I've been an Ubuntu Linux user since the Breezy Badger days of Ubuntu and ever since that day I installed Ubuntu Linux, I never looked back into using Microsoft Windows or any its variants. Ubuntu then evolved to quite capable alternative to MS Windows. However, the latest incarnation of Microsoft's operating system - Windows Vista is the main contender in the operating system arena. Many believe that Windows Vista is a poor predecessor for Windows XP and that Linux and its derivatives are the best upgrade for Windows XP.
I personally have little experience in using Windows Vista apart from providing troubleshooting tech support in the office laptops and desktops. And old buddy of mine decided to provide me a license of Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 since he didn't want to use it. With a license copy in my possession, I figured I'd take Windows Vista on a drive for the next couple of weeks and see if it really what people say about it.
Windows Vista Ultimate Review Introduction
You might think I'm crazy to actually try out Windows Vista but Microsoft's efforts to really put Windows Vista in a good light really got me curious. Websites like the Mojave Experiment really to try sway public opinion about Windows Vista. My review of Windows Vista will be from a Desktop users point of view. I will be avoiding looking into more technical aspects and will focus more on Usability.
Windows Vista Ultimate Installation
For this review, I will be forcing myself to using Microsoft Windows Vista as my primary and ONLY operating system on my laptop, a Lenovo Thinkpad z61m. This laptop is quite responsive with Ubuntu Linux installed so I'm looking forward on how Windows Vista performs in it.
Installation itself is pretty straight forward. The Setup program ask a few questions which will help it configure the operating system according to your need and requirements. One thing I liked about Windows Vista is that it supports SATA based hard drives out of the box. This has been a show stopper problem for Windows XP which require you to install the SATA drivers from a floppy disk (so imagine your desktop or laptop does not have a floppy drive). Also unlike the previous versions of Windows wherein the is a text-based portion and a graphical portion of the installer, Windows Vista's Installer is purely graphical so from partitioning to selection of options, everything is graphical. This is a nice plus for usability in my book. Overall, the installation is very intuitive and straight forward although it took me around an hour to from start to finish. Most of the time spent waiting for the installer to finish copying and setting the system.
Windows Vista Ultimate - First Impressions
The first Windows Vista Ultimate loads, all I can say is, that is one sleek looking interface. Microsoft was able to pull of a dark theme and still look quite good. Of course without saying that the theme used in Windows Vista known as Aero is quite a big leap for Windows XP default theme. Its a good thing that my laptop's integrated graphics adapter can handle the requirements of Aero, otherwise I'd be stuck with the less eye candy version. Here are stuff that I noticed that differentiated Windows Vista from Windows XP in terms of Graphical User Interface.
- Windows Desktop - the only major change I see in the desktop is that you can now have really HUGE icons. Perfect for those people having trouble finding icons in a cluttered desktop.
- Windows Start Menu - the start menu no longer has the word "start" menu but instead was replaced with an orb containing the windows logo. Clicking on the start menu will bring up what it may seem a nearly identical start menu of Windows XP. But once i placed my mouse cursor in the "All Programs" item, I expected a fly out menu will pop on the side of the current menu but instead the list of programs appeared on the same place as the Quick Icons. Not entirely bad but it takes getting used to. Free here you can drill down to the application you want to run and click on it.
- Windows Sidebar - a portion of a desktop designed to host gadgets - Microsoft's version of the popular desktop widgets concept. There is quite a few gadgets you can install by default but if there weren't enough you can go online and get some more. I personally dont find any use for these things whether in Windows or otherwise so lets leave it there.
- Internet Browsing - Vista comes with Internet Explorer 7 which is good rather than having Internet Explorer 6. I never could get used to the layout of Internet Explorer, the stop and refresh buttons are on the right side of the address bar. Most browser have it on the left. It also took me off guard when I couldn't find the menu! I later found out that it automatically pops out bellow the address bar when you tap the ALT key. Saving space? bad place to start if you ask me.
- Windows Explore - The default look of Windows Explorer in Windows Vista is nearly identical to Windows XP. Aside from the rearranging of the some elements I do agree its almost the same. Also, like in Internet Explorer 7, the menu is by default hidden and will appear when you tap the ALT key. Checking out the options in the menu, I discovered an interesting feature is that when you are in the documents folder, you can toggle a Preview pane from the menu such that if a file has an associated program to it, a preview will display in the pane. Im too sure if this feature exists in Windows XP but its the first time I found it in a Windows System.
- Movie Playback - First thing I tried is get a DVD and VCD movie disc and try it out on the System. Immediately after popping the discs into the tray, I was presented with an autorun dialog box asking me if I want to open the disc by either playing in Windows Media Center or Windows Media Player. I opted for media player and to viola! Vista played both Movie Discs! Codecs installed and ready to use! Excellent!
