are ready to go and program updates are also ready to go.
And to let everyone know, when Vista proves to run smoothly on the Macbook Pros once Apple releases solid drivers, I plan on getting one and dual booting.
