Windows Vista Review
The most important advice that I can give you in this Vista review, is to absorb the whole package. Not only is the sum greater than the individual parts, but also each feature enhances other features. For example, Vista menus are more logically designed than their XP equivalents and the new Aero Glass effects add to the clarity.
This page is an overview giving first impression of Vista; for a detailed review of specific new features see here.
Windows Vista Review Topics
- Keep in mind the whole Vista package
- Vista’s Versions
- The inevitable road to Vista
- Security – An impossible trick?
- More intelligent than XP
- Networking – Credit to Microsoft
- Clarity is the buzzword for Windows Vista
Keep in mind the whole Vista package.
To digress for a moment, I am more interested in sport than art, nevertheless I can appreciate an old master painting. My point is this, what I enjoy in a painting is the whole effect. And so it is with Vista, I cannot emphasize enough that you have to take on board the entire product rather than merely absorbing a list of features.
This holistic view is important in two respects, features like Aero graphics are good, but they are over-hyped by Microsoft lovers. On the other hand, Microsoft haters slate features such as the new Control Panel because they are not yet acclimatised to its new ways. To them I say, remember Arthur Schopenhauer’s adage:
First, it is ridiculed.
Second, it is violently opposed.
Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
Vista’s Versions
I have been fortunate to review Vista’s top-of-the-range version is called the Ultimate edition. However, there are 6 versions or editions, one for each type of user (and each type of budget!).
1) Vista Ultimate (Best)
2) Vista Enterprise (Only for SA or EA customers)
3) Vista Business
4) Vista Home Premium
5) Vista Home Basic
6) Vista Starter (Simplest) See more about Vista Versions 
The inevitable road to Vista.
Remember that now that Microsoft have launched Vista you are going to see it in a home or at a workplace near you. My reasoning is this, once people experience the new Vista, human nature dictates they won’t want to go back to old XP. The killer reason for updating will be that Vista’s security is so much better than XP’s. What will happen is these safety concerns will provide the ammunition for IT managers to blackmail financial directors into paying for the migration.
There is one other possibility, Vista will flop. Do you think that Microsoft will let that happen? Can Microsoft’s marketing and technical teams persuade people that they should replace XP? I think the answer is yes, Vista will gradually replace XP just as XP succeeded Windows 95. While, I can see a future where we have much simpler local operating systems, with everything web based, I don’t think the masses will be ready to make that switch in 2007 or 2008, instead the majority will go for Windows Vista.
This page is but an overview, I see my role as getting you ready for Microsoft’s next desktop operating system. For example, if you are buying a new machine or printer, make sure that it will work with Windows Vista. Are you planning for the 64-bit version? If so, then consider the availability of 64-bit drivers as many manufacturers are developing 64-bit drivers only for Vista and not for XP.
My greatest joy is in helping you get started with the new features, for example, how to get the most from the Control Panel, what to look for in the new Windows Explorer and understanding the User Account Control.