- Send/Receive Email - I used web based email clients but I still decided to try using Windows Mail which I later found out is nearly identical to Outlook Express. If you are familiar with Outlook Express, windows Mail will be right at home. Poking around i found out that Windows Mails has few new tools in its sleeve to improve user experience. These include things like Improved Email Searching, Junk Email and Phishing protection and access to "communities" also known as newsgroups. Since I really dont use desktop email clients, I'll just have to here and say. It's outlook express with a vista face.
- Movie Maker, DVD Maker and Windows Gallery - these will likely work together. When you plugin a camera or a USB flash drive with pictures or videos in it, Vista will prompt you with the most appropriate actions. In the case of a Sony Video cam, an "import video" option was provided. All types of medias are placed into the proper types of folder like photos and other graphics end up in the Pictures folder etc. I also found out that all media's whether videos or sounds or pictures, are all viewable from the Windows Gallery. Making Windows gallery more of central way of browsing through your media.
- Laptop centric functionalities - For my laptop, Windows Vista provides the Windows Mobility Center. It looks like a small control panel containing common functions for Laptops such as, Display Brightness, Wireless Connection and Options to connect my laptop to another monitor or a projector. Nice utility but I hope it was placed in a more accessible part of the menu. It currently sits hidden within the Accessories program menu.
Overall there were a lot of nice things I found in Windows Vista. So next is the missing parts I found.
Windows Vista Ultimate - Missing Parts
As good as Windows Vista is, I found some spots or holes in its functionality that may need attention before one decides on using it. Here are some of the most glaring holes I found:
- PDF Reader - a default install does not have the capabilities to view PDF files. Which is disappointing since a lot alternative Desktops operating system already have this capability built in. For this purpose, I had to use downloadable PDF reader like Adobe Acrobat Reader or Sumatra PDF to read my favorite PDF ebooks.
- Complete Media Burning Utility - Window Vista Ultimate has built in media burning facilities built for making Data CD/DVD's or audio CD's however, it lacks the capability to handle ISO files which is quite essential when you download and test open source opearting systems. Sure you have Nero lying around but what if your computer does not come with a free license of Nero? For this purpose, I use an open source program called InfraRecorder to these chores for me.
- Graphics Editing Tool - Windows Vista has a built in graphics editing program called MS Paint. But using it for serious graphics editing is a JOKE. So I had to download another open source graphics editing program called The Gimp. The Gimp provides graphics editing capabilities that is similar to Adobo Photoshop.
- Archive Management - Windows Vista has a builtin functionality to handle zip files. However it is unable to handle more exotic archive types like rar and ace archives. For this purpose, I turn to either Peazip or 7zip for my archive management needs.
- Advanced Text Editor - I do a lot of code editing in my job and hobbies so an advance text editor is essential. Windows Vista's Notepad is just too simple for these tasks so I use either Geany IDE or Notepad++ for my code editing needs.
Windows Vista Ultimate - Essential Security tools
I think it should be worth saying that Windows Vista by itself cannot keep you protected from various malwares that scatter the internet so antimalware utilities should be installed. These include a firewall, antivirus and antispyware utilities. I personally use the following:
- For firewall utilities, I recommend the free version of Zonealarm Firewall and Comodo Firewall Pro. Zonealarm is free for personal use but you will need to purchase a license if you will need to use it corporate setting. Comodo Firewall Pro on the other hand is free for both personal and corporate use.
- For Antivirus protection, you will find AVG Free Edition provides ample protection in most cases. It should be noted that starting on Version 8, AVG also provides anti spyware capabilities.
Windows Vista Ultimate - Speed Considerations
After installation, I shutdown the laptop. I wanted to time the bootup process from pressing of the power button to the login screen and I was impressed. From the time I pressed the power button until i saw the login screen, it took my laptop 36.27 seconds. pretty snappy if you ask me. And from logging form to the actually desktop, it took another 15 seconds.
It must be noted that this is a DEFAULT install. This means no updates, drivers and security utilities have been installed yet. Upon installing these stuff, things got really slow. Bootup took me atleast 2 mins. And using multiple applications (read: multitasking) eventually drove my fingers to do a whole song's worth of tap dancing. If you are looking to use Windows Vista Ultimate, be prepared to invest in a system with alteast 2 GB of memory.
Windows vista Ultimate - Ubuntu user's Conclusion
Overall experience with Windows Vista is quite pleasant albeit a little on the slow side. Although there was a need to download certain software, this is not much different from some operating systems I have used. But if you already have a license for Windows XP and you don't want to invest on some hardware upgrades. I suggest sticking to Windows XP.
