Let me just start by saying, I’m totally a Mac guy. We have 2 G5’s and a macbook pro in the office. We also have a couple windows machines. I use my PC to handle stuff that I’d prefer not to have on the mac - like running Quickbooks and all our accounting. As well, I keep iTunes and now email on the PC. It’s just easier to keep the beastly G5 for design & photo editing.
Initial Impressions
I must say, once everything was installed and working, Vista cracked me up. It is absolutely hilarious how mac-like it is. From the way windows disappear, to the screen savers that resemble mac screen savers, to the features like live searching, and the “gadgets” that are identical to Mac widgets… wow - everything! The irony, is that I can’t think of one thing Vista has, that Apple Tiger OS doesn’t have. With that said, Vista is still pretty cool.
Installation
Wasn’t too bad. I experienced no problems in the installation process. I actually upgraded XP to Vista. I wasn’t exactly clear whether or not the drive would be formatted - I actually hoped it would, but it didn’t. The instruction slip given with the software wasn’t very clear on this either. Nonetheless, it was basically a breeze.
Functionality after Installation
Here’s where the problems began. I had about 15 problems once finally installed. Most of my additional software like iTunes 7, Quickbooks and a few other programs struggle to function well. By that I mean, you just get the feeling that this software shouldn’t be running on Vista. To top that off, several hardware items did not work. The biggest was getting my sound to work. I ended up installing a beta version of the drivers to get my audio card to work with Vista. Then it took about 3-4 hours to get my cell phone to sync with Vista. I had to download a beta version of Windows Mobile Center. Anyway, after all my problems were mostly resolved, I’m still glad I made the change. If anything for the search ability like Mac’s Spotlight.
Vista Features
Search - In my opinion, Spotlight is way better. But it still does a decent job. Several times already I’ve found that I’ve searched for a simple document and I get like 500 search items that have no relevance to what I am looking for. There is also some sort of delay in getting newly created documents to get into the search index.
Window Switching - Now this is pretty cool. Yes, I know… it’s the same thing Mac provides by showing all windows, but I’ll give Microsoft some props for coming up with a cooler way to achieve the same result.
Start Menu - It looks cooler, and I’d like to think it is easier to use, but I guess I’m just not use to it. Time will tell!
Windows Explorer - Navigating around your hard drive is just fun now. It’s ridiculously like Mac, being able to store special folders as “favorites” for easy access.
Windows Sidebar - Ok, didn’t this feature come out in Windows 98 with “Active Desktop”. I’m not sure what all the hype is about.
Windows Meeting Space - Now this is gonna rock. Being albe to easily share files, actual programs and your desktop to anyone you want around you. Obviously there is security with it by having to enter a password, but the concept is brilliant… that is once I find someone with Vista around me!!
People Near Me - This is gonna rock too… I just need to find some people around me with Vista!!
There are several other features that are cool, like “Previous Versions” but I haven’t got that far with Vista yet.
Overall Assessment
If you’re like me, a new O/S is something you save years for. It’s just stinking cool to change things up a little. So, if you absolutely must go get it, then get it. At most, it’s quite entertaining to use. If you’re not like me and you’re not sure whether you should upgrade now or later, let me just tell you - wait! It’s too buggy right now. There are so many cool features, but Microsoft has just got to put out some updates before I’d encourage folks to go buy it.
So there’s my very basic review of Vista!
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